The Washington Wizards will be back in action on The Team 980 on Friday night when they travel to Memphis, and at 2-4, it might look like another long slog of a season – but the squad has played hard, and well, in losses, and things are coming together even if the W-L column does not show it.
One of the keys to that is Corey Kispert, who signed a four-year, $54 million extension last month, and is averaging 10.2 points while playing 30.3 minutes off the bench as the sixth man to earn that money.
“You have no idea how stressful those conversations and that negotiation can be until you're actually in it!” Kispert told Chris Russell Thursday. “It was about a month and a half of talking back and forth, and it was a super-productive process, but it took years off my life just considering the enormity of the situation! That being said, thrilled with how it concluded, and super happy to put it to bed and focus on the game that I love on the court, rather than all the business side of it.”
Kispert was drafted coming off the Wizards’ last playoff appearance, but after 35 wins each of his first two seasons, they have 17 in the last 88 games – but that rebuild never wavered Kispert’s desire to be a building block for the next wave of Wizards glory.
“That was a big part of all the negotiations; everybody's situation is different, and my situation is turned into one where it's a longer-term vision than other teams, right?” Kispert said. “The horizon’s longer, you have more room to grow and more room to expand your game and expand your kind of foothold in an organization, and luckily, these guys believe that I can be a part of it. All of those factors go into the process of signing a new contract, and it's a unique experience and opportunity. A lot of other guys who signed rookie extensions are playing for teams with lot shorter windows and shorter horizons, but here you kind of have an opportunity to invest in a little bit of a longer period than some other players.”
And Kispert has a nice role on this team: he once led the NBA in three-point percentage, and now, he can be that three-and-D wing coming off the bench to give the team a boost – but he’s capable of doing a lot of other things, too.
“I was a really elite-level finisher around the rim for my position last year, and that's a testament to the work that I put in as well,” Kispert said. “Anybody that watches the game with the naked eye can tell you that I can shoot it, and it's my job to have a counter for that kind of scouting report. So whether it’s putting the ball on the deck when guys run me off the three-point line, or screening and rolling and getting in the paint, making plays for others, but especially finishing at the rim, that's kind of been the next evolution of my game, is to make teams pay for only thinking that I can just shoot threes and trying to get me off the line and be ok with that.”
And about that defense?
“Deefensively has been a long, long road of getting better, and if you were to look at me two years ago and then look at me now guarding the ball, it feels night and day to me,” Kispert said. “A lot of that has to do with scouting reports on our end, making sure that I'm completely dialed in there, but then also the actual physical way that I move, and being more capable in the weight room to move more efficiently and guard these guys that are world-class athletes. If the shot is not falling, I can kind of lean back on those two things and still make a major impact on the game and help the team win.”
Take a listen to Kispert’s entire visit above, as he talks about how he’s been helping rookie No. 2 pick Alex Sarr, the team’s camaraderie, their vision for this season, and more!