We are officially at that point in the NBA offseason where teams are beginning to finalize their official 15-man roster. 

A majority of the big name free agents are off the board, and all blockbuster trades seem to be in the rear view. 

One team that had quite an eventful offseason was the Washington Wizards, who were able to retain All-Star guard Trae Young, trade for a strong backup center in DeAndre Ayton, sign veteran wing Khris Middleton, and draft their franchise superstar AJ Dybantsa number one overall. 

However, many media outlets weren't impressed with Washington's offseason, but I'm here to tell you otherwise. 

One year ago today, Washington was entering the developmental phase of their rebuild, meaning their emphasis was strictly on player development. Fast forward to now, and Washington is set to compete for a playoff spot in what should be an extremely competitive Eastern Conference -- but it didn't happen out of luck.

It's not everyday you can trade an aging CJ McCollum and a one dimensional player in Corey Kispert for a four-time All-Star, but GM Will Dawkins made it happen on January 9th, 2026.

Dawkins made it a priority this offseason to re-sign Young after he declined his $48.97M player option, and that is exactly what Dawkins did. 

Young inked a brand new four-year, $212M deal on July 6th to be Washington's starting point guard for the foreseeable future. 

Washington now has a franchise point guard who has averaged 25.1 PPG and 9.8 APG throughout his eight year NBA career. I find that to be a win in my book. 

While re-signing Young was Washington's biggest priority, Dawkins and company made bringing in a backup center a focal point of the offseason, and they delivered. 

On July 7th, Washington acquired center Deandre Ayton from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for guard Jaden Hardy and second-round draft picks in 2031 and 2032. 

Ayton averaged 12.5 PPG and 8 RPG on 67.1% from the field in 72 games played last season. A very strong backup big to say the least.

Washington also wanted to bring in more proven veterans that can help mentor their young core, and they followed through with that by acquiring Khris Middleton and signing him to a 3-year, $17.61M contract -- a move that also resolved the D'Angelo Russell question.

While Middleton isn't expected to get much playing time, his veteran presence and leadership will be worth the contract. Additionally, Washington's front office has spoken very highly of Middleton during his time with the team during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons.

With that being said, Middleton is still a solid NBA player who can score and space the floor. 

The final domino in Washington's offseason has yet to fall, as the long-term future of Anthony Davis in Washington is uncertain. 

Davis will be eligible to receive a 4-year max contract extension worth up to $275M on August 6th, but it's unclear whether or not Washington will make a lengthy financial commitment to Davis. 

However, Dawkins has said numerous times that he would like to keep Davis in D.C. and give him that contract extension that he covets. 

Overall, I believe Washington had a very strong offseason as they were able to retain a franchise point guard (for a lot of money), sign two veteran players that will impact the team, draft a franchise-altering talent and potentially resign Davis. 

For now, we'll just have to wait and see what Washington does about Davis, but if for some reason they couldn't hammer out an extension, I'd still be impressed with the way the offseason went. 

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