We Need To Talk About The Wizards

We Need To Talk About The Wizards

The Wizards have taken the idea of a rebuild to a completely different level. Between the stacking of young talent and an active offseason, things are starting to look interesting in Washington. But what can we expect from them in 2026? And what can we make of their future? Last season, it felt like the Wizards had serious direction for the first time in a while. Sure, they were statistically the worst offense and third worst defense in the league, resulting in just 18 wins. But by the end of the year, they really started to put some of the right pieces in the right place. It sort of started in February when they traded Kyle Koozman to the Bucks, which not only brought in an awesome veteran presence in Chris Middleton, it also brought in rookie AJ Johnson, who had some pretty nice flashes in his brief time with the team. And flashes, or spurts of growth, were literally everything for them. As a 19-year-old point guard, Bob Carrington showcased some impressive perimeter shot creation. Alex Sar was another 19-year-old rookie who showed a little bit as the man in the middle. Keshan George was a little bit older, a 21-year-old rookie, and he showed some nice potential, while 21-year-old sophomore Bal Koulali showed off his impressive tools. The flashes were there. It’s just that collectively, this was still an awfully raw team on both ends of the floor. The shot creation wasn’t great, nor was the shot making or the playmaking or the rebounding or the defense. And that’s why they won just 18 games. Like I said though, you could see the direction they were going in with this young core. And maybe my favorite stat from their season was the fact that if you go by minutes played, they had an average age of just 23.8 years old in their rotation, which was the youngest of any team. That’s an especially cool number because they went into this off seasonason with a mission of getting even younger. The Wizards gave playing time to 11 players who were at least 25 years old. Of those 11, they brought back Chris Middleton, Cory Kisper, and Marvin Baggley. Essentially, they cleaned the house of current talent, then brought in CJ McCollum. I think CJ and Middleton are awesome vets for the young core because beyond the locker room stuff or potential mentorship, both are elite shooters who can play without the ball. So, they’re going to provide space and both are capable creators who are very good passers, meaning they’re going to put offball guys in the right spots to succeed. After those two though, the roster is pretty much just a conglomerate of young talent. They’ve got 11 players who are 23 or younger, two 24 year olds, and two 26 year olds. This entire season will be focused on player development and hoping to see more flashes. What’s interesting though is that their core essentially covers every position, every archetype, and every skill. So, the only question is what’s going to work long term? 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You heard that right. That’s code hoop venuefb50 at factor75.com to get 50% off plus free breakfast for an entire year. I’m pretty confident that Bug Carrington’s going to start at the point. He’s a big combo guard with high feel who can make a wide variety of passes. Most of his creation is done on the perimeter. His confidence as a pull-up jump shooter is off the charts, meaning he’s not only a big-time threat from outside, he’s a threat from the mid-range with a good enough handle to consistently create separation. With that said, though, he really lacks burst and overall agility, he’s not the fastest and doesn’t have much vertical pop. So, not only does he struggle to get around defenders from a standstill, he’d rather pull up for a short jumper than attempt to finish through traffic. As a result, in his rookie season, he landed in the bottom six percentile in both scoring volume and efficiency at the rim while barely getting to the line. That’s pretty limiting to his ceiling. It’s hard to imagine a lead creator who can’t generate much downhill pressure. But as an offg guard, his size, shooting, and connectivity all bode well, and he’s got the tools to be serviceable on defense. For a completely different look though, they’ve got another sophomore in AJ Johnson. He only played 29 games, so it’s a much smaller sample to work with, but those were a pretty loud 29. Like Bob, he’s another big combo guard. The difference is that he’s ridiculously quick and has that ability to consistently get around defenders. He also has the vertical pop to get up and finish through traffic and the touch to score from floater range. It’s almost like he’s the inverse because his perimeter game is still a ways away. He’s a confident pull-up three-point shooter who hasn’t yet shown the shotmaking and his mid-range game is pretty much non-existent. He’s also a lot skinnier, which limits his ability to deal with pressure or added physicality. He desperately needs to add some strength to be an impact player on both ends, but like Bub has the tools to be a serviceable defender. So you can see the makings of a slash first creator who can play with or without the ball and with the