Ted Leonsis is leaning into the long game in Washington, and he’s not pretending otherwise.
The Wizards’ owner says the work of rebuilding is finally moving into its next stage, after a stretch that tested everyone’s patience. Washington has won just 50 games across the last three NBA regular seasons, the worst total in the league over that span, but the franchise has stayed the course instead of tearing everything down again.
“One of the hardest things in sports is having the patience to build something the right way,” he wrote in an X post. “You want progress to be immediate.
Fans do. Owners do.
Everyone does. But young players need minutes.
Coaches need time to learn their group. Roles have to be earned.
Trust has to develop. The preseason is the first chance to see months of work move from the practice court into live games.”
That patience has defined the Wizards’ approach since new team-building management took over three summers ago. Brian Keefe has remained the head coach for the last 200-plus games, while the roster has been stocked with young players the organization believes can grow into something better.
GM Will Dawkins has repeatedly said the franchise is ready for the next step, and Leonsis sounds eager to see what comes out of all that controlled losing. Even if the results do not arrive right away, his message makes clear he understands how Washington got here.
The decision to start over was not made lightly. In 2023, Leonsis was staring at another missed playoff appearance, a team that had no excuse to finish under 40 wins, the infamous Johnny Davis draft pick, and Bradley Beal’s all-time onerous contract. At that point, he chose to reset the operation and hand the basketball side to a new group focused on collecting assets and building from scratch.
That shift meant moving away from the old habit of chasing aging names like Russell Westbrook and Kristaps Porzingis as short-term fixes. The new era has instead centered on youth and flexibility, with more recent acquisitions for superior options like Trae Young and Anthony Davis helping lead the way through a roster loaded with upside.
Washington now has a dozen players at or under the age of 25, along with seven first-round picks selected during this rebuilding stretch. For Leonsis, that is the payoff of sticking with the plan rather than abandoning it early.
He was reluctant to bring the Beal era to an end before it turned truly ugly, but he ultimately gave his basketball people the time and resources to start over. With preseason underway and the regular season approaching, the results of that vision are about to become a lot more real.
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What happens in those exhibition minutes could matter more than usual because Washington is still trying to define its identity on both ends of the floor. The defense is supposed to be a major part of the pitch, but the team also knows its season will hinge on whether the core can rebound from last years uneven play and give the Wizards enough stability to stay in the postseason conversation. [Read more 🡒]