Washington Wizards general manager Will Dawkins noted the rebuild might be expected to be complete, but the organization is not ahead of schedule despite making a pair of trades
With the 2025-26 regular season officially over, the time to reflect has arrived for the Washington Wizards for both the players and coaches.
Head coach Brian Keefe pointed to the "foundation" that was set this season, despite finishing with the NBA's worst record to secure a top five pick in the upcoming draft. For some of the young players like Bilal Coulibaly and Bub Carrington, the regular season provided moments for growth and opportunity amid the losing, while others like Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George and Will Riley showed flashes of what could be the next star players with another full offseason of development.
Still, the organization is coming off its third consecutive season failing to win 20 or more games, marking the worst three year stretch in franchise history. For general manager Will Dawkins, watching the individual development fuels optimism but the lack of sustained success led him to admit, "I would struggle to say we're ahead of the plan."
"I think we're right on time, following the plan that we're on. Where we go from here, I think is up to the development and the cohesiveness of the group," said Dawkins on an appearance on 106.7 The Fan on Tuesday. "But I wouldn't say we're ahead, and we're definitely not all systems go, but we definitely want to be more competitive next season, and we think we will be."
The lack of competitiveness stemmed from the Wizards lack of defense, including giving up the second-most points in the second half and third-most in the third quarter through 2025-26, routinely when Washington would watch a single digit game balloon into a blowout.
Of course, the question will be what steps the Wizards take to become more competitive, though the arrival of Trae Young and Anthony Davis have drastically impacted the offseason outlook with the overwhelming expectation that Washington should find itself back into, at least, the play-in conversation in 2026-27. Washington also has an additional top five pick that the front office will hope materializes into the top pick during next month's draft in hopes of elevating the outlook.
So what was successful about year two of the Brian Keefe era?
Dawkins pointed to the "strong organizational culture and environment" built after working to develop the young pieces into professional athletes. The next step will be creating a culture of sustained success with hope that the rebuild is complete as Dawkins later noted he expected "this will be the final season of the deconstruction," echoing comments made by Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger back in January.