2023–24 Washington Wizards season

The 2023–24 Washington Wizards season is the 63rd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 50th in the Washington, D.C. area. This is the first season since 2011–12, where the team entered the season without Bradley Beal, who was traded to the Phoenix Suns during the off-season.

The Wizards became the fifteenth team in NBA history to record a winless month, going 0–12 in February. They were eliminated from playoff contention on March 8 with the Atlanta Hawks’ 99–92 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Background

The previous season ended in disappointing fashion, with the Wizards falling all the way to 12th in the Eastern Conference and missing the playoffs entirely. General Manager Tommy Sheppard was unceremoniously fired after the end of the season. After about a month of searching, team owner Ted Leonsis decided to appoint former LA Clippers executive Michael Winger as the President of Monumental Basketball,^[1] Leonsis' organization that oversees all pro basketball teams in the Washington, DC area including the Wizards, the Capital City Go-Go, and the Washington Mystics. Winger then brought in Will Dawkins act as the new Wizards' GM and Travis Schlenk as the Senior VP of Player Personnel, and promoted John Thompson III as Senior VP of Monumental Basketball.^[2]

At first, the team appeared ready to try building around their "Big 3" of Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porziņģis, and Kyle Kuzma. However, the new Front Office decided to tear down and rebuild the roster shortly after getting settled in. Beal was traded to the Phoenix Suns, as one of the few destinations that would both make the space to take him and where Beal was willing to waive the No Trade Clause attached to his contract. The Wizards would receive Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, and a large list of future draft pick considerations in both rounds until 2030. Porziņģis was moved in a sign-and-trade deal to the Boston Celtics as part of a three-team trade with the Memphis Grizzlies that would net the Wizards Tyus Jones, Danilo Gallinari, and Mike Muscala. Kuzma declined to pick up his Player Option, instead opting for the Free Agent market. However, Kuzma would later be lured back to Washington with a 4-year contract worth about $90 Million.

On Draft Night, the Wizards made their proposed trades (above) official, but roped in the Indiana Pacers with their Phoenix trade to move up to the #7 draft spot and take the young Frenchman, Bilal Coulibaly. The Wizards also flipped Chris Paul to the Golden State Warriors, along with their 57th pick in the night's draft (which would be used on Trayce Jackson-Davis), to acquire Jordan Poole, Ryan Rollins, and Patrick Baldwin Jr. on top of a couple of future draft picks and cash considerations. The Wizards later traded Monté Morris to the Detroit Pistons and would later waive Xavier Cooks and Taj Gibson to be under the maximum player limit before the season started.

October

The Wizards opened their season in Indiana with a brutal loss to the Pacers, 143-120. However, they would bounce back the very next game. With their home opener in DC against Memphis, the Wizards won 113-106 in a match where they led by 25 points in the third quarter. The Wizards would finish the month with a 1-2 record.

November

The Wizards went into free-fall during this month, losing every game except for two against opponents who were close to them in the standings: the Charlotte Hornets and the Detroit Pistons, with a 9-game losing streak between those two wins. Between a lack of rebounding, a porous defense, and no true Center on the team (except Daniel Gafford) able to guard against taller opponents, the team had few paths to victory. The team would either let leads slip away late in close losses, or play the end of their bench earlier in games than usual, to give them some playing time during blowouts. The month ended with the Wizards at 2-13 record for the month, 3-15 overall, fighting with the Pistons and San Antonio Spurs for the ignoble honor of holding worst record in the entire NBA for the season.

December

The Wizards continued their losing streak from the end of November, losing close games to the Magic and 76ers despite holding leads midway through the game, followed by blowouts from the Nets and 76ers where they were dominated through the entire game, including a 45-point loss against the 76ers on December 11. Jules Bernard was signed to a two-way contract from the Go-Go, and John Butler Jr. was waived in a corresponding move. Bernard picked up his first points as an NBA player in the latter match. On December 13, team owner Ted Leonsis announced that he planned to move the team across the Potomac River, to Alexandria, VA, and take advantage of an offer from Governor Glenn Youngkin to build his own new stadium and surrounding development in a deal worth up to $2 Billion, including at least $650 Million in public funding.^[3]

By the end of the month, the Wizards had doubled their win total on the season, going 3-11 on the month and 6-26 for the season.

Draft picks

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	8	Jarace Walker	PF/SF	United States	Houston (Fr.)
2	42	Tristan Vukčević	PF/C	Serbia	Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)
2	57	Trayce Jackson-Davis	PF/C	United States	Indiana (Sr.)

The Wizards entered the 2023 NBA Draft holding one first-round pick and two second round picks.^[4] After a series of moves on draft night, the Wizards swapped first-round spots with the Indiana Pacers to gain the rights to French forward Bilal Coulibaly with the 7th overall pick, sending Jarace Walker to the Pacers and a couple of future second-round picks. The team would use their #42 overall pick on the young Serbian player Tristan Vukčević. Later, the rights to Trayce Jackson-Davis (Pick #57 overall) were folded into a larger trade with the Golden State Warriors in exchange for cash considerations and Patrick Baldwin Jr.

Roster

• v
• t
• e

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From F 8 Avdija, Deni 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2001-01-03 Israel F/C 35 Bagley, Marvin III 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1999-03-14 Duke F 7 Baldwin, Patrick Jr. 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 2002-11-18 Milwaukee G 14 Bernard, Jules (TW) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2000-01-21 UCLA G 4 Butler, Jared (TW) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 2000-08-25 Baylor G/F 9 Champagnie, Justin (TW) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 206 lb (93 kg) 2001-06-29 Pittsburgh F 0 Coulibaly, Bilal 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2004-07-26 France G/F 1 Davis, Johnny 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2002-02-27 Wisconsin F 16 Gill, Anthony 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1992-10-17 Virginia F/C 22 Holmes, Richaun 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1993-10-15 Bowling Green G 5 Jones, Tyus 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 196 lb (89 kg) 1996-05-10 Duke F 24 Kispert, Corey 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 224 lb (102 kg) 1999-03-03 Gonzaga F 33 Kuzma, Kyle 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 221 lb (100 kg) 1995-07-24 Utah F 12 Livers, Isaiah  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 232 lb (105 kg) 1998-07-28 Michigan F 97 Omoruyi, Eugene 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1997-02-14 Oregon G 13 Poole, Jordan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1999-06-19 Michigan G 20 Shamet, Landry 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997-03-13 Wichita State F/C 00 Vukčević, Tristan 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 2003-03-11 Serbia

Head coach Brian Keefe (interim) Assistant coach(es) Joseph Blair Zach Guthrie Mike Miller James Posey David Vanterpool Sammy Gelfand Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (GL) On assignment to G League (TW) Two-way affiliate player Injured Roster Last transaction: March 14, 2024

Standings

Division

Conference

Game log

Preseason

Regular season

This became the first regular season where all the NBA teams competed in a mid-season tournament setting due to the implementation of the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament.^[5][6]

In-Season Tournament

This was the first regular season where all the NBA teams would compete in a mid-season tournament setting due to the implementation of the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament.^[7][8] During the in-season tournament period, the Wizards competed in Group B of the Eastern Conference, which included the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, and Charlotte Hornets.

East group B

Transactions

Trades

Free agency

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions

References