{"id":719340,"date":"2026-04-27T10:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/719340\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T10:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:36:24","slug":"from-regular-season-to-reality-which-wizards-are-ready-for-the-nba-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/719340\/","title":{"rendered":"From Regular Season to Reality: Which Wizards Are Ready for the NBA Playoffs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was watching Game Three of the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets series. My wife \u2014 who\u2019s usually more interested in the National Anthem and the arena timeout entertainment \u2014 watched two possessions and said, \u201cDo these guys understand this isn\u2019t football?\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, someone who pays more attention to what Britt Waters is wearing instantly noticed the difference between Wizards basketball and playoffs basketball.<\/p>\n

\"Washington<\/a><\/p>\n

Washington Wizards big man Anthony Davis is a proven postseason performer. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Nate Duncan and John Hollinger recently dedicated a podcast episode to assessing which players were likely to get \u201ccrucibled\u201d \u2014 dropped from the rotation because of flaws that would get exposed by the intensity of postseason basketball. The assessment, of course, is not strictly about the athleticism, physicality, and mental focus (though it does include those factors) but the strategic as well.<\/p>\n

In other words, if the opposing coaching staff looks at your guy and sees a target, your guy is going to get played off the floor.<\/p>\n

As expected, former Wizards wing Corey Kispert has fallen victim to the postseason effect. Through his career in Washington, Kispert got significant playing time \u2014 23+ minutes in every season except this one when he got 19.6. When he got traded to the Atlanta Hawks, he still got 18+. In the playoffs \u2014 8.3 per game. His poor point-of-attack defense and lack of dimension to his game make it impossible to keep him out there much longer in a game with stakes.<\/p>\n

So, with a hat tip to Duncan, Hollinger, and my wife, here\u2019s a look at the Wizards and their likelihood of getting chased from the rotation if the team plays in truly competitive games next season.<\/p>\n

These are guys I\u2019m confident will be able to hold up to postseason rigors:<\/p>\n

\"Wizards<\/a><\/p>\n

Wizards big man Alex Sarr was an excellent defender last season \u2014 something that should translate to postseason action. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Anthony Davis \u2014 Assuming he\u2019s healthy enough to take the court, Davis has been one of the game\u2019s best defenders for more than a decade. He\u2019s an elite finisher around the basket who\u2019s already been the second best player on a championship team.Alex Sarr \u2014 A busy and effective rim protector who can also defend switches with competence. Sarr\u2019s offense was a bit hit or miss (his overall efficiency was below average), but he has post-up skills, acceptable finishing around the rim, and can step out and hit the long ball enough to make him a threat. He needs to get stronger (normal for a 21-year-old), but there\u2019s no reason to think he wouldn\u2019t hold up in a playoffs series.<\/p>\n

These are guys I\u2019m pretty confident are able to compete in the postseason, but I have some doubts.<\/p>\n