right trajectory that could be a nice one-two punch between him and Bub as two big Tulie guards who bring different skill sets between those two and CJ. The backcourt rotation is a little bit thin, but then they’ve got just this absolute surplus of wings. It’s year three for Balaku Loali, which means it’s time to start turning some of those flashes into consistent value. I’m fully sold on him as a highle wing defender. He’s 6’8 with a 7 foot2 wingspan and just a ridiculous defensive athlete. He’s quick enough to keep shifty guards in front of him. His wiry frame helps him get around screens while still having the size to switch onto most positions. He’s gifted vertically so he can offer a legitimate presence as a secondary rim protector. And he’s got good hands, capable of making plays on the ball in a variety of ways. All things considered, he seems like a big-time defensive chess piece moving forward, and it wouldn’t shock me to see him on some all defensive teams. However, that rides on the offense being good enough to demand serious playing time. Those physical tools I talked about, as well as a quick first step and generally high feel for the game, make him a serious threat as an interior finisher, whether that’s attacking a closeout, cutting into open space, or running the floor in transition where he’s at his best. However, he’s a weak ball handler who really can’t create from a standstill or in traffic. And he’s an even weaker shooter. Since entering the league, he’s made just 29% of his mid-range shots and 30% of his catch and shoot threes, as well as a weaker 73% from the line. He fits the profile of someone who depends on his team to score. Alongside CJ and Middleton, we should see some more of that, but long-term, he’s the type of guy who’s going to need multiple creators and multiple shooters to maximize his game, which then unlocks the playing time for that defensive juice. That’s a bit different from secondyear wing Keshan George. He lacks explosive athleticism and isn’t very quick. So, he’s a much more perimeter reliant scorer whose development rides on whether or not he can be a volume three-point shooter. If that pans out, everything else with George is incredibly exciting. He’s a jumbosized point forward who can handle the ball, play at multiple different speeds, and make a wide variety of passes while having a really intriguing defensive skill set, using his size and length to offer secondary rim protection or make plays on the ball, and moving well enough to hold his own against multiple positions. It doesn’t stop there, though. They spent the bulk of their off season loading up on wings. Even going back to the draft, they picked up Trey Johnson with the sixth pick. Trey is a big, lengthy wing with a good enough handle to create his own shot from anywhere. He’s a good enough decision maker and passer to develop into a legitimate secondary playmaker, and he can play with or without the ball, where his standout skill is his superb difficult shotmaking. However, he can be a bit overrelyant on tough shot taking due to a few physical limitations. So, you don’t get that high-end rim pressure, which sounds an awful lot like Chris Middleton, who leveraged his difficult shot making, ball handling, and passing into all-star type of value for years and eventually a championship. Middleton also turned himself into a very good defender, though, and that’s maybe the biggest swing skill for Trey. He needs to put on strength, needs to prove he’ll buy in, and needs to leverage his height and length into at least serviceable defensive play. After all, he’s 19 years old, so he’s got time. And that applies to the other first round pick they walked out of the draft with, 19-year-old wing Will Riley. Like Trey, he’s a flawed defender who’s going to have to find ways to be serviceable on defense. He also needs to add size to his wiry frame in order to deal with NBA physicality. He’s really unique, though, because the selling point with him is his potential as a jump shooter, and he stands 6’8 barefoot. Between the height and a quick release, he can get the three-point shot off with volume, and he can do so off the dribble or off the catch. If he turns out to be a guy who demands respect, everything else opens up. Between a decent handle, decent in between game, good coordination, and solid passing, the roots of a dynamic offball weapon are there. As soon as the draft cycle was over, they picked up Cam Whitmore. He’s probably the most proven scorer of the young core. Not only is he a reliable catch and shoot guy, he’s got super impressive physical tools. He’s big and powerful, has an explosive first step, can get above the rim. So, you get serious downhill pressure from him both with and without the ball. Whereas all of these young guys have to improve the scoring to maximize their other skills. Cam’s the inverse. The scoring is there, but between a lack of vision or passing ability, poor decision-making, and inconsistency on defense. He really couldn’t find minutes on a competitive Rockets team. With a fresh start, it’ll be all about building the right habits. He’ll have more responsibility. He might even be a big volume scorer. How much else is there? During