Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington was not hiding his team’s tanking tactics from last season.
Carrington, a former lottery pick himself, implied in a recent interview that the Wizards were playing for the ping-pong balls last season. The No. 14 overall selection in 2024 sat down with WUSA9’s Marshall Kramsky and discussed the team’s outlook for next season.
The Pitt alum admitted the Wizards intentionally “held back” the team to increase their chances of landing the first overall pick in this year’s draft. The plan ultimately worked out, with Washington picking AJ Dybantsa with the first overall pick in June.
“We just haven’t been told yet to go be the best version of yourself,” Carrington told Kramsky, who asked the third-year guard to explain further.
“We’ve all, in a way, been held back just because, like you said, we were trying to get AJ Dybantsa. That’s no secret. That’s no secret. But now, no one has handcuffs. Everyone’s shackles-free. So that alone is already a conversation starter. But then you put that on top of the coaching, on top of the vets that we have. That’s a playoff team, and that’s gonna happen.”
Most fans felt the Wizards were obviously tanking last season, particularly when they made two midseason trades for injured stars Trae Young and Anthony Davis. Young played in only five games, while Davis never took the court for Washington after arriving in a deadline deal.
What is surprising is hearing a young player like Carrington openly admit to his own team “handcuffing” players in an effort to make them play worse for the sake of draft lottery odds.
The NBA imposed massive fines on the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers for alleged tanking practices last season. But according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Josh Robbins, the NBA “is not expected” to penalize Carrington or the Wizards over the point guard’s comments.