Media Availability: Will Dawkins | 09/24/2025

Media Availability: Will Dawkins | 09/24/2025

morning. Um, thank you all for joining me today. It’s great to see everybody back in this tight room um, all together. Hope you guys had a good off seasonason. Um, I always do want to start and say thank you guys for the coverage that you provide throughout the year. I think it’s always important to make sure we show gratification for the work that you guys do. How often you guys are on the road and away from families, but more specifically how you guys get to know our players intimately and tell their stories as people. There’s not a lot of um true journalists out there right now who do that and take the time. So, I definitely want to thank you all in this room for doing that. Our guys feel that and they appreciate that. Today I’ll share a few focuses of ours going into the upcoming season. Um probably give you an update on player health as I’m sure that’s a topic you guys want me to touch on. But I I’ll be here. I’ll answer any questions you guys have. But first I think it’s important for me to speak to our fans um address them and really just uh shine some light because they are our energy drivers. And for us, I’ve tried to spend as much time as I can getting to know our fan base. And a few things are are very very clear. Our fans, they’re loyal. Our fans, they’re passionate. They are knowledgeable. And they are fully committed. And their support matters. And I feel it. Our players feel it. The coaching staff feels it. Um, all of us, we really, really do. I just want the fans to know that your commitment does not go unnoticed. Keep standing in there with us. Um, our group put a ton of work in this off seasonason and they did so with you all in mind. And I think that connection with this city, the whole DMV area, um, the fan base, this team, it’s it’s just real. and I want to make sure that we keep building on that and our players are intentional in making sure that happens this year. Now, at the same time, we’re definitely realist. We know that we have a lot more work to do. Um, we got a lot of ground to cover as an organization, but I feel like we’re we’re heading in the right direction, but know that we embrace that challenge every single day. We have the same mindset to everybody when they walk into the building. what can we do today to take another step forward towards achieving our goals? And that’s the mindset that from staff, players, everyone has. We do know that we’re rebuilding under Michael Winger’s leadership. Our front office is a little over two years here now. Um we have a very clear vision for where we’re going and we’ve developed a plan to get there. Know that. Um also know that rebuilding it isn’t easy, nor is it linear. I know you guys have heard me use those words before. Um, we know it’s not just hard on the players going through it, but it’s hard on you guys as fans, too. But I I want you to know that you guys can trust that we’re laying a foundation here that will make us more sustainable. It’ll make us more flexible and more consistent over time. And that’s the goal. And we’re committed to that. We will not skip steps. We will not take shortcuts. It truly is about creating something that you all can be proud of and something that can last. So know we’re doing some heavy lifting behind the scenes um more on our infrastructure and ways that we can create lasting and meaningful change but the though the path I would say is probably challenging um based on where we started we feel like it’s the the right thing for us to do and again we’re fully dedicated to seeing this plan through. So, with that, looking ahead to the season, um I’d tell the fans we’re excited to continue to learn, learn about, um our coaches, our players, us as an organization. I tell the fans that um stay with us as we all appreciate and go through the highs and the lows and go through the growth moments in between. Um keep bringing the energy that you guys bring, keep pushing us forward as we rebuild this thing together. Um, with that, I’ll do my best to turn my journalism hat back on for my college days and try to get in front of the questions that I anticipate you guys will be asking. Save everybody a little time here. Um, for me, I enjoy the offseason. Um, it’s when we get to do a little bit more of the work behind the scenes and develop as an organization and a staff and really do some time to do some deep commenting and where you want to go. I thought it was a busy off season, but a productive one for sure. Um, it started with the reimagining of Capital One Arena literally like right after the season. I do want to thank Ted for leading the charge and supporting us and making things here first class for our players, for their families. I think um we did some renovations here at MHPC, but what you guys will see when you go down to Capital One Arena, I walked the spaces yesterday. It is tremendous. Obviously, we got a little bit more work to do, but what it’s going to allow for our staff, for our players, their families, obviously, um it’s a huge upgrade for us, but it’s a functionally we’ll be able to do more work and do better work. And then I walk the spaces of the visitors locker room, the media space, the referee, like everything is first class. Um high high level. you guys will experience that moving forward. And I think that was a part of the reimagination, not just for us, but for everyone that walks into Capital One Arena. Um, big shout out to to Jordan and Darius and their teams for the time that they’re putting in, everybody that’s that’s working and doing double triple shifts and make sure we get it done on time. Not an easy task to do in the offseason, but it’s tremendous and I can’t wait for our fans to feel that. I think it’s a couple years away from you guys feeling it as much as we will as we’re doing it two more summers. But the reimagination is going to be awesome and thanks to everyone involved on that. I would say roster-wise, um, we’re still in the early phases of the rebuild and I