Despite a mountain of losses, the Wizards are still on the path to success

As the old adage goes: April showers bring May flowers. The best way to think about this Washington Wizards season — which ended this week with a dismal 18 win and 64 loss record — is as an extended April.

As I wrote last fall, the team finally set out a blueprint for competitive success this season after years stuck on the NBA’s treadmill of mediocrity. 

Their strategy was fairly simple: lose enough games to guarantee a good pick in the impressively deep 2025 draft while developing a cadre of young, high-upside players. That plan was executed about as well as possible, bringing our metaphorical May that much closer.

With the second worst record in the league this season, the Wizards have a 14% chance of landing the top pick (the highest probability allowed under new draft rules developed to disincentivize blatant tanking) and can’t fall any further than the sixth pick in the lottery. With tantalizing talents like Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Rutgers’ Dylan Harper at the top of the draft, the Wizards have a good chance at adding a foundational piece to their team this summer.

Player development was also a success this year. The three rookies drafted by the Wizards last year — Bub Carrington, Alex Sarr, and Kyshawn George — were among the rookies with the most playing time this season, and improved markedly from the start of the season to the end. 

Carrington, who was also the only rookie to feature in all 82 games, did an excellent job this year despite the growing pains associated with being a lead ball-handler in the NBA. He put up  a very respectable 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists a game on solid shooting percentages for a player launching five threes a game. Of particular note statistically was his assist to turnover ratio of 2.6, tied with MVP-favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and better than multi-time champ Stephen Curry.

Going into last summer’s draft, Sarr was seen as a real wildcard, with one of the highest ceilings but also lowest floors of any of the prospects. This season has proven that, at the very least, he will be a competent NBA center for years to come. On the offensive end, although his shooting percentages were low, his shot form and confidence give reason to be optimistic about his potential as a scorer. His passing was also better than advertised coming into the league — especially his distribution out of the pick-and-roll. Defensively, though his underlying rim protection figures left something to be desired, Sarr displayed shot-blocking and speed that confirmed his potential to be an anchor of an elite NBA defense. 

George was a lesser-known quantity coming into this season, but has proven himself to be a real Swiss Army Knife, and not just because he was born in Switzerland. He’s become an above average defender (a tall task for any rookie) with the versatility to guard the other team’s best player on any given night. On offense, he’s likely to grow into a high-volume three point shooter with a knack for making the right play.

The Wizards also added another exciting rookie at the trade deadline as part of the move that sent Kyle Kuzma to the Milwaukee Bucks (please don’t close your coffee shop, Kyle!). While AJ Johnson didn’t play quite enough to draw out any concrete insights, the ferocity of his dunks alone should make Wizards fans excited to see more of him next year.

The Wizards’ other young players had promising seasons as well, for the most part. Guard Jordan Poole recorded a career-high 20.5 points per game while hitting a flurry of threes all the way from Arlington. Forward Bilal Coulibaly flashed his potential as a two-way star, upping all of his counting stats while taking on a much bigger role in the team. 

The team also added two respected vets in Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart during the season that will provide invaluable guidance to the developing team.

The season ended on a high note. As the final seconds of their game 82 showdown with the Miami Heat ticked away, Carrington — who has endured an incredibly personally challenging couple of months after the death of his father — received the inbound pass, brought the ball behind his back to create separation from his defender and banked a ludicrous floater off the glass as time expired to secure the win.

And although the result did technically hurt the Wizards’ draft outlook by giving the Utah Jazz sole possession of the league’s worst record, seeing the whole roster rush the court to pile on Carrington was a perfect encapsulation of how this season brought positive energy back to D.C.