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. 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. 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 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. The Wizards would finish the month with a 1-2 record. 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. However, they would bounce back the very next game. The Wizards opened their season in Indiana with a brutal loss to the Pacers, 143-120. 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. on top of a couple of future draft picks and cash considerations. 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 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. However, Kuzma would later be lured back to Washington with a 4-year contract worth about $90 Million. Kuzma declined to pick up his Player Option, instead opting for the Free Agent market. 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. The Wizards would receive Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, and a large list of future draft pick considerations. 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. However, the new Front Office decided to tear down and rebuild the roster shortly after getting settled in. Īt first, the team appeared ready to try building around their "Big 3" of Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porziņģis, and Kyle Kuzma. 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. 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, 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. General Manager Tommy Sheppard was unceremoniously fired after the end of the season. 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. 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 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. NBA professional basketball team season 2023–24 Washington Wizards season
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