think this off seasonason we decided to lean into the youth movement even more if you could. Um, I’d say going into training camp, we do not have the same level of experience or established players as we’ve had in the previous ones, which is fine. We do however have depth. Um and I I know we like the unpredictability and the competition that we think it’s going to breed. So for us um we view the upcoming season as a season of opportunity and I’ve talked to the players about that, the staff about that. A lot of the growth happens behind closed doors. Um you guys know we have our intentional environmental gains that we’re trying to make, but we also want to see that reflected on the floor a little bit more this year. Um, I think we have a roster full of players who for different reasons haven’t necessarily reached their prime or their upside and they have got a lot of room to grow, whether that was opportunity, whether that’s just age. Um, and we like that about our roster because it has a a further runway. I’ve told them that at some point they’ll all be given their opportunity and chances to take steps and as a front office we’re hoping that people separate themselves. Like that’s what we’re looking for this season. And we are not naive. We understand that going through a rebuild, not every player that you see on our roster is going to be a part of the journey when we get to where we’re trying to get to. But that’s on us to take inventory every single day, realize where we’re at, and as an evaluation staff, as a strategy staff, come up with the right questions and try to get those answered. And that’s what we’re going to do this season. And guys will have their opportunity to play and grow and become a part of what we’re trying to do moving forward. But again, this off season felt different. I know I can say for me personally, it was the first time where um it felt like home. I’d say it was the first off season where you’re home and the family’s adapted and they’re playing with friends and they’re going back to the same school. And I know my wife and my kids like it felt like home for us. I know with BK and his staff having a second off season to really talk through schemes and just be more comfortable. Um, I think it’s nine players were in training camp last year. So, again, there’s some continuity there. Uh, a second time coming back through it that it just helps with communication, style of play, and everything that you’re trying to do. I just think we’re we’re further ahead coming into this training camp in those specific areas. And then obviously when you have the veterans that we have that we’re fortunate to have guys like CJ, Chris, Corey, Marvin, and Anthony Gil. Um those guys are huge in bridging the gap and experience, but also the lessons and the competitiveness on the court. So we’re lucky to have those guys. I think the kind of leadership that they bring can really help foster the growth that we’re looking for. So I know me, I like the fact that we’re the third youngest team in the NBA going into the season. We’ll see how that is at the end of the season. But I like the fact that we’re the third youngest team going into the NBA who had a decent amount of turnover in the offseason. But when you look at it, we’re still returning 72% of our minutes post Allstar break. So that’s above league average. And for me, the two go hand in hand. Um the opportunity that is ahead is enhanced by the continuity that we have. And that’s rare for such a young team. And we’re going to embrace that this season. In the offseason as a front office, you’re always trying to find ways to to win the margins. Whether that’s winning the margins in staffing, whether that’s winning the margins and strategy, roster management. Um, I think we did a tremendous job winning the margins and uh facilities and improvements and things of that nature. Those things were goals of ours and they’re always key, but understand that the lifeblood of everything that we do in the summer, in the offseason, is player growth and player development. And I was really impressed with the approach of our players and our staff this summer. Um I felt like they really didn’t leave. So most of the guys went away for three weeks and were back in May and only really left for vacation or go play with their national teams. Like that dedication, the same room that I addressed them with when they got back here, I challenged them. They have 170 days to maximize themselves and how they’re going to do it. And to a man I can say they uh embraced that. They they accepted that. Um the jump season was intense. We call it jump season, not the offseason because we anticipate our players taking jumps. And they really did both physically and mentally. A lot of them changing the composition of their body. Um some naturally, some are still growing, just tall, getting taller. Uh but also just body mass and um the proper weight that you’re supposed to be adding. A lot of guys were intentional in that. I I joked with them that they turned MHBC air practice facility and Care First Arena into a 24-hour fitness this year. Um these guys were in morning, back at night. Uh the Mystics had a a very fun run and I love being in the building with them. So when the Mystics were practicing MHPC, we set up the court over here, set up weight rooms so that we didn’t miss a step. Um so again, thank you to everybody that would put it up on a non-game day, put it right back down. like it’s a big supportive group that supports our players and everything that went into their jump season. So, thanks for all that involved in that. Um, with us having as many guys play Euro Basket and America Cup, it was important for us to not necessarily go out to LA or Miami like we did last year. Guys were here. They stayed here and they maximized that. I thought our veterans crushed Vegas showing up in big numbers. We travel on the road pretty well and we bring our own court. We bring our own setup, have a Wizards whole hub up there, and everyone showed up and showed out. So, that was fun. Um, and