that time, they also picked up Dylan Jones. He was in a similar situation to Whitmore. He basically didn’t get to play in his rookie season as a member of the eventual NBA champions. While he has a big NBA ready frame, uses his size and length well on drives, and can make a wide variety of passes, he’s a super limited athlete, hasn’t shown any indication of being a legitimate jump shooter, and is pretty awkward defensively. So unless the defense or three-point shot significantly changes, it’s hard to see him getting consistent burn at the NBA level. As for the rest of the wings, while they’re still on the younger side, I think it’s pretty obvious what you’re getting from each. Cory Kissper is an incredible offball mover and shooter who’s going to open up the floor. Justin Champagne is a reliable spot-up shooter with high feel for cutting or crashing the glass, who also does a pretty good job of using his length to make plays defensively. Then if Malachi Brandham gets minutes, he’s a bit of a jack of all trades. Okay, we need to reset for a second because I just talked about a lot of different players. It’s worth noting that Cory Kissper is arguably the only one who I’m confident is a legitimate positive impact player right now. Whether it’s being young and raw or having major flaws that need to be developed, this entire rebuild rides on upside. What’s interesting is that because they went for so many different archetypes, they cover most skills. They’ve got ball handlers and playmakers. They’ve got shooters and slashers. They’ve got guys who can play with or without the ball. They’ve got versatile defenders and rim protectors. The problem is that it’s all spread out among 11 players, so translating it into one lineup is really tough and relies on a few guys hitting on those swing skills. Either way, it relies even more on the big man spot coming together, which means everything rides on Alex Sar. He was the number two overall pick from 2024, and as things currently stand, he’s the centerpiece of this rebuild. He’s a part of this new breed of 3D 7-footers. The question is how much of that shooting is real. He’s proven he’ll take them with volume, attempting almost seven threes per 36 minutes as a rookie and 341 total over the season. He only made 31% of them though, which wouldn’t worry me coming from a rookie if there were other positive indicators. In his one season overseas, he shot less than 30%. Then from the free throw line, he’s been at just 71% and 68% respectively, meaning that the indicators for shotmaking are just really lacking. Moving forward, he has to prove he can be a reliable shooter because if he is from the five position, that opens up everything. All of a sudden, Koulabali’s own lack of spacing is less detrimental. Things are easier for guards like Bub or AJ to get downhill, and a guy like Whitmore is maximized as an interior scorer. Even more so than the three-point shooting, though, the biggest swing skill for Sar is his ability to finish plays near the basket. Last season, he landed in just the 12th percentile as a pick and roll big, scoring less than8 points per possession. That was a result of lackluster finishing, making less than 64% of his shots at the rim despite almost all of them being assisted. As a 7 ft offball big, this simply has to improve for him to bring any sort of meaningful offensive value. And there’s no better time for him to work on these things than when he’s alongside two veteran pick and roll playmakers. If he can become somewhat of a rim presence, it’ll open up the floor for some of the other skills he showed, such as his short roll playmaking. As far as the defense goes, I’m not worried at all. I think he showed enough as a rim protector in year one to at least prove that he’s got a high defensive floor. Sure, he still needs to put on some strength and can improve his positioning, but the shot blocking is already a big value ad. Alongside other secondary rim protectors like Koulali and George, you can see the makings of a nice defensive backline. With all of that said, there’s absolutely no way to predict what they end up doing with the rotation. I feel confident that this is their starting five, but who knows about the bench. They could give Champagne big minutes, could prioritize rookie development. The only thing I do know is that there aren’t many NBA ready impact players. So, what’s easier to predict is their season expectations. I like the versatility of their young core and the length at every position. Outside of that, they’re a deeply flawed team on both sides of the ball that probably won’t end up winning 20 games. Like I said, it’s all about internal development for the Wizards, which also means it’s all about experimentation. Find what works, find what doesn’t. hopefully hit on some swing skills, then in the offseason retool with another lottery pick to add to the youngest core in the game.

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The Washington Wizards have taken the idea of a rebuild to a completely different level, putting together maybe the youngest collection of talent we’ve ever seen. But, what can we make of their future?

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