The way in which the OKC Thunder went about their six-year rebuild is truly remarkable, and the recent debacle between Marcus Smart and the Washington Wizards only strengthens this notion.
Over the last few months, Washington has fully committed to steering into their roster teardown by selling off their upper-echelon on-court assets with the hopes of not only bettering their odds of landing a high-end lottery pick but also acquiring commodities that they could look to flip for more draft capital down the road.
As far as enviable draft placement is concerned, this tank has already gone according to plan, as the ball club just managed to scoop up SEC Freshman of the Year Tre Johnson with the sixth overall pick in this past June's festivities.
However, when it comes to their presumed goal of exchanging their veteran talents attained via trade for more desirable, rebuild-friendly resources, they're clearly struggling.
Their failure to find an interested buyer for Smart's services serves as the most recent example of this.
Wizards rebuild already failing to follow in the footsteps of Thunder
Following their decision to end the Russell Westbrook era out in the Sooner State, the Thunder quickly shifted their attention toward acquiring faded veterans attached to short-term, expiring deals and, amid their rebuild, focused on reconstructing the players' value to a point where they could be flipped for more assets.
From sending Chris Paul to the Suns back in 2020 for a return package headlined by a 2022 protected first-round pick (which turned into All-Star Jalen Williams) to the trade that shipped Al Horford to Boston in the summer of 2021 for a deal including the 16th overall pick in that year's draft (later flipped for two future first-round picks), OKC seemed to have figured out a formula for success.
Of course, though the franchise may have made it look super easy, said formula may not be as simple as "adding a veteran player will eventually lead to a trade for future capital."
The Wizards are finding this out the hard way.
As things currently stand, the primary reward that Washington has to show for their efforts in the veteran acquisition department is a measly $6.8 million returned to them in the recent Smart buyout.
Now, the focus is shifting to what their plans may be for the likes of CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton.
Like Smart, both of these two ballers were acquired by the franchise over the past several months and, with their age, league-wide recognition, and proven track record of helping winning teams, were never seen as long-term staples for the cellar-dwelling Wizards.
Can they somehow find a way to make either one of these fallen stars earning north of $30 million next season interesting enough for a contender to pull the trigger on some sort of mid-season trade? Or, will they also be bought out by the club sometime between now and post-trade deadline, leaving the Wizards with nothing to show for their residency?
Considering how the Smart situation went down, Wizards fans shouldn't expect the organization to follow in the footsteps of the Thunder.