As the Washington Wizards commit fully to a long-term rebuild, the organization has begun investing heavily in its behind-the-scenes infrastructure and support staff.
Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reports that Washington’s willingness to spend off the court has been noticed by top prospects, with recent high-end talents like Alex Sarr and Ace Bailey showing genuine enthusiasm about the possibility of landing in D.C.
Yet the franchise’s on-court struggles raise legitimate concerns. With a 1–12 record and the league’s worst net rating at -16.1, Josh Robbins of The Athletic questions whether the level of losing the Wizards are experiencing could hinder the development of their most promising young players.
Veteran wing Corey Kispert, one of the older rotation members at 26, offered a nuanced perspective when asked about that challenge.
“The guys that are in the building now that are first- and second-year players have a much greater opportunity to play a ton more minutes than I ever did my first couple of years,” Kispert said. “That’s for better or for worse, but they can come in and they can play and they can try things and they grow on the floor. And that’s a really big blessing for them, and they should absolutely take advantage of that.
“But what that does impair, I think, is that winning is a skill and learning how to win is a skill. And it’s not something that you can just flip on and off from year to year. That’s something that you have to be taught and you have to practice. Those games where we are in crunch-time situations – like Detroit, for example, a few games ago (on Nov. 10) – that’s a learning opportunity for our young guys to learn how to win and what it takes to close out games.
“I’m really looking forward to these guys getting more opportunities to learn how to win, and I hope that us as vets can teach them that within our practices and within our games, whether it’s a word on the sideline or the way that we play or the way we try to play.”
Southeast Notes: Wizards, Black, Heat, Butler, Jakucionis https://t.co/IvtXX9zx4n pic.twitter.com/XXjtWauem9
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) November 19, 2025
