The Washington Wizards are aiming higher, but Will Dawkins isn’t pretending the climb is going to happen in a straight line.
At his first preseason media availability, the Wizards general manager made it clear that the next stage of the rebuild is about more than piling up wins in a hurry. Washington has added experienced pieces to a deep prospect pool, and Dawkins sees a roster that can grow while also nudging the team’s win total in the right direction. Still, he’s not rushing the process.
That patience comes even as the franchise has been hit with impatience from outside, especially after some of Dawkins’ bigger trade swings. He said the plan remains to move deliberately, even if fans are eager for the team to leave the bottom of the standings behind.
The numbers from last season explain why there’s work to do. Washington finished 17-65 in 2025-26, posting a league-low 121.5 defensive rating and a 29th-ranked 109.7 offensive rating.
That added up to a -11.8 net rating, nearly a full bucket worse than the next-closest team. The Wizards often played without some of their most interesting veterans and young players, and the results showed up in every ugly corner of the box score: rebounding, foul trouble and plain old shot-making.
Dawkins said the identity he wants is clear.
"Offensively, I would say my expectation for the team is to continue to play fast," he told media. "I want us to share the ball, and I want us to use the multiple decision makers that we have.
Defensively, I expect us to be better. Like we're going to be a defensive-minded team.
We're going to be disruptive. We're going to be better at the rim, and we're going to be better on blocks.
That's the goal for us, to to let people know on a night-to-night basis that we're here to play defense, and we think we have the personnel in the locker room to do so."
That’s the vision, but it comes with a built-in challenge. Washington has a roster full of players who are still trying to establish consistent two-way impact, which makes it hard to flip a switch and become a disruptive defensive team overnight. Head coach Brian Keefe will need buy-in across the board if that style is going to take hold.
The upside, at least in Dawkins’ view, is the age and depth of the group. Keefe has seven recent first-round picks to work with, and Dawkins said the energy around the team this summer was obvious. The players, he said, treated the uncertainty around the lineup and the future as a chance to grow, not a reason to stall.
Will Dawkins praises the evolution of Kyshawn George as what he calls the “Leader of the Sleeping Bag Crew.”“He's gotten bigger, stronger, more consistent... Ky's the versatile wing a lot of teams are looking for because he plays both ends of the floor, can play with the ball,… pic.twitter.com/aOuVOG1Vaa
Even with that optimism, Dawkins kept circling back to the same point: the long-term mission is still development.
"No matter the season, our first goal is always going to be make sure that we continue to develop the entire roster," Dawkins confirmed. "Always going to be goal number one.
Whenever a player enters, we want them to leave better because they were here. Secondly, we want to increase the moments of competitive basketball that we play in, and be in more competitive situations.
And third, we want to take meaningful strides as an organization towards building towards sustained success.
"What does that look like? It definitely won't be linear.
That's that's not our expectation. We know it won't happen overnight, but we'll chip away as we've done in previous seasons."
That message fits the three-year stretch Dawkins has already overseen, one that produced only 50 regular season wins. The slow build has tested the patience of the fan base, but Dawkins isn’t backing off the approach. He said the organization has to keep stacking daily progress, keep nurturing the prospects and contributors already in the building, and keep pushing toward the kind of basketball that looks more sustainable.
He did not offer a specific win total he expects the Wizards to hit. For him, the road from lottery regulars to true contenders is too winding to reduce to a single number.
In Other News...
Deandre Ayton Faces An Awkward Wizards Role He Cant Ignore
Deandre Ayton is entering a very different kind of season in Washington, and it starts with a role change he cannot miss. After arriving in a recent trade, the former longtime starter is now expected to fit behind Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr, a setup that asks him to adjust from being a regular centerpiece to a reserve option in the Wizards frontcourt rotation.
General manager Will Dawkins made clear this is the plan, and it puts the spotlight on how Ayton handles the transition. For a player who has spent almost his entire NBA career in the starting five, accepting a backup job is more than a routine roster wrinkle, it is a test of fit, maturity and how much the Wizards can count on him to embrace a different kind of contribution. [Read more 🡒]