Former WTOP Sports Director Dave Johnson joined WTOP on Thursday to preview the Washington Wizards’ 2024-25 season.
The Washington Wizards will begin the 2024-25 regular season Thursday night against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics at Capital One Arena, looking to bounce back from the worst season in team history.
They won just 15 games last year as they were in the early stages of a rebuild. Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole were the team’s two leading scorers last season. The Wizards selected Alex Sarr, a 7-foot big man from France, with the second overall pick in the NBA Draft.
They also acquired two young players in trades during the draft. Babs Carrington and Kyshawn George, in addition to a young core that includes 2023 first-round pick Bilal Koulibaly and 2021 first-round pick Corey Kispert.
The team added veteran Jonas Valanciunas and former University of Virginia star Malcolm Brogdon in hopes of making the team competitive this season.
Former WTOP sports director and Wizards play-by-play voice Dave Johnson joined WTOP on Thursday to preview the Wizards’ season.
Listen to the full interview or read the transcript below. The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Former WTOP Sports Director Dave Johnson joined WTOP on Thursday to preview the Washington Wizards’ 2024-25 season.
Dave Johnson: This season, in 2019, (Washington Nationals manager) Davey Martinez said, “A bumpy road leads to a flat place,” and of course the Nationals won the World Series, but he said, We were talking about. The Wizards are on an even longer journey. And they’re transparent about it. We use the word rebuild, but you can use any term you want, but we’re going to watch and hopefully listen to the development of our young players. And the goal is to be a championship contender and a sustainable team that can make the playoffs for multiple years.
As we all know, the Wizards have had success, but they haven’t always been blessed with injuries and such. So when you look at the lineup, you see players who are 19, 20, and 21 years old. And you can see that the team is young because even with the addition of three main players, they are still not my age and I am not that old either. I don’t think I’m at that retirement age yet. So, the point is, this season will be the same as last season for me. It’s fun. When you mention last season, you’re like, “Hey, has he lost his mind?” They only won 15 games.
I think this team has won 15 games. Did they do it 20 times? The question is, “Are they growing? Are they getting better?” Because this team and its goal is ultimately to have a 50-win season. No one is going to look back on 23 years and say we only won 15 games. They’re just going to be concerned about the fact that we have to be a 50-win team, and that’s the goal. And it’s not easy in this league. But the exciting part is this rookie class, these young players, and they’re fun to watch. And there’s a word that says it’s a lot of fun.
Michelle Basch: Consistency is key, right?
Dave Johnson: Yeah, but guess what? I and everyone listening, we were all young at one time. Think back to when you were 19 or 20 years old and working in your craft or profession. Have you always been consistent? Probably not. This is fun. You’re going to have a “Wow, Alex Searle” moment. he has arrived. ” And there may be a game called “Not yet.” If you look at the teams that have won titles, it’s a league full of veterans. They’re at the point where they can become champions like the Boston Celtics. But they’re doing it with guys who played several seasons in the NBA. We don’t win titles with rookies, we win titles by developing top talent in the draft. We have a very exciting draft class, with Alex Sarr, Bab Carrington from Baltimore, and Kishawn George all first round picks, all excited in the preseason. So if you look at the first round of a draft class, there are three picks and you’d expect, “Well, I’m going to get one or two.” That’s great. ‘But so far, the Wizards seem to have accomplished all three. And this is, you know, Bilal Koulibaly was a rookie last year and, as my season ticket holder friends say, “Bilal Cool Baby.” Because he’s cool. He is 19-20 years old. He is from France. He’s smooth. The fans enjoy this team, but they know it’s not about winning 15, 20, 30 games. This year, the goal is not to make the playoffs. It’s about development. So, I know this is kind of weird, but in a weird way, the pressure is off. You don’t have to worry about, “Oh my god, we lost two in a row or something.” So just enjoy. enjoy it. And when this team really grows and achieves that goal, and now all of a sudden, you see it’s really starting to shake up the NBA. It will be even better.
Dave Johnson: Yeah. But guess what? If only we and everyone listening were once young. Think back to when you were 19 or 20 years old and working in your job or profession. Have you always been consistent? Probably not. And this is where it gets fun. You’re going to have a “Wow, Alex Searle” moment. he has arrived. ” And there may be a game where you say, “Not yet.” If you look at who’s winning titles, it’s a league full of veterans. They’re at a point where they’re ready to be champions like the Boston Celtics, but they’re doing it with players who have played several seasons in the NBA. We don’t win titles as rookies, we win titles by developing top talent in the draft.
They have a very exciting draft class with Alex Sarr, Bab Carrington from Baltimore, and Keyshawn George, all first-round picks, all of whom are excited about the preseason. So if you look at the first-round draft class, there are three picks that you can count on to say, “Well, I hit one or two.” That’s great. ‘But so far, the Wizards seem to have accomplished all three. Bilal Koulibaly was a rookie last year and, as my season-ticket holders say, he’s a “cool baby” so he’s “Bilal Cool Baby.” He is 19-20 years old. He is from France. He’s smooth.
Fans enjoy this team and know it’s not about winning 15, 20, 30 games. This year, the goal is not to make the playoffs. It’s about development. So, I know this is kind of weird, but in a weird way, the pressure is off. You don’t have to worry about, “Oh my god, we lost two in a row or something.” So just enjoy. enjoy it.
And when this team actually grows and achieves its goals and now all of a sudden starts to really shake up the NBA, it’s going to be even more amazing.
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