NBA GMs believe Wizards had a top-five offseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The 2021 NBA offseason saw the Wizards completely reshuffle their roster, acquiring depth, shooting and defense in massive trade sending Russell Westbrook to the Lakers.
Spencer Dinwiddie, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, Aaron Holiday and rookie Corey Kispert are now all set to make their Wizards debuts once the season starts later this month. Tommy Sheppard's series of transactions made the Wizards a better team and general managers across the league seem to think so too.
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In the league's annual general manager survey, the Wizards were one of the top vote-getters for teams who made the best offseason moves.
- Miami Heat – 47%
- Los Angeles Lakers – 17%
- Brooklyn Nets – 7%
- Houston Rockets – 7%
- Washington Wizards – 7%
Miami was the overwhelming winner here after acquiring Kyle Lowry in a sign-and-trade with the Raptors. With Lowry, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, the Heat are built to contend in the East right now, which certainly helps them win this particular category.
In other areas of the survey, the Wizards were featured in two more categories. They were among teams who received votes for which club would be most improved from last season. The Bulls won that category with 27% of the vote.
The other, and perhaps more controversial topic, was where Bradley Beal fell in the survey's list of top shooting guards.
- James Harden, Brooklyn – 63%
- Devin Booker, Phoenix – 17%
- Luka Doncic, Dallas – 10%
Beal didn't make the top three, as Harden, Booker and Doncic ate up most of the vote. The Wizards' star was among those also receiving votes with Kevin Durant and Steph Curry.
Maybe if the positions were clearly outlined, Beal would've fared better in this survey. Doncic as a shooting guard? When has he ever done anything on the court that resembles an off-ball offensive role? Doncic also got votes in the point guard poll, so that should tell you how loose the position rules are in this thing.
Oh well, Harden still won by a landslide.
The Wizards will get a chance to see all their offseason additions on the floor together on Tuesday night as they kick off their preseason schedule against the Rockets.