again, they’ve all been here since the beginning of September, aside from the guys that were playing internationally, but they they returned soon right after. So, that was great. Our guys have bonded. They’ve been around. I told them the the work and the confidence shows up in the dark when people aren’t watching, and they took advantage of that. The best part about them coming back in September is obviously they don’t have to be here. They wanted to be here and not just on the court. They were in the community. These guys were going handing out backpacks, school drives, 911, going to spend time with the fire department and the police department, just giving back to the community service members. And that’s on their own accord because that’s who they are. That’s who we are. And I thank them for that. They didn’t have to do that. That’s just what we do and that’s what we’ll continue to do. So again, our guys have been here. They embrace the city. I think this bomb with our fan base is only going to continue to grow and I’m excited for where we’re at. You guys like to often ask me about expectations, so I don’t want to skip over that question. I’ll try to answer it ahead of time here. Um, I’ll answer it by saying the things that I’m personally looking for this season. I want us to be a more connected team, uh, more resilient group, and a more confident group. And I think that can show up in a lot of different ways. and as a a team when we got together and talked about what we want to be known at for the season, a lot of those things came up. I would say with us having a more dense roster, um, but less heavy or veteran dependent group, I expect to see a lot more competition at camp. I want guys to have energy. I want guys to get after it and really compete and try to go earn some minutes and take some people’s minutes ahead of them, even if there is a a hierarchy right now, which I’m not sure there is. But I also expect that throughout the season, throughout the season during practices, we have the bodies, we have the depth, we have the youth to really get better and practice hard this season. So, I challenge them on that. That’s my expectation. Again, we’ll invest in the young players. Um, we’ll probably set some more records in ter in terms of lineups and age and that’s okay. We got to meet everybody where we’re at right now. Um, but with that opportunity and that availability, I’d like to see players, like I said, take a step and separate themselves. So, I anticipate us using the go- go a little bit more, especially early on in the season. Um, probably more so with that depth that we’ll see at the wing spot. If guys are healthy, last year we got banged up in camp, unfortunately, and a lot of the rookies had to step in and play and to themselves, they played well and earned it and stayed in the lineup. If everything goes well, I anticipate and trusting head coach Cody Topper, Jonathan Wall, our our GM, they’ve done a tremendous job hiring a staff that is high level former players um with Upside who compete and get on the floor and really teach their guys. I think our go-ko has done a really good job developing our two-way players and the opportunities that they have there. They’ll probably have a little bit more opportunity at the beginning of the year with some of the wings as well. I don’t know who that’ll be. That kind of will take care of itself, but I have uh full confidence in the connectedness between the two organizations and I I look forward to kind of how we maximize that this season and a challenge to use that a little differently, which will be fun. But again, like last year, I expect our team to take time to form and time to take shape. end of the day, my anticipation is that and expectation is that we get better every single month, both individually and as a group and by the time we get to the end of the season, whenever that is, we have more answers going into an important off season um than we had coming in. And that’s kind of where I’m at on that. Um my last journalism guess would be health update. Is that a question you guys have? Longer list than I I would have hoped. Um I’ll finish with the start of last season. So Cory’s thumb completely healthy, healed. He’s here, ready to go, feeling good. Summer league, Trey and Will both dealt with injuries. Trey with the hamstring. He’s cleared. Healthy playing. Good to go. Will’s thumb is healthy. Cleared. Good to go. Staying with the thumb theme, I guess. Uh Bolau injured his thumb. Um playing Euro Basket. He actually had a checkup today. He’ll be re-evaluated again in a couple weeks. The anticipation with him is that uh he’ll miss training camp and probably be good to go around that first or second week in the season. Um but we’ll have a little bit more information in the next coming week on that. Alex also was injured um playing with team France in Euro Basket, a calf injury. He’ll miss the beginning of training camp, but we’re hopeful that he’ll see some time towards the end of that. AJ. Um AJ has a leg bruise that he’s dealing with right now. I don’t anticipate it to be too serious, but you might not see him going full go at the start of training camp, but again, he’ll be available at some point during the preseason. And Tristan, Tristan the last couple games didn’t play Euro basket because he uh injured his hamstring, but he came back and is good to go and full go, so he’ll be ready to to play to start training camp. I think that’s the the list of updates on injuries, but if you guys can think of any others, I’ll try to answer that for you. But again, none of the stuff is long-term or too concerning, and they’re just basketball contact injuries, and we’re we’re looking forward to ripping and running and being good to go pretty much at the start of the season. So, with that, I’ll kind of open it up and be here to answer any questions you guys have. All right. Thank you, Will. Good morning. Thank you for that. They let you go first. Yeah, I know. I asked it. I even deferred. They were like, “All right, fine with me.” Um, you