Dawkins Calls It a 'Season of Growth,' and That's a Fair Warning

Will Dawkins met with reporters Thursday and put a label on what's coming: a season of growth. Not a championship window, not a statement year — growth. For a franchise that went 17-65 last spring and lost ten straight to close it out, that framing is honest, maybe even necessary.

The roster Dawkins built is genuinely different. Trae Young is running the point, AJ Dybantsa is in on opening night as the No. 1 pick, and Deandre Ayton is in the middle. That's a real core, assembled fast. But the problem that sank last year's team wasn't a talent shortage so much as an execution one — Washington won barely a third of its close games, a pattern that showed up too consistently to wave off as bad luck. New names don't automatically fix that.

So "season of growth" is doing some work here. It sets expectations without abandoning ambition, and it gives the coaching staff room to let Dybantsa develop without the pressure of a must-win mandate. The early schedule will tell us something real — the home opener against Milwaukee and the NBA Cup date against Boston are coming fast, and both will show whether this group can hold a lead when the game tightens.

That's the only question that matters right now. Dawkins can frame the year however he wants. The close games will frame it for him.