\"Can<\/a><\/p>\n

Can Trae Young become a good enough defender to remain a viable postseason player? NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Trae Young \u2014 First in line to disagree with me on this would likely be Will Dawkins and the Wizards\u2019 front office. On the offensive end, Young would be fine \u2014 even though the league literally made rules to put an end to his specific style of foul grifting. On defense, he\u2019s been one of the absolute least effective defenders, ever. This makes him a target and a potentially big strategic problem for the Wizards.Kyshawn George \u2014 With George, I\u2019m confident he\u2019d hold up athletically. He won\u2019t back down from physical play, and I think he has the skills to be good enough on offense. Why is he in the \u201cprobably\u201d category? Excessive fouling and turnovers. Basically, the frequency of his mistakes is a potential problem that may render him unplayable in the postseason.Bilal Coulibaly \u2014 I have no doubt about Coulibaly on defense. His poor three-point shooting and tendency to disappear on offense could grind Washington\u2019s offense to a halt, especially when opposing coaches elect to dare him to shoot.Justin Champagnie \u2014 I think I\u2019m higher on Champagnie\u2019s abilities than is the team\u2019s coaching staff. I suspect they\u2019re right \u2014 they see him in many more situations than I do. I still think he\u2019s probably a player who\u2019d be effective in a playoffs setting, though I do wonder about his relative lack of size.Bub Carrington \u2014 Good shooter with a solid mid-range game. He also doesn\u2019t generate paint touches \u2014 even against regular season defense. And he coughs up the ball when pressured. Worse: Carrington is a woeful defender who plays much smaller than his measured 6-4 height. He\u2019s someone the opposition would view as a target, which means he\u2019s a prime candidate for getting played out of the rotation.Will Riley \u2014 I liked some of what I saw from Riley last season, but I\u2019d be lying if what he did down the stretch of games the team actively wanted to lose made me think he\u2019s remotely close to being ready for the playoffs. Riley has height and potential, but he had trouble with regular season physicality. He\u2019ll be a major target unless he gets much stronger. Force me to make a decision, and I\u2019d put him in the \u201cProbably Not\u201d bucket for next season, with an eye towards bumping him into the \u201cProbably\u201d group in year three of his career.Cam Whitmore \u2014 This is based on two things: 1) athletic tools, and 2) he suffered a health problem and missed most of the season, so I just don\u2019t know. IF Whitmore\u2019s head is right. IF he accepts coaching, buys into the team\u2019s system (on both ends) and gets the message that it\u2019s okay to pass the ball sometimes, I could see him being a valuable player someday. If forced to make a call, I\u2019d put him in the group that follows.<\/p>\n

These are guys most likely to get chased by the NBA postseason crucible.<\/p>\n

Tre Johnson \u2014 Rookie who hopefully will improve. I think Johnson is a legit shooter. As a player type, he\u2019s a lot more like Kispert than other elite shooters, which is to say he\u2019s a major defensive target and he lacks dimension in his game.Jamir Watkins \u2014 A worse version of Coulibaly, which is to say \u2014 good defender who doesn\u2019t shoot well enough or contribute enough offensively to get anything other than emergency minutes in the playoffs.Anthony Gill \u2014 Included here because he\u2019s on the roster and was 10th in total minutes last season.Tristan Vukcevic \u2014 Good shooter with leaden feet and glacial reaction times on defense.<\/p>\n

Players like Leaky Black, JuJu Reese, Jaden Hardy, and Kadary Richmond are more likely to end up training camp cuts or playing overseas and are not going to be part of a postseason rotation.<\/p>\n

If you want to get super-optimistic, I can see a reasonable case to bump Young and George into \u201cSure Things.\u201d I think Young has the better case than George, by the way. I don\u2019t see an argument for moving up Coulibaly until he proves he can be enough of an offensive threat that he has to be defended.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d also listen to arguments about making Riley a \u201cProbably\u201d instead of a maybe. I\u2019m not there yet myself, but reasonable minds can differ. I\u2019d also listen on Johnson moving into \u201cProbably Not\u201d with Carrington for next because he\u2019s so young and there\u2019s a strong likelihood he\u2019ll get better if he puts in the work on his body and his game. He could follow a trajectory similar to what I envision for Riley, though I suspect it could take him a bit longer because he\u2019s smaller and there\u2019s a bit less to his game than Riley\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Next up: Wizards performance ekgs. Performance ekgs are essentially season-long production trackers that help visualize how an individual\u2019s performance trended throughout the season. Let me know in the comments who you want me to run first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was watching Game Three of the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets series. My wife \u2014 who\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3780],"tags":[7,6,682,468,3920,3892,683],"class_list":{"0":"post-719340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-wizards","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-washington","11":"tag-washington-wizards","12":"tag-washington-wizards-statistical-analysis","13":"tag-washingtonwizards","14":"tag-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116476235227822709","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719340","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=719340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}