talk about opportunity and depth and obviously this team has a plethora of different wings, etc. And you mentioned the fact that there will be battles in practice and in camp to kind of help differentiate who gets the a lotment of minutes. What other metrics are going to be used to kind of define who’s going to be able to play when, especially considering the healthy guys that will be returning? Yeah, I think it’s good actually to have some of those um opportunities early because of some of the injuries. You’ll get an opportunity to see some of the younger guys get out there and compete. Again, we have a lot of internal metrics that we’ll be looking at. For us, we’re we’re really about competition this year and defending and getting after it. And for us as a team, we want to continue to be fast, continue to keep our pace. We want to pass the ball more, move the ball more, take more efficient shots. We think we have a group in place that can do that. But again, we’re going to start on the defensive end and making sure that we we get after it and make other teams feel us and have a little bit more of a presence. So, that’s kind of kind of be the standard that we’re looking for a lot of our guys. and BK does a tremendous job of giving guys opportunity at the right time. I think you’ll see different lineups. I think you might see a different lineup that starts the second half that didn’t start the first half and just use that creativity and the evolution of the NBA. You’ll see two bigs, you’ll see a couple smalls out there. So, again, we have some versatility and we got some guys with some physical toughness that can go out there and compete. So, I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with it. My follow-up question, uh AJ Johnson, I talked to him the other day. He seems to your point very at home. Uh, but now we’ve integrated a guy who’s from here that’s now on the team and Cam Whitmore. So, your thoughts about how he’s going to be integrated in the team and what he can do? Yeah, I think Cam’s integrated himself well. We’ve been fortunate to have him since July and he’s a kid that knows what DC’s basketball is about. He’s proud to be back here and help define what Wizards basketball is going to be known for moving forward. I think everybody’s in that room is excited for that challenge, but he’s someone that we add to our deep wing group who went through the draft process with Balao. He obviously didn’t get as much opportunity in Houston for whatever reason. Um, but he understands that he’s going to have opportunity here, but it’s got to be earned and I don’t know when that’s going to come, but he’s excited. Um, he’s a powerful, explosive, dynamic athlete who can compete on both ends. We got to get him to be consistent, but he’s going to score, put the ball in the hole, and make his teammates better and as a whole make the group better. So, we’re excited to have Cam. Um, talking to Anthony Gil about the summer and the new guys, he said Cam’s fit in great and is kind of pushing the group, which is exactly why we went and traded for him. Christy Winter Scott, Monumental. What did you learn from Bub Carrington last year in terms of how he presented as a rookie and how do you want to see him build upon the experience and the opportunity that he gleaned last year as well? Yeah, I think the consistency in who he is um and showing up every day. I know he played all 82 games. Was one of my only recruits to do that, but the mindset to get better and improve. There’s a few guys who were here all summer and Bub’s one of those guys. Um when we’re looking at the amount of lifts that these guys did in the offseason, a few of them are over 50 lifts in this building. That’s pretty hard to do in the offseason, obviously, when you travel and we go to Vegas and all the other stuff. And he played summer league. So, he was committed. He’s a committed individual. He wants to grow. He wants to lead. He’s vocal. Um he’s a tough kid and he brings it every single day and we’re going to ask him to continue to do that. And he knows the opportunity that’s ahead and he’s going to embrace it and go after it. So I’m very happy with the who Bub is as a person, but how he manifests that every day when he walks through the door. And with Corey, the same thing. You kind of grouped him in with the the veteran name, the 26-y old vet there. Yeah. Uh what do you want to see from Corey this year in terms of on the court and execution and maybe the evolution of his skill set? Yeah, Corey is someone that we’re uh really excited about. As you know, when we came through, it was a a deconstruction phase and one of the two players that remained were were Corey and Anthony Gil for who they are, but also what they can do on the basketball court. And Cory’s someone who has been through different coaches, been through different regimes, and is starting to figure out um BK’s style towards the end of last season. We saw him kind of make those gains before he got injured. He’s definitely more comfortable now. Um the way he can finish, the way he can stretch the floor, but also the defensive gains he made. Cory’s still getting better as a player, and that’s exciting for us. He’s going to have a huge impact on the team this year. Well, there’s there’s the plan that you come into any season with and there’s the plan that you have to actually deal with. Correct. So, I just wonder where where is the kind of outside time frame as you see it right now for when this thing will be sufficiently turned around where you’ll have the group that you want, you’ll have the players that you want and some of that’s out of your control. I understand. But um and this thing will be kind of self- sustaining in the way that contending teams tend to start to win and continue to win. Good question. Um you study a lot of these. Uh I know Michael and I have been through them. I’ve been through a couple myself and they’re all different. Um with us, we’re still definitely at the very very early phases of that. think outside is probably a little further ahead