The Washington Wizards have their sights set on competing next season if the blockbuster trades for Trae Young and Anthony Davis haven’t already made that crystal clear.

Still, before the team can get to that point, they have the golden opportunity to cap off their rebuild by landing a premiere prospect in the 2026 NBA Draft.

As the offseason slowly approaches, NBA Mock Draft season is in full swing and fans of team’s like the Wizards can’t help but monitor each mock hoping their squad comes away with one of the big three prospects expected to be atop draft boards.

Despite that, it may be time for fans to prepare for the possibility that Washington not only misses out on a top three pick once again this offseason, but the harsh reality that the team may find themselves in position to select a prospect that wasn’t even one of the team’s top three choices.

Nonetheless, looking at Bleacher Reports’ most recent mock draft, this scenario for the Wizards would be far from worst-case scenario.

In fact, it could be a sleeper pick.

Wizards select Keaton Wagler No. 5 overall

In NBA Draft AnalystJonathan Wasserman’s most recent mock draft for Bleacher Report, the Washington Wizards find themselves at No. 5 overall, where they make the best out of a bad situation selection Illinois star Keaton Wagler.

Obviously, Wagler isn’t a name many fans are rooting for and with talents like Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer available, it’s easy to get lost in the hype.

I’ll admit, even I have gotten lost in the hype when discussing ideal targets for the Wizards upcoming lottery pick.

However, after sitting on the idea of Wagler landing in Washington, I like it more by the second.

At 6-foot-6, the freshman guard already has tremendous size for the position and his upside throughout the season has been on full display, especially as of late.

Averaging 18.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists, while shooting 45.6% from field goal range and 42% from beyond the arc, Wagler has impressed in his lone season at Illinois.

Not to mention, his recent 46-point outing against top ranked Purdue only added fuel to the hype train.

While Wagler may not be viewed as one of the premiere talents of this draft, it’s not because of a lack of talent, but more so because of the blue-chip prospects ranked ahead of him being more household names.

Regardless, Wagler in Brian Keefe’s system would fit perfectly and the potential of him to develop under the likes of Trae Young and alongside Tre Johnson could be extremely dangerous moving forward for the Wizards.