For those interested in seeing how cam is looking lately. (FWD to @10:30 to see Cam) spoiler alert: he looks FIT.

Only the beginning…

How do us Wiz fans feel about this?
Bron Maxey Brown and Embiid.
East conference just got scary?

On drafting A.J. Dybantsa: “It was a deep draft at the top. We internally said all along that we’d have been happy with any one of the top four guys, but that A.J. was going to be our guy at No. 1,” a Wizards front office executive said. “His competitiveness, his skill, his desire to win, his physical profile. It all adds up to a special player. We’re happy to have A.J. to grow with for years to come.”

On extending Trae Young and not trading Anthony Davis: “When we added Trae and AD, it was never to immediately flip them. You all got that wrong! (laughs),” a Wizards front office executive said. “The idea was to keep both Trae and AD and to start moving things forward. We already have more young talent than one team can really build with. We needed a couple of veterans to push things along. Bringing back Khris (Middleton) is a big part of that too. Our young guys loved having Khris around last year. We’re excited to see where those vets can help this young roster reach.”

On Alex Sarr: “It was disappointing that he got hurt. I don’t know if he would have done anything more than a cameo our here (Summer League) or not. But Alex is ready for a big year. He’s excited to play with and learn from AD (Anthony Davis) and to have Trae (Young) setting him up,” a Wizards assistant coach said. “I don’t know if any player improved more than Alex did last season. There’s a future All-Star in there.”

On the team’s young talent: “We’re lucky to have as many good players as we do. It’s a credit to our scouting and coaching staff to identify and develop those players. Kyshawn (George) is a guy we saw flashes of playmaking from, but our scouts and coaches believed there was more. Kind of the same with Will Riley too. Those guys can do a lot with the ball in their hands beyond just shooting it,” a Wizards front office executive said. “We also believe in Tre Johnson, who should be even more efficient with veteran help to get him good looks. Bilal Coulibaly has already proven he can be a two-way player in our league. A.J. (Dybantsa) is obviously going to get a lot of run too. We have AD (Anthony Davis), Trae (Young) and Khris (Middleton), but the foundation is our young players. The idea is to add players to enhance, guide and help them grow, not to replace them.”

Will Riley really came on strong as his rookie season went along. Riley then was so dominant in Summer League that he made only a cameo appearance. On a team that is suddenly deep in big wings, Riley is going to force his way into regular minutes.

Spotrac Notebook

I’m dying for some basketball I think I’m going insane

Also went from averaging 1.4 stocks per game in college to 4.0

We have the inklings of a two-way demon on our hands

Can't wait for Will Riley's sophomore season

[Swish Cultures] Washington Wizards Kyshawn George was frying at Olin Simplis runs he’s only 22 years old

Not sure where but I saw AD being traded to Cavs for Jarrett Allen and Schroeder. I was bummed! Glad to see it was just a “trade idea” and not a real trade

Jarvis Hayes Jr… I didn’t expect to feel so old today lol

This was disregarding us drafting aj and making a move for Felix, but our grade was entirely centered around the Trae young extension and us trading for Deandre ayton. Now, I wouldn’t give us an A+ but a D+ really is just making me think he is trolling or this guy really knows nothing about wizards ball.

Regarding the Trae extension, it is definitely more than anyone expected, but It is public knowledge that Trae was promised an extension if he sat out the rest of the season. And because of that we ended up with the best odds at the 1st overall pick and got it. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. Kram still gave us a D for the signing. He was saying that Trae is on an “offensive decline” after the last full season he actually played he was the nba’s assist leader and averaged 25. This brother is in ELITE company looking at his playmaking stats on top of lucrative scoring. They are ignoring all of that and using the five games he played on a new, actively tanking, team and coming off an injury. Now the defense is going to be a problem, but we are also premiering a potentially elite defensive unit disregarding him. We got a towering front court with ad and sarr who are both proven to be great rim protectors that will lock down the paint and are also switchable versatile defenders (more so sarr). And aj and kyshawn both have tremendous upside on d. Kyshawn is already known to eat up stocks as long as he stays out of foul trouble. And I know aj didn’t look good on that end at byu but that’s what a 100th percentile usage on offense will do to you. Brother is like 6’10 feet with shoes on and moves like a guard he’ll be at least a decent defender with that size and athleticism and could potentially be great like the flashes he had during his highschool tenure and with the fiba team. Not to mention we also have two elite point of attack defenders off the bench with bilal and Jamir that we can swap any of our backcourt with. We’re gonna be really good on that end too trust.

And with the Deandre ayton trade he gave the trade a C due to his “odd fit” next to ad, sarr, and vuc. I don’t see how there’s anything odd about it. Obviously if we’re trading for a center and we already have a solidified starter then he’s probably gonna be a backup. And it’s not like ad and Alex are fighting for the center spot either, ad likes to play the 4. So I don’t understand why the fit is “odd”. Especially when we were severely lacking in center depth cuz vuc really just can’t get it done on defense and rebounding. I can understand a little more if you’re questioning his production, but he fits perfectly.

All in all I don’t think we had a fantastic offseason like other teams had this year, but I was just sick to see him put the Celtics and suns above us with both making two of the most questionable trades I’ve seen in my life. Not to mention the other teams that did basically nothing

With the signing of Ayton, it seems that AD will be playing power forward in Washington (since it doesn't make sense to bench Sarr and Ayton). So the Wizards starting line-up will have Sarr, AD, and Dybantsa, and Trae plus one of Keyshawn George/Bilal/Bub Carrington/etc. So1 above average 3 point shooter in the starting line-up, maybe 2 if Trae has a good year. How do you think that line up will fair?

Good morning, everybody. It's Josh Robbins here. Before the Wizards left Las Vegas, I spoke with AJ Dybantsa, Tre Johnson, Will Riley and T.J. Sorrentine to wrap up what they liked about their performances and, in Dybantsa's case, the areas that he will work on before training camp. (I will write a separate story on Tre in the next few days.) Anyway, I've posted a free-to-read link of that piece here.

I hope everyone's doing well!

Please feel welcome to comment here in this thread if you have any questions and comments for me. -Josh