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The Washington Wizards went from a middling franchise to one of the NBA's most promising rebuilding projects since General Manager Will Dawkins and Team President Michael Winger took over in 2023. Instead of settling for being middle of the pack, they stripped down the roster to stockpile future assets and give themselves a chance of landing a star prospect.
However, Dawkins won't be upset if Washington plays itself out of its top-eight protected lottery pick next season, via Monumental Sports Network's Chase Hughes.
“If our young players make a jump and go forward, we go forward,” the former Oklahoma City Thunder executive said during Thursday's exit interview.
Due to a trade by the previous administration, the Wizards will have to give their 2026 first-rounder to the New York Knicks if they finish outside of the top eight NBA Draft slots next season. In order to guarantee a top-eight selection, they’d need to finish with one of the four worst records in the league.
While keeping the pick would give them another chance at a top-tier prospect, winning too many games would show that the team is improving.
Washington has the talent and draft capital to make that happen. In addition to reliable veterans like Jordan Poole, Marcus Smart, and Khris Middleton, it also has two-time Rising Star Bilal Coulibaly as well as soon-to-be All-Rookie selections Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington. Then there's fellow rookies Kyshawn George and AJ Johnson, who are each promising in their own right. George led all rookies with one steal per game this year, and Johnson averaged 11.3 points in April.
On top of that, the Wizards will have a top-six pick in the 2025 draft, as well as the No. 18 selection from the Memphis Grizzlies. That's more than enough firepower to improve on its 18-64 record from this season.
Stockpiling draft capital is paramount to long-term success, but the most important thing is for the team to get progressively better each season.
Will Dawkins praises Wizards' evaluators for scouting AJ Johnson
Drafting Coulibaly, Sarr, Carrington, and George was already a solid foundation to start the rebuild, but trading Kyle Kuzma for Middleton and Johnson in February was the cherry on top for Dawkins and company this season. The latter hooper had only played 45 total minutes for the Milwaukee Bucks at that point, and only 7.7 minutes per game in the Australian League last season. However, Washington didn't sleep on the No. 23 overall pick.
Dawkins explained that Washington's evaluator team went above and beyond to scout Johnson.
I asked Wizards GM Will Dawkins if he thinks the organization was ahead of the curve with AJ Johnson. He compared him to a high school QB graduating early and impressing at the next level.
He also said he looks for “people first” when adding young players. pic.twitter.com/EfxKf4QSKO
— Joshua Valdez (@joshvaldez100) April 17, 2025
“I gotta give a shoutout to the evaluating group…You travel all the way to Australia, and a guy doesn't play,” he said. “But you go to shootaround, you go to practice, you get to see him in those environments. You get to see him play in high school before that, so you know what you're looking at, and we knew how talented he was.”
Johnson played five G League games and 22 NBA contests after the trade, tallying eight double-digit-point outings at the top level. The 20-year-old topped out with a 20-point (6-14 FG, 3-7 3 PT) performance in the 115-112 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on March 29.
Dawkins used a college football analogy to explain the Wizards' vision with Johnson.
“When we were trying to find opportunities for him, you don't know where that's going to come from,” he continued. “But I kind of view him…It's weird, coming to Oklahoma, I became a college football fan living there. You know how a high school quarterback graduates early and goes to campus, trains in the weight room, then you play him in the spring game and see that there's something there. Then you get to September, and he's really a freshman still? That's kind of how I view what AJ did.”
It's not easy for a raw rookie to jump in and make a consistent impact, which makes Johnson's late breakout all the more impressive. However, the California native has only scratched the surface of his potential.
“He's not gonna be a rookie next year, but for us, coming in it was like ‘Hey, take your time…Play some minutes with the Go-Go, and we'll give you an opportunity at the end of the season,'” Dawkins continued. “Injuries called, forced him into it a little earlier, and he wasn't afraid. He attacked it and showed his elite speed, elite athleticism, and also the ability to defend, he's going to be a two-way player.”
Johnson will benefit from being molded exclusively by Washington moving forward. The 6-foot-5-inch, 160-pounder played at three high schools before committing to and decomitting from Texas basketball to play for Australia's Illawara Hawks. Of course, he was then drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks before getting dealt to the Wizards, so he could use some stability.
“For us it was like ‘Hey, you just got some extra varsity minutes here,'” Dawkins continued. “Next year will be a complete through the Wizards jump season, like our hands-on, complete buy-in development. It'll be more of a traditional rookie year for him. But for him to get that experience at the end of this season, we think he's headed in the right direction.”
Trading a disgruntled Kuzma for an unheralded rookie is a prime example of why Washington fans should have full confidence in the team's new regime.
