Wizards in Crisis: GM Will Dawkins Stresses Long-Term Vision Amid Brutal Start

The Wizards knew this season was going to be rough, but 3-20? Even by rebuilding standards, this has been brutal.

As The Athletic’s David Aldridge and Josh Robbins note, the Wizards are not just losing — they’re losing spectacularly. With the league’s least efficient offense, second-worst defense, and a point differential flirting with all-time lows, this isn’t the kind of history anyone wants to make.

“I probably thought we could struggle, but never to the extent that we are in the present,” forward Kyle Kuzma said. That’s putting it lightly.

Injuries haven’t helped. Kuzma has missed significant time, and Saddiq Bey, one of the team’s big offseason acquisitions, hasn’t even suited up yet thanks to a torn ACL. Malcolm Brogdon and Jonas Valanciunas, brought in to stabilize things, haven’t been enough to offset the chaos.

But it’s not all doom and gloom — or so says GM Will Dawkins.

“We are immersed in a very difficult stretch right now,” Dawkins admitted. “But we remain committed to the long-term sustainability of the organization. … Don’t worry about the whole thing right now; at the end of the year, let’s look up and see what we accomplished.”

For now, the bright spots have been rookies Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, and Kyshawn George. The trio has shown flashes but is understandably inconsistent. Head coach Brian Keefe has been through this before, coaching the Thunder during their ugly 3-29 start in 2008-09.

“It’s being addressed, I can tell you that,” a team source said about the Wizards’ tendency to surrender big runs. “It’ll look different.”

Maybe it will. For now, Washington’s faithful are left hoping those future cornerstones team officials keep referencing are currently lighting it up in college — or high school. That’s where the real optimism lies.

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