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The Washington Wizards have not won a playoff series since the 2016-17 NBA season, when they defeated the Atlanta Hawks in six games.
No Wizards head coach has a winning record leaving the team since Bernie Bickerstaff was fired in 1999.
At the time, Wes Unseld Sr. was Washington’s general manager.
After the shooting, Unseld said, “As far as I’ve watched the game, it just felt like it wasn’t working.” “I was looking for something to happen. I felt they hadn’t happened, so I decided to do what I did.”
And that was it.
Changes were made because the General Manager’s vision was not being realized on the court.
But what if the general manager’s approach is flawed and its execution a minefield of mistakes?
Especially after forward Rui Hachimura was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, we get what Washington fans have been witnessing for years.
It’s just a recent failure, part of a pattern that can be traced back to the arrival of General Manager and Team President Tommy Shepard.
Shepard was hired by the team in 2003 and brought an approach to building through the NBA Draft.
Developing locally grown talent to become a consistent challenger in the Eastern Conference.
Although Shepard did not become general manager until 2019, he has been an integral part of the decision-making process for 20 years.
And it’s only recently that he’s shown an effort to make meaningful deals, even ones that ultimately bear little fruit.
Focusing on the draft, the Wizards have turned just two drafted players into All-Stars since Shepard arrived in the franchise.
Guards Bradley Beal and John Wall have both appeared in eight games.
None of their teammates, drafted or not, have ever made it to the All-Stars.
This is the second lowest number in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference.
And on that same stretch, only the Philadelphia 76ers can match the Wizards, who have reached the Conference Semifinals at least four times since 2003 without making it to the Conference Finals again.
But even the 76ers drafted and developed four All-Star players (Andre Iguodala, Drew Holiday, Joel Embid and Ben Simmons) during Shepard’s influence in Washington.
But the common thread between Washington and Philadelphia’s failures is that they’ve never had more than one of these All-Stars on the roster at one time.
Meanwhile, six teams in the Eastern Conference have accomplished what the Wizards have done since Shepard’s arrival, but at least made it to the Conference Finals.
While Washington takes a homegrown approach to roster building, it produces the third-lowest self-made All-Star appearances among its franchise population.
But it’s not just the inability to turn drafted players into All-Stars, it’s also the number of wasted draft picks at stake for players who didn’t last long enough to be remembered as the Wizards.
From 2003 to 2019, the Wizards left the NBA Draft with a total of 22 players.
Only five made it past four seasons.
Two of these five traded for the fifth time.
After being traded to the Lakers on Monday, Hachimura was the 17th player to be drafted by the Washington team and did not see the end of his four seasons with the team.
Of the three Wizards who have not yet reached the fourth year of their NBA careers, forward Deni Avdija is also rumored to be leaving and rookie point guard Johnny Davis is doing nothing to win front office credit. not.
Shepard may not have been General Manager for the last 20 seasons, but he helped with all the misplaced bricks.
In return, he won a new contract and added a title, but Washington fans spent another two years of mediocrity and wasted star power.
All the while waiting to see how long it will take for their favorite franchise to finally figure it out.
Related article: More about Rui Hachimura Kendrick Nantrade
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