Washington Wizards Admit 'We Are a Hard Cover' at Close of Historically Bad Season

The Washington Wizards are one year into a rebuild that may take longer than those on the outside expected, but there is still optimism moving forward.

Apr 12, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards forward Tristan Vukcevic. / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Less than one year after being hired as the President of the Washington Wizards Michael Winger met with the media one last time to close the books on their 2023-24 NBA Season.

It will go down in the history books as the worst single season in Wizards franchise history losing 67 regular season games for the first time ever, and finishing with a sub-.200 winning percentage for the first time as well.

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Apr 12, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards forward Tristan Vukcevic. / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Surprising to say, as bad as Washington was this year it wasn't even the worst team in the NBA with that honor going to the Detroit Pistons who lost one more game than their Eastern Conference counterparts.

Winger isn't pointing to that fact as a beacon of hope, but his message clearly stated appreciation for the struggle that was had, and hope for what's to come.

"First, I want to offer my sincere thanks to our fans, to our players, to their families, our families, to our partners, to our staff, and to (owner) Ted (Leonsis)," Winger said as he began his end of year press conference on Monday. "What we're undertaking is hard, and everybody showed up...They deserve our deepest gratitude for their resilience, for their care, for their support, and their trust this season and for future seasons. And I just want to say thank you to them...

"When we came together in May of 2023 with the objective to reinvent the organization and set a course to fulfill our highest aspirations, it started with a first day and then a second day and a third day, and we're nearing our first anniversary together. We developed a plan, we communicated that plan, and we started the journey. And we are now sort of at the conclusion of season one of that journey, and we have some difficulties that we will talk about, but a tremendous amount of hope came from the season, and we'll talk about that too."

Winger also showed appreciation to the media covering the team and while ackonwledging he's a bit more optimistic than the coverage provided has been he also admitted, "We are a hard cover right now."

Regular season frustrations can quickly turn to offseason anticipation when the right people are making the right moves, and with the NBA Draft Lottery less than one month away winning the No. 1 overall pick in this year's selection meeting would be a big shot in the arm for a Wizards franchise in need of some good press.

Of course, getting the pick is just the first step, then it's on to what will be done with it and how effective that player can be in the short and longterm sense.

After their predecessors swung and missed on guard Johnny Davis in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft Winger and general manager Will Dawkins seems to have found two players who can at least be long-term contributors in guard Bilal Coulibaly and forward Tristan Vukcevic while players like forward Deni Avdija and guard Corey Kispert may have taken a step or two forward amidst the struggle that has been this season.

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Oh, and forward Kyle Kuzma showed his loyalty to the project, which is a big vote of confidence amidst the angst that losing basketball can create.

Even if Washington loses out on the first pick in the NBA Draft it should have a high pick, one that can help turn the tides of any franchise either by picking the right player or by selling it for the right magic beans.