The Washington Wizards are in the middle of training camp, where fans were inlong lines to attend an open practice at Capital One Arena yesterday. Before that practice, Bub Carrington was interviewed on WUSA-TV where he said that the Wizards were “held back because [they] were trying to get AJ Dybantsa. That’s no secret.”
Watch the video below.
Given the vision of Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger, I’m not surprised the Wizards prioritized youth over a competitive record. From that standpoint, the Wizards are held back. But of course, it’s not like Winger or General Manager Will Dawkins will tell the Wizards players explicitly to lose games.
The Wizards have less incentive to lose games this season because they have Dybantsa now as their presumptive franchise player. A new lottery system that takes effect for next year’s draft penalizes the bottom three teams in the standings.
Do I think Carrington had to say this out loud? No. That’s simply because the Wizards’ actions indicated their direction quite clearly over the last several seasons.
