Wizards Front Office Lays Out 5 Ingredients to Building a Winner

With training camp right around the corner Washington Wizards brass Michael Winger and Will Dawkins laid out their vision for the franchise.

WASHINGTON D.C. -- The Washington Wizards have a big season ahead of them after mass changes occurred during the offseason at nearly every level of the organization.

Leading the Wizards into the future are some new, and very important names and faces, starting with Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger and general manager Will Dawkins. 

As both men sat down with media ahead of their first training camp in charge of Washington basketball, Winger laid out the five ingredients - as he called them - to create a contending basketball team for the DMV.

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"Those guiding principles on which we're going to base every single decision, every single behavior are: pursuing excellence, doing it with joy, competing at the absolute highest levels, holding each other accountable, and doing it together," Winger said. "And we wholeheartedly believe that if those are our five ingredients, over the course of time, in everything we do...we believe that the results are going to be that era of contending basketball."

Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma (33) celebrates his three point basket in overtime as Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant (9) reacts at Little Caesars Arena / Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Dawkins opened up his comments by reiterating the eagerness he's feeling around the organization and the excitement for a new season. 

"It's been a summer of work. Guys have put a lot of time in," Dawkins said. "We came in and said we're going to assess everything top to bottom and put a plan in place to make this a place where players want to be and put us on a trajectory where we're achieving the sustained success that we're looking for."

As Dawkins continued, that begins with training camp and fully evaluating the players on the Wizards roster after multiple moves and an offseason of turnover. 

Guard Bradley Beal and forward Kristaps Porzingis are gone, headed to the Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics respectively on rosters that are expected to compete for a championship this coming season. 

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Washington is not in that situation, and many expect the organization to be competing for a high draft pick long before any trophies come its way. 

In Winger and Dawkins, however, the organization has two men in place who know what it takes to build - and rebuild a competitive team having come from the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder organizations before landing with the Wizards.

The two men referred to leveling up in their initial remarks but also preached an atmosphere of patience and understanding that the road to sustained success won't be built in haste. 

Those may be hard words for fans of the organization to hear after being starved of potentially fulfilling basketball for years.

But if their vision eventually produces winning basketball for not just a year, but many seasons to come, then the road traveled will certainly feel worth it.

Not just for the two men preaching the process, but for the players who become a part of the growth, and the fans who eagerly await a glimpse at the final product.

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Find David Harrison on Twitter @DHarrison82

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