Wizards GM Preaches Patience in Updating Rebuild Timeline

The Washington Wizards still have an incomprehensibly long journey ahead of them before they've returned to a team-building position that they're comfortable with.

Any optimistic fans hoping that team general manager Will Dawkins would announce that the rebuild is rapidly approaching its eventual end received some tough news at the executive's pre-media day press conference, where he assured the fan base of their long-term plan while asking for another season of patience. They're still in the early goings of compiling the winning roster he's envisioning for the future, expected to troop into another season of losing games while building long-term habits.

He talked at length about the opportunities he expects to be made available for the team's litany of developing prospects, just the way they've consistently ran things across the last two seasons, but expects more competition than ever now that everyone has another year of continuity, growth and experience with the Wizards.

"Defining Wizards basketball and what it looks like moving forward is an opportunity that we're embracing," he told reporters. "It's a challenge, but it's also a huge opportunity, and with that comes a lot of competition. I told [the players] last year, a lot of stuff was given more than earned. This year that can't be the case, and everybody in here has to feel that. Iron sharpens iron."

He's proud of the amount of young talent the front office has roped into Washington's future, but clarified that Washington's decision-makers aren't naive enough to seriously believe that every prospect they took a flier on will pan out on a single roster.

There are plenty if positional battles that are bound to take place, with multiple recent draftees lining just about every list of archetypes in the game.

CJ McCollum is likely to get the opening night nod as a starting guard, with Dawkins clarifying their love for his consistency and expertise, while Bub Carrington and Tre Johnson look to make serious challenges for head coach Brian Keefe as budding back court scorers. AJ Johnson and Cam Whitmore only look to deepen Washington's assortment of weapons, less-heralded pieces with first-round intrigue and the physical talent to quickly crash the rotation.