than where we feel like we are internally. But I will say where we’ve made the biggest grains is in the infrastructure and the people supporting the organization, the culture, the building, the DNA, the substance of the people that we’ve brought in and the mentality. Um, so I think that stuff when the age and the talent things catch up, it makes it a little easier to push go. But again, we’re going to follow our players. It’s going to be guys we continue to draft moving forward who obviously will be a part of that. a lot of luck in in the draft and lottery and things of that nature, but the players we have in house are going to dictate how far we go and when we go and we got a lot of guys that we’re going to take opportunities on and we hope that people separate themselves and push through and become those leaders and their carry forward players for us, but I expect we’ll have more answers at the end of the season on that. I don’t know if you subscribe to the the notion that by year three you pretty much are who you’re going to be in the NBA. He may not. Um, but you’ve got two guys in Bal and Cam particularly who are in year three now. And where is the jump going to come from from those two if it comes this year? Yeah, I think that not necessarily you saying you agree with that, but I think that thinking is a little antiquated because it kind of started when guys were sophomores and juniors coming out of college and it was like three years in Bal just turned 21. So, it’s not a normal year three. he’ll be 21 all season. So, uh same with Cam. He’s 21 years old and doesn’t have that same level of experience. I would say both of those guys are on pace. Um based on what we’ve seen and what we believe specifically, like it’s 2025. If we take a step back two years ago, 2023, this guy’s playing like junior level basketball in France. They have some injuries. He gets a chance to play pro. plays well, becomes a lottery pick, plays in the Olympics, plays in the NBA. Um, he’s done really, really well for where he’s at. Obviously, being a rising star two times. When we drafted him, we knew that the defense was going to be ahead of the offense, but we loved his versatility. And within two years, he’s become a defensive menace. Um, when you look at the numbers, he’s guarded the best players in the NBA, the best scorers in the league last season more than anyone in the NBA. So, the reps and experience he’s getting is huge. But not only the reps, but he’s holding those guys below their average in efficiency. So, he’s having a big impact in a team that was pretty poor defensive team last year. We got better as the season goes on and we will continue to get better, but again, he’s having that impact in year two before he’s physically even close to what he’s going to be. So, we know we have the runway there. He’s got some things he’s going to continue to improve on and work on. But again, the versatility that he shows as a ball handler and creator, there’s three guys under 21 that had a triple double last year. He’s one of them. The other guys are pretty good, too. Um, so again, we feel very confident where he is. He’s grown in the national team and taken steps here. He knows what’s in front of him. I wouldn’t say year three is a make or break definable year for him just because of where he is in his basketball journey. It’s pretty young compared to guys who were coming out after junior or sophomore year. So again, we feel really good about that. And Cam probably hasn’t got the opportunities and the minutes normal for guys who have gone through the first two years. So again, he’s probably further along from getting to where you have those answers, but it’s on us to make those answers because we got some decisions to make next offseason as well or create those answers. Um so we’ll be looking forward to it. But we have a lot of confidence in both those guys and those are two players that I know I really liked in the draft process but um our evaluation group as well. So we’re happy to have both of them. Will last year you’re well aware of your team struggles defensive rebounding last year and now several of the people who are were your best defensive rebounders Valenunis Koozma are gone. How do you expect to your young players to develop if your team once again struggles to rebound the ball on the defensive end? Yeah, I think it’s a a willpower thing. It’s a mindset thing. It’s an energy thing. Um we know there’s going to be areas where we’re going to be in towards the second half in the league, but you have to find ways as a team to counteract that and use your ability to switch, use your ability to guard, keep guys out of the paint. We were pretty good in terms of contesting at the rim. So, we got to be more on a unit. We got to be more competitive um on the glass. Balo can rebound. I think coach is going to put something in there where if you rebound it, you can bring it up like incentivize them to go to the glass. But again, we understand that we’re going to be deficient in some areas just based on the youth and experience and physicality. Rebounding is one of those areas. I think we were dead last two years ago and we were 26 or something towards the end of the season last year. So, it’s an area we will improve upon, but I think it starts with the mindset and finding ways to counteract that defensively to be a more well-rounded defensive team. I think this is the our first opportunity to speak to you on the record uh since the Jordan Pool Sadik trade. Why Why did your team make that move? Um the way we look at every roster move is strategically what it does for you. um how it sets you up for the future, but also style of play, what it does for your roster. And that move specifically, we felt really good about of how it’s going to position us to have flexibility in the future, but more importantly, what it does to our style of play and the players that we were able to bring in in that trade. Uh, as we talked about earlier, like Cam was someone we’ve targeted for the last three years and got an opportunity to