Throughout the 2023-24 season, it looked like the Washington Wizards were finally going to embrace the concept of being a team that intentionally takes a plummet down the standings in hopes of boosting their lottery odds so they can try and draft the franchise cornerstone that would put an end to their cycle of mediocrity.
They have certainly stopped the mediocrity, alright; the Wizards have now fallen from their comfortable perch right on the line of the NBA's dreaded middle ground and into the league's basement. At the moment, they own the second-worst record in the NBA; at 9-43, only the Detroit Pistons, the team that lost a historic 28 straight games, have a worse record than them.
Thus, one would think that the Wizards would fully embrace being bad. But why in the world did they make this one potentially fatal mistake at the trade deadline?
Wizards' biggest mistake at 2024 NBA trade deadline: Only trading away Daniel Gafford
For months, it seemed inevitable that the Wizards will be having one of the biggest sell-offs leading up to the February 8 deadline. It only made sense. The Wizards needed to restock their warchest of draft assets after a few years of mismanagement. They had actually kicked off proceedings in the offseason, dealing away Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, two players who helped them put up a semi-respectable 35 wins last season.
Even with a depleted roster, the Wizards appeared to be ripe for an even greater teardown. The Porzingis trade netted the team Tyus Jones, a career backup point guard who fits better on a contending team, and they had assets such as Kyle Kuzma, Daniel Gafford, Landry Shamet, Deni Avdija, and Delon Wright who all could have netted the team even more assets in preparation for a much better future.
Sure, dealing away Kuzma in the first year of the new contract he signed may not have been the best idea, especially when the 28-year old forward was not asking for a departure from the team anyway. Kuzma at least gives the team a fighting chance to win every night; trading him away just makes the Wizards 20-point underdogs every single night. He keeps them a respectable team, although the goal posts for that distinction have been moving quite often for this bad team.
Meanwhile, Shamet helps the team's spacing, and his contract isn't exactly easy to trade. Avdija looks like a textbook glue guy for a contending team, and he's on a team-friendly deal, so it's not like the Wizards should have any sense of urgency when it comes to trading him away.
But it's difficult to justify why the Wizards, aside from the Danilo Gallinari/Mike Muscala trade they made with the Detroit Pistons, only traded away Daniel Gafford. Gafford may have netted them a solid return (a first-round pick), but they should have made more deals than they did — starting with Tyus Jones.
Jones is in the final year of his contract; he's financially-incentivized to re-sign with the Wizards, since the team has his Bird rights, and he may well do that. After all, he's only 27 years old, and there always stands the possibility that he gets traded to a contender anyway. But there is just too much uncertainty in that regard. Jones could very well leave in free agency, and leave Washington with nothing instead of at least getting a few second-rounders for one of the main pieces they got in the Kristaps Porzingis trade.
And then there's Delon Wright. The rumor mill pegged Wright as the most likely Wizards player to depart via trade on February 8, and yet in the nation's capital he remains past that date. Were there really no worthwhile offers for Washington to pull the trigger on that involved some of the team's remaining veterans?
Since 2018, the Wizards have been content with being the epitome of mediocrity in the NBA (along with the Atlanta Hawks). They have taken a huge step to rectify that situation, albeit a painful one that doesn't guarantee success (just ask the Detroit Pistons how endless these rebuilds can be). But these moves to keep veterans that won't be there for the next contending iteration of this team just reeks of magnetism to the nature of the franchise to remain stuck in the mud.
Now, the hope for the Wizards is that they either manage to retain Tyus Jones or they pull off a sign-and-trade involving the 27-year old point guard that nets them assets come offseason. Because if Jones bolts in free agency, it'll mark yet another instance of mismanagement from the Wizards even though they're under new management.
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