Season Record: 37-45

Season Highlight: The 2nd month of the season, the Wizards rode a 13-4 streak after a lackluster start, and midway through the season they were a fine 20-21. Not great, but still well in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Season Lowlight: Ben Simmons went down with a significant injury just when the Wizards needed him most. Without Simmons, the Wiz had Buddy Hield and...that’s pretty much it for legitimate starter talent. They finished 8 games back of .500 and missed the playoffs.

Best Trade: The Washington Wizards receive Chandler Parsons and 20 GM points from the Utah Jazz
I know this is a somewhat minor trade compared to the other two trades that we’ll go over, but honestly I don’t really like either of those trades that much. A duo of Buddy Hield and Ben Simmons was never going to get further than a 1st round exit, so I approve of taking on a monster 1 year bad contract for essentially some free GM points. I probably would have preferred a pick but hey, free currency is free currency.

Worst Trade: The Washington Wizards Receive Ben Simmons for Ja Morant, Grant Williams, and a mid 2020 1st.
You can’t really have the trade after this without this trade, and they sort of compound each other as to why I don’t really like them that much, but I’ll start with this one because I like it less. The key to building a successful franchise is making the most of a player or two who are way outperforming their rookie contracts, so that you have space to fit in other players. Ja Morant is the exact type of player that fits this category, as do most #1 and #2 overall picks. Instead, The Wizards essentially traded #2, #22 from a year ago, and a future 1st for Ben Simmons who, while incredible, is more expensive and ultimately didn’t make the team nearly better enough to even grab a playoff spot, let alone compete even when Simmons was healthy. They had Morant, Hield, a solid looking PJ Washington, Grant Williams, and both their own and CHI’s pick this past season to fortify that youth pool. Even though this season isn’t what they wanted, that doesn’t mean those pieces wouldn’t grow into that desired result in a year or two. Instead, they traded a good chunk of that away for a guy who again, while great, doesn’t really fit the contention window as well as Morant would have, especially when Morant looks every bit the part of a franchise cornerstone in his own right. However, that’s not to say the team couldn’t eventually have benefitted more from Simmons presence if not for...

Other Trades: The Washington Wizards receive Kyrie Irving for Dewayne Dedmon, Buddy Hield, PJ Washington, a 2020 mid 1st, their 2022 first, and a mid 2020 2nd.

So, this is a bit tough because these 2 trades were made by 2 different GMs. However, continuing from my previous writing, I think the overarching problem is that the Wizards over the course of the last season would have been better served by simply riding Morant and Hield and probably PJ, drafting more talent, and building that way. Instead, after acquiring Simmons, the Wizards traded away more young promising talent and draft capital that could grow around him to acquire a injury-prone Kyrie. And yes, Kyrie is an absolute monster when he plays. But not only do Simmons and Kyrie play the same position (Even though Simmons could be plugged at PF probably), but both guys are somewhat injury concerns. Take a look at these two contrasting possibilities between what happened and what could have been:

Instead of making either of these trades, the Wizards could’ve had: Ja Morant, PJ Washington, Buddy Hield, Grant Williams, Cole Anthony, and Kira Lewis Jr (or whoever else they wanted in that range since there’s some positional overlap). That is an extremely favorable forecast with some good depth that lines up great as a contention window, with more reinforcements on the way via their future draft picks that would be better than they are now in better drafts. Tons of young assets that can grow, with a sure thing in Morant anchoring them and a veteran presence that can shoot in Hield. Instead, they now have Simmons, Irving, and...Fournier as their 3rd best option, with questionable depth and not many reinforcements, cap space, or young talent to help supplement that.

Star: Ben Simmons - G
Before he went down, Simmons despite my dislike of the trade was indeed an absolute beast, 24/6/8 is monstrous, with a 28+ PER. Oh if only he could develop a 3 point shot…

Goat: Andre Iguodala- F
Iguodala only played 28 games for the Wizards after signing midway through the season, and his I believe 18M cap hold produced 6 PPG in 19 MPG, with subpar shooting percentages and not much contribution elsewhere. Indeed, he was bought out not long after to pave the way for the Kyrie deal.