bring in in that trade. And then you’re adding a career 40% three-point shooter in CJ McCullum who’s a everyday guy, consistent, can score, can defend, can make plays, and stylistically fits the group really, really well. So again, it’s hard to lose some of those players that you lose when in a trade like that who have added to the fiber and the DNA of of the Wizards. But at the end of the day, we’re freeing up opportunities for young players. We’re freeing up um sustainability and flexibility in the future while adding two guys that fit our team and um have a big runway in camp. I will uh how do you guys plan to develop Trey Johnson this year? Um same way we do with most of our players. I think Trey is someone who I know I talk about guys being serious crossing but like this dude is a hooper. Um he’s in the gym, he takes it seriously. He doesn’t have a lot of hobbies. Like we’re trying to develop other hobbies outside of basketball. He’s going to develop on his own um just because he puts so much time in. But we’re intentional on what we’re working on and he’ll get opportunities. He’ll get reps. He’s already improved or I’m a poor evaluator, one or the other. And at passing the ball, like he’s already further ahead on that and he’ll be challenged on the defensive end, but we’ll give him reps. We’ll give him opportunity. One thing we know he has is confidence. And one thing we know is he’s going to put time in in the gym. So again, it’ll be fully holistic and develop the mental side, the physical side. He’s already added four or five pounds. I think he’s 199, coach. We didn’t get to 200. I think he’s 199. He’ll get there. Um, so like he’s going to take his bumps and bruises, but um, we’re excited for Trey. We really, really are. And I think there’s a lot to him that he’ll be able to show and open up once he once he’s here. The fans will love Trey. And, uh, it was pretty interesting. Both you and BK visited Commander practices, uh, I believe on separate occasions. So, what was your experience like? How did it come about? What do you think you took from it? You guys know I’m like a huge football fan, so I appreciate you throwing that one in there. Um BK went for OTAAS, which was actually better because he got to be around the coaching staff and sit in meetings with the commanders. Um myself, um our head of strategy, Michael Hartman, Jonathan Wall, our GM of the go- go, we went to practice. Um got to talk with uh Mr. Peters and his group and just exchange ideas and they’re doing things really well over there with the commanders. Um, it’s important for me to to reach out and be a part of the community, especially with a strong fan support system and strong multi-port. So, we talk to the Nationals, we talk to the the Orioles, we spend time talking to um the Spirit and going to their game, DC United. So, I’ve reached out and have a relationship with a lot of front offices and um the commanders are doing things really well there and they have a lot of support. So, there’s things I can learn. A lot of people have been here longer than I have, so I ask many questions as I can and we try to collaborate. And some of their players are huge basketball fans. Some of our guys are huge football fans. They gave us a suite to the game on Sunday. We had like 40 people go. It was pretty cool. So, again, I’m a huge football guy. I try to go as much as I can and support the local teams and um I think it’s it’s good for everybody to share ideas and that’s what it’s all about. Hey, Will. How you doing, man? Doing well. Um, you talked about the growths in infrastructure that you guys have made. Can you give us an example of an area where you’ve seen that growth and where you’re seeing a lot of return? Yeah. Um, when Michael and I first got here, we kind of assessed where we were at in terms of staffing, in terms of allocating funds towards player development, um, towards renovating the buildings. And I think when you talk about adding a a biomechanics lab here this off seasonason, um you talk about creating departments that didn’t exist before we got here in terms of player pathways and enrichment. Um really investing in the families, investing in the players post careers or inventing inventing a department about experience. So making sure people have a shared fun enjoyable experience when they get here. that stuff necessarily wasn’t here. And to be able to have the resources to add staffing and and do different things here, the players feel that when they come in, they feel like it’s more of a a playerdriven first class organization. So, I think that infrastructure is really really important, but um there’s more continuity. Um we know what our pillars are. We know what we’re about. We’re speaking the same language. And that wasn’t the case when we first walked in. Um rightfully so. We were all from different areas, but we’ve defined that now. And that’s when I say like the foundation is there, the infrastructure is there to build upon. It’s really sturdy. And now we just got to lay the right bricks. Um, so we’re we’re all speaking the same language, moving in the right direction, and putting our players first. At the end of last season, you said that you guys were still at the corner of deconstruction and building, laying a foundation. Do you still believe you’re there? We’re not too much further removed from that. Yeah. What would you need to see this season, next season to say that you guys have progressed to the next stage of the rebuild? I think a lot of it’ll will kind of play out when we watch our players on the court and development and style of play and what they can take on. If you can imagine back to when our players were were rookies and younger first part of the month in the regular season, they were a lot different than they were at the end of the season. So, I would say a lot of the questions you’re going to have, a lot of questions our fans are going to have, we have the same ones. Um, so we’ll be watching for that and hopefully, like you said, like I said, we’ll have some people separate themselves