The Washington Wizards have completed Year 3 of their rebuild, ending a \u201cdeconstruction phase\u201d that included countless trades, six first-round picks and 196 losses.<\/p>\n
General Manager Will Dawkins said the team will \u201ctry to compete\u201d next season, but hesitated to provide greater expectations. It appears Washington will use the 2026-27 season as an evaluation year, one to identify which young pieces to build around, which veterans should stick around and more.<\/p>\n
But first comes the 2026 offseason \u2014 an important period that could shape the franchise\u2019s next decade of contention. Washington owns a top-five pick in the upcoming draft, which has a 52.1% chance of improving to a top-four pick, plus two others in the second round.<\/p>\n
While the draft is important, it\u2019s far from the only marquee event from now until opening night in October. Below is a full breakdown of the key dates surrounding Washington\u2019s rebuild this offseason.<\/p>\n
May 10: NBA Draft Lottery<\/p>\n
Washington\u2019s pick odds at the upcoming NBA Draft Lottery are as follows:<\/p>\n
1st pick: 14.0%2nd pick: 13.4%3rd pick: 12.7%4th pick: 12.0%5th pick: 47.9%<\/p>\n
The NBA\u2019s worst team hasn\u2019t landed the No. 1 pick since the league switched to its current lottery system in 2019. The last time the worst team got the top pick was in 2018 when the Phoenix Suns selected Deandre Ayton.<\/p>\n
May 10-17: NBA Draft Combine<\/p>\n
The draft combine is a weeklong event held in Chicago. It\u2019s an opportunity for league executives, coaches and scouts to evaluate players\u2019 weight, height, athleticism, shooting and more while they compete against their fellow prospects.<\/p>\n
May\/June: Pre-draft workouts<\/p>\n
The period between the draft lottery and the draft itself consists of speculation, mock drafts and more. But for teams, it serves as a six-week period to host group and individual workouts with the draft\u2019s top prospects.<\/p>\n
Under Dawkins and Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger, the Wizards have been discreet throughout the pre-draft process. While some teams post their workout participants to social media, Washington keeps its information close to the vest.<\/p>\n
June 23: Round 1 of the NBA Draft<\/p>\n
The Wizards finished with the NBA\u2019s worst record, which means they can pick no lower than No. 5 in this year\u2019s draft. The consensus top-four in this draft have separated from the rest on most big boards, with a cluster of talented guards entering the conversation at the fifth pick.<\/p>\n
The consensus top-four prospects, in no particular order, are as follows:<\/p>\n
AJ Dybantsa, F, BYUDarryn Peterson, G, KansasCameron Boozer, F, DukeCaleb Wilson, F, North Carolina<\/p>\n
Prospects Washington could target at No. 5, should that be their pick:<\/p>\n
Darius Acuff, G, ArkansasKeaton Wagler, G, IllinoisKingston Flemings, G, HoustonMikel Brown, G, Louisville<\/p>\n
June 24: Round 2 of the NBA Draft<\/p>\n
Washington owns the following picks in the second round:<\/p>\n
No. 51 (via Minnesota)Acquired from Detroit in a 2024 trade that sent Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala to the Pistons for Marvin Bagley III, Isaiah Livers, and 2025 and 2026 second-round picks.No. 60 (via Oklahoma City)Acquired from San Antonio in a July 2025 trade that sent Kelly Olynyk to the Spurs for Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley and a 2026 second-round pick (least favorable of DAL\/PHI\/OKC).<\/p>\n
Fun fact: The last second-round pick the Wizards signed to a second contract before Dawkins became GM in 2023 was Shelvin Mack, who was selected in 2011.<\/p>\n
Washington has signed both of its second-round picks under Dawkins \u2014 Jamir Watkins and Tristan Vukcevic \u2014 to second contracts.<\/p>\n
Tristan Vukcevic: 2 years, $6M \u2014 team option in 2027-28Jamir Watkins: 1-year, $2.15M \u2014 team option in 2026-27<\/p>\n
June 29: Deadline to pick up options<\/p>\n
Trae Young\u2019s player option ($49M)D\u2019Angelo Russell\u2019s player option ($5.97M)Watkins\u2019 team option ($2.15M)Submit two-way qualifying offer to Sharife Cooper<\/p>\n
While Young has a $49 million player option for the 2026-27 season, it\u2019s widely expected that the veteran guard will decline that option and instead ink a multi-year extension to remain in Washington.<\/p>\n
With Russell\u2019s buyout market reportedly \u201cnonexistent,\u201d the 30-year-old guard could opt into his player option to remain a Wizard next season. A buyout is still possible, as Russell never reported to the Wizards following a February trade that sent him from Dallas to Washington.<\/p>\n
June 30: Team negotiation period begins<\/p>\n
Teams can negotiate with free agents during this window. Contract terms will be reported but nothing will be official until free agency begins six days later. Expect to see plenty of breaking news by Shams Charania of ESPN during this timeframe.<\/p>\n
July 1: Bilal Coulibaly and Cam Whitmore become rookie extension eligible<\/p>\n
An extension for Whitmore, who missed most of the 2025-26 season with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder, is unlikely. But his fellow 2023 draft pick, Bilal Coulibaly, is poised for a payday.<\/p>\n
Coulibaly\u2019s stats \u2014 11.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game on 31.9% 3PT \u2014 don\u2019t stand out. If anything, they were a bit underwhelming for the third-year wing. But Coulibaly\u2019s defensive prowess, an ability to mark the opposing team\u2019s best player while providing switchability in guarding one through four, is coveted across the association.<\/p>\n
Dawkins has a history of extending Washington\u2019s first-round picks once they become extension eligible.<\/p>\n
In 2023, he gave Deni Avdija a 4-year, $55 million extension that looks like one of the league\u2019s best contracts. Now, Dawkins later dealt Avdija to Portland, but that\u2019s a discussion for another story.<\/p>\n
Dawkins also extended Corey Kispert before the 2024-25 campaign, giving the sharpshooting wing a 4-year, $54 million payday. If history repeats itself, Dawkins appears poised to extend Coulibaly, his first draft selection as Washington\u2019s GM, later this offseason.<\/p>\n
Should a deal materialize, look for it to be signed closer to opening night in October, as each of the previous extensions were. Avdija was extended on Oct. 22. Kispert inked his extension on Oct. 21.<\/p>\n
July 6: Teams can officially announce signings<\/p>\n
The Wizards conducted free agency before this year\u2019s trade deadline, acquiring big names like Young and Anthony Davis, among others. Here\u2019s a breakdown of those contracts for the 2026-27 season:<\/p>\n
Trae Young ($49M player option \u2014 extension candidate)Anthony Davis ($58.5M)Jaden Hardy ($6M)D\u2019Angelo Russell ($5.97M player option)<\/p>\n
Summer League is scheduled for July 9-19. Expect second-year players Tre Johnson, Will Riley, Jamir Watkins and Julian Reese to suit up in Las Vegas. Those players will be joined by the Wizards\u2019 2026 first-round pick, plus any other selections they make on draft night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Washington Wizards have completed Year 3 of their rebuild, ending a \u201cdeconstruction phase\u201d that included countless trades,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,6,12,15577],"class_list":{"0":"post-714767","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-draft","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-nba-draft","11":"tag-washington-wizards-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116438756529191599","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}