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 without Bradley Beal who was traded to the Phoenix Suns during the off-season. The Wizards are preparing to retire the statement letter on the firing of their former Tommy Sheppard into the rafters of Capital One Arena.
| 2023–24 Washington Wizards season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Wes Unseld Jr. |
| General manager | Will Dawkins |
| President | Michael Winger |
| Owner(s) | Ted Leonsis |
| Arena | Capital One Arena |
| Results | |
| Record | 0–1 (.000) |
| Place | Division: 5th (Southeast) Conference: 12th (Eastern) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
| Local media | |
| Television | NBC Sports Washington NBC 4 |
| Radio | Federal News Radio 106.7 The Fan |
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. 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. After multiple trades were completed and a couple extra players were signed to Two-Way deals, the Wizards were one player over the roster limit.
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.[3] 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
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Standings
Division
| Southeast Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Hornets | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1 |
| Miami Heat | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Orlando Magic | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1 |
| Washington Wizards | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1 |
Conference
| Eastern Conference | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
| 1 | Indiana Pacers * | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1 |
| 2 | Charlotte Hornets * | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1 |
| 3 | Boston Celtics * | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1 |
| 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1 |
| 5 | Miami Heat | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1 |
| 6 | Milwaukee Bucks | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1 |
| 7 | Orlando Magic | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1 |
| 8 | Toronto Raptors | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 1 |
| 9 | Brooklyn Nets | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 10 | Detroit Pistons | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 11 | Philadelphia 76ers | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 12 | New York Knicks | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 13 | Atlanta Hawks | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 14 | Washington Wizards | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 15 | Chicago Bulls | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1.0 | 1 |
Game log
Preseason
| 2023 preseason game log Total: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preseason: 3–1 (home: 2–0; road: 1–1)
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| 2023–24 preseason schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.[4][5]
| 2023–24 game log Total: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 0–1 (home: 0–0; road: 0–1)
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November: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
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December: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
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January: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
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February: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
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March: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
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April: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0)
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| 2023–24 season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In-Season Tournament
This will be the first regular season where all the NBA teams will compete in a mid-season tournament setting due to the implementation of the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament.[6][7]
East Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milwaukee Bucks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | New York Knicks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 3 | Miami Heat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Washington Wizards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Charlotte Hornets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Transactions
Trades
| June 23, 2023[8] | To Washington Wizards Tyus Jones (from Memphis) Danilo Gallinari (from Boston) Mike Muscala (from Boston) Draft rights to Julian Phillips (No. 35) (from Boston) |
To Boston Celtics Kristaps Porziņģis (from Washington) Draft rights to Marcus Sasser (No. 25) (from Memphis) 2024 GSW first-round pick (from Memphis) |
| To Memphis Grizzlies Marcus Smart (from Boston) | ||
| June 24, 2023[9] | To Washington Wizards Chris Paul (from Phoenix) Landry Shamet (from Phoenix) Draft rights to Bilal Coulibaly (No. 7) (from Indiana) Right to swap 2024 first round pick with Phoenix Right to swap 2026 first round pick with Phoenix Right to swap 2028 first round pick with Phoenix Right to swap 2030 first round pick with Phoenix 2024 second round pick (from Phoenix) 2025 second round pick (from Phoenix) 2026 second round pick (from Phoenix) 2027 second round pick (from Phoenix) 2030 second round pick (from Phoenix) Cash considerations (from Phoenix) |
To Indiana Pacers Draft rights to Jarace Walker (No. 8) (from Washington) 2028 second-round pick (from Phoenix) 2029 second-round pick (from Washington) |
| To Phoenix Suns Bradley Beal (from Washington) Jordan Goodwin (from Washington) Isaiah Todd (from Washington) | ||
| June 28, 2023[10] | To Washington Wizards 2026 CHI second-round pick |
To Chicago Bulls Draft rights to Julian Phillips (No. 35) |
| July 6, 2023[11] | To Washington Wizards Jordan Poole |
To Golden State Warriors Chris Paul |
| July 6, 2023[12] | To Washington Wizards 2027 second-round pick (from Brooklyn or Dallas) |
To Detroit Pistons Monté Morris |
Re-signed
| Player | Date Signed | Contract | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Kuzma | June 30, 2023 | 4 years, $90M | [13] |
Additions
| Player | Date Signed | Contract | Former Team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eugene Omoruyi | July 13, 2023 | Two-way contract | Detroit Pistons | [14] |
| Jared Butler | July 24, 2023 | Two-way contract | Oklahoma City Thunder | [15] |
Subtractions
| Player | Date Left | Reason | New Team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay Huff | June 29, 2023 | No Qualifying Offer, UFA | Denver Nuggets | |
| Quenton Jackson | July 24, 2023 | Waived |
References
- Wallace, Ava (May 25, 2023). "Wizards hire Michael Winger, former Clippers GM, as new president". Washington Post. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
- https://www.nba.com/wizards/news/dawkins-schlenk-named-to-wizards-executive-team-thompson-promoted-to-svp-of-monumental-basketball
- "2023 NBA Draft: Complete 1-58 order of picks". NBA.com. June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
- "NBA officially unveils format, groups for new in-season tournament". ESPN. July 8, 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- "In-Season Tournament 101: Rules, format and how it works". National Basketball Association. July 8, 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- "NBA officially unveils format, groups for new in-season tournament". ESPN. July 8, 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- "In-Season Tournament 101: Rules, format and how it works". National Basketball Association. July 8, 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- "Wizards Acquire Three Veteran Players in Three-Team Deal". NBA.com. June 23, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
- "Wizards Agree to Trade Beal to Phoenix, Acquire Paul, Shamet and Draft Picks". NBA.com. June 24, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
- "Wizards Acquire two Future Second-Round Picks". NBA.com. June 28, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
- "Wizards acquire Poole, Baldwin Jr. and Rollins along with a First and Second Round Pick in trade with Warriors". NBA. July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
- "Wizards acquire Second Round Pick from Pistons". NBA.com. Washington Wizards. July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
- Charania, Shams; Robbins, Josh (July 8, 2023). "Kyle Kuzma's contract worth 4 years, $90 million guaranteed". The Athletic. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
- Lee, Albert (July 13, 2023). "Omoruyi signs two-way contract with the Wizards". Bullets Forever. SB Nation. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
- Ibrahim, Gabriel (July 24, 2023). "Butler signs two-way contract with the Wizards". Bullets Forever. SB Nation. Retrieved July 25, 2023.