and make it really clear and obvious when we need to push that button. What do you want to see with Alex Sar this season as far as playing with a consistent energy on the court? Um, I would say he played with a consistent energy last year. Um, for me, I was very excited for the season that Alex had last year. Um, to be first team all rookie. We don’t want to like take that away from the guy. The guy had a really really impactful season. Again, with him two years ago, it’s OTE. People didn’t know what OTE was. Um, after that he’s in Perth, Australia, and then he’s here in the NBA, the number two pick. And when we drafted him, we told you that the versatility is what we like about him, and we knew his defense was going to be ahead of his offense. Did I know he’d be the highle impact defender that he was year one? I did not. Um, but I was very, very impressed with that. A guy who has the slender build, likes to play with the ball, and is skilled to be fifth or sixth, whatever was in blocks last year. um but also be second in rim contests. So, he’s going after everything. Some of that is our defense. We need to be better on the perimeter and stop the rim attacks, but to be five or six in blocks, like number two in contest, like he’s getting after it. He’s impacting the game. And then what we love most about him is he does that at the rim and then he can go out and switch. And for us, when we ran the numbers, he was the number one most efficient switch defender in the NBA last year on anybody that had over 200 attempts. Alex was balling last year. Um, especially on the defensive end and on the offensive end, you saw the the versatility. So, again, I think the consistency and the effort will get better, but it was there. You can’t watch him play and say that that wasn’t the case. And for him to be in the rare air of a rookie to have 100 blocks, but also 100 assists and 100 threes. The other two guys that have done that are pretty good as well. Like, he he’s a versatile, skilled player. He’ll get more efficient. He’ll get more physical. He’s grown half an inch. like the guy is still growing. So like but he’s further away from being the the physical center that everybody I think wants more from him, but like he’s a skilled basketball player and he’s only going to get better and what he did in year one league rankings is pretty impressive. So happy for him and what he accomplished, but he he wants a lot more and we want it for him. So we’re excited to see what he does year two. How are you doing? How are you? Good. How are you? Um good. Uh Cam Whitmore, back to him. you you spoken on how high you are on him and how long you’ve been high on him. I did want to know, you know, what did you make of that he’s 21 first round pick, but Houston was still willing to trade him to you all. Um, I thought it was good for us. Um, it’s hard to put yourself in other people’s shoes and they have a lot going on. I think they’re at a more competitive area than we are in terms of more win now mode. Um, so as a front office and a organization, we want to be flexible to be able to take those shots and help other teams achieve their goals while we’re going through the rebuild. That’s important to us. And our evaluators, they grind. They work. Our pro group stayed on it. Um, you kind of pass the baton. It’s like, hey, grassroots guys watch you in high school, they pass the baton on to the amateur guys when they watch you in the NCAA or pros. You become a pro, you pass that folder on to the pro guys, and his name’s popping every single place. So, they’re going and watching his G-League games. They’re going and watching his workouts pregame. And we we don’t lose sight of who he is. Um I can vividly remember a conversation I had with him on draft day. And it was um if we take you, can you handle being home and everything that comes with it? You know what Washington basketball is about, like can you handle that? And we referenced that conversation the moment we traded for him. But again, other teams have pressures and demands and we’re here to kind of help facilitate that from time to time. But on that one, we were aggressive. if he was the player we wanted. Hey, well, how you doing? How we doing, B? Good. Um, one player I don’t believe has been touched on yet is Keshan. Um, it is a deep room on the wing as you mentioned. So, uh, what can he do to set himself aside in that room and what jumps are you looking for him to make this year? Yeah, appreciate you asking about Key. Um, he’s had as good a summer as anyone, I would say, just in terms of buying into the jump season. He’s been here as much as most. uh didn’t go back home too often other than to just like run a camp and give back to the kids and come right back. He’s taken the jump physically. I think when you guys see his shoulders and his body, um the lean body mass that he’s been able to add on is pretty good. Again, he’s 21. He’s 21 years old. Um he’s taken a jump in terms of leadership and bonding and getting the guys to to be together. So, he’s stepping up in those areas, but he’s not just a wing. He’s a basketball player. You can play him one through four and he knows what to do. he’s going to compete. I really enjoyed watching him take the opportunity with Team Canada this summer. Um, going down to Nicaragua to watch him and just be around those practices and see his mindset putting the ball in his hands, making decisions. He’s going to grow from those experiences and um, we feel very fortunate to have Key on the roster and again, he’s someone that’s going to push the group and try to fortify himself and we challenged him to do that. And with Bub Carrington, you did touch on him and you mentioned how good it was to see him constantly in the gym this summer. Uh last year obviously he had to play a little bit more of an offball role just with Jordan taking a lot of the point guard reps. This season, are you looking for him to play more on ball and how do you expect that development for him to go into year two? Yeah, I think it’ll be more natural. Um probably a question that BK can dive into a little bit more, but I think we want to see multiple ball handlers. We do want to continue to experiment and see what guys can do off ball, on the wing, like even summer league when you watch that. I thought you saw guys trying different things. Keshan posting up um Bub playing off wing pick and roll. Alex literally being the handler in pick and roll. So, we’ll we’ll try a lot of that stuff throughout the year, but I do anticipate Bub having the ball in his hands a good amount. Hey, Will. How you doing? Um good, thanks. uh looking at the competition that you speak of and trying to balance the vets egos whether old or young come into play at some point. How do you try to balance that and keep everybody understanding what the plan is, the development of the young guys, the guys in their second year with the opportunities they got last year, getting used to maybe not getting as many minutes this year potentially. Um, I would I guess I I’d take you into the room when I talk to the team a little bit and I said, I’m going to get asked a bunch of different questions. Um, what do you want me to say about our team? Like, what do you want the fans to know? What do you want the media to know about your team? And veteran group, rookie group, middle age players, whatever we want to call them. Like, we had everybody in there. And to a man, they were like, we are going to compete this year. um we’re going to compete in practice, we’re going to compete in games, we’re going to earn the respect of our opponents, and we’re going to earn the respect of um the fans, and that’s important to them. And defining Wizards basketball and what it looks like moving forward is the opportunity that they’re embracing. It’s a challenge, but it’s also a huge opportunity. And with that comes a lot of competition. And I told them 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 and that’s what’s going to sharpen iron. Um iron sharpens iron and that’s kind of what we want to do. So they’re embracing it. They’re ready to get after it. Um they’re not hiding from it. I literally was like, “Hey, these rookies got a lot of minutes this year. Who’s taking their spots?” Like that’s the mentality we got to have and everybody else’s spot is got to be like, “Yeah, that 72 minutes that we’re returning, I’m getting a piece of that.” Um, so I think that’s why I’m excited for camp to see kind of who shines and kind of who fights through it. But it’s a long season. Everybody’s going to get their opportunity, but the veterans aren’t going anywhere. They’re going to play and they’re going to hold their spots and they’re going to make us more competitive, but they’re also going to grow the group and foster the group because of that. So, everyone’s on the same page. They know what it is and they’re ready to get after it. And then from BK in his second full year, what do you want to see from him with regards to then balancing how those minutes go when you’ve only got a certain amount of minutes to give out? Yeah. Um I don’t know if there’s a better coach seated for the situation that we’re in just because of BK’s belief in player development, his belief in getting answers and seeing the big picture. So he’s been awesome to work with. Um him staff is come together this offseason. and they’ve gone on their own retreats to kind of figure out how we want to play and how we can use these players to the best of their ability and use the small ball lineups and the wings we have to get some of these answers. But again, we’re going to be judged on are we a more competitive team? Are we a more connected team? And the word that we’re using is don’t blink. Like we’re going to be hit with some hard times. We might be younger. We might be less physical. Might be down this, might be down that. A bad quarter doesn’t turn into a bad game. We don’t blink. We don’t flinch. we come right back. And that’s not something that is a age restriction on us. Like that’s a mentality and an effort thing. And I think you’ll hear our guys say like we we didn’t blink tonight. We we got hit, got punched in the mouth. Not by Bud Crawford, who’s pretty pretty elite after watching that fight. But we didn’t flinch. Like we came back and we swung. And I think that’s what we want to see from the team this year. And I think that’s what we’ll be judging our staff and our organization on the season. Uh, Will, what do you make of the Achilles injuries we’ve seen around the league? And with someone like Alex coming in with a calf injury, do those have to be managed any differently than maybe in the past? Yeah, I think it was very unfortunate for the league to have those three stars go down um in the playoffs all in the Eastern Conference and really just shape how everything was won this off seasonason. Um, but again, it’s probably more random than you think. It’s connected and we do our research and the league obviously does their research, but with each player, it’s different. And with Alex, we’re always going to put his player care first and and be more on the conservative side. But we’ve had looks and second looks and third opinions, and we feel pretty good about where he’s at, and we’ll take our time and not rush it to make sure he gets back. But again, it’s a tremendous league, a competitive league, and injuries are part of it. And I actually enjoyed watching the playoffs last year and seeing how teams kind of perverse persevered and pushed through that. But we’ve talked to the league office and the doctors there and they’re on pace for amount of injuries as there are per season and unfortunately just happen to be those and the timing of those. Um but again we have a high level performance team. Uh Danny Medina and his staff do a really really good job and we’ll take the players best interest in mind on everything we do. Thank you all for coming. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks.

General Manager Will Dawkins spoke to the media ahead of the Washington Wizards’ 2025 Training Camp.

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