After three long months, basketball has returned and for Washington the motto is, “The only place to go is up”. With the NBA season set to tip off October 21st and the Eastern conference looking open as ever due to a plethora of injuries from last postseason. The Washington Wizards have a chance as good as anybody to make a step in the right direction to get out the bottom of the east with a promising young core mixed in with a few seasoned veterans.
The Wizards are entering this season coming off a disappointing 2024-25 campaign with a record of 18-64, placing Washington last in the Eastern Conference and the second worst record in the NBA last season only one win higher than the Utah Jazz. All while obtaining a winning percentage of 22%, the second worst in team history.
Despite the losing record, there were monumental bright spots in the season with players as Bub Carrington, Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly were given the opportunity to develop as these first- and second-year pros were top five in minutes played for the Wizards last season.
The midseason trade of small forward Kyle Kuzma to the Milwaukee Bucks for small forward Khris Middleton furthered the amount of game reps for the young wing players in head coach Brian Keefe’s system. Rookie Alex Sarr’s scoring went from 11points per game to 13 points per game.
In the offseason, Washington started where they left off with player trades as the Wizards were able to make another deal by trading guard Jordan Poole and forward Saddiq Bey to the New Orleans Pelicans for CJ McCoullum, Cam Whitmore, Kelly Olynyk and the No. 40 pick in the 2025 draft. The Wizards continued by flipping Olynyk to the San Antonio Spurs for guards Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley and a 2026 second round pick.
The adversity didn’t stop as holding onto the highest draft lottery odds in 2025 with a 14% chance of landing the first overall pick. The Wizards were not so fortunate as they were chosen to select 6th overall while teams such as the Jazz and Hornets were selecting ahead despite having the same draft lottery odds.
Wizards’ general manager Will Dawkins was able to make the most of the opportunities presented during the draft, selecting Texas guard Tre Johnson 6th overall and Illinois 6 ‘8 wing Will Riley with the 21st pick in the first round.
Drafting Johnson and Riley brings major reinforcement for a struggling Washington offense with Johnson titled as the best shot-making guard prospect in this draft. The SEC Freshman of the Year scored 19.9 points er game while shooting 41.6% on contested catch-and-shoot threes, 38.1% on off-the-dribble threes, 44.2% on transition threes, and 54.8% on 3-pointers off of screens for the Longhorns this past year. Riley brings a boost to scoring as the Big 10 Sixth Man of the Year shot 61.3% at the rim as well as 36.5% on contested catch-and-shoot threes, and 30.6% on off-dribble threes last season.
Include Washington’s second round steal of guard Jamir Watkins who averaged 15.6ppg last season for Florida State and the Wizards have three new high potential talents ready to make a crucial impact this season alongside the veteran presence of CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton.
The Wizards have shown what’s in store for this upcoming season and the general consensus from the three-game sample of the preseason is that this Wizards team is a step in the right direction from what fans have experienced the last two to three seasons.
From the effort shown on the court from all the players and the leadership presented. To the development of George, who was second in scoring for Washington this preseason with 14 points per game and Sarr who continues to flourish defensively with two stocks per game. The Wizards have shown improvement on both sides of the court that can be used as a great source of momentum for this young team as Washington sits 23rd in offensive rating and 18th in defensive rating, the highest the Wizards have been in both categories since the 22-23 season.
As the Wizards season begins Oct. 22 against the Milwaukee Bucks, there’s plenty of hope to have for this season. Expectations aren’t heavy for this year but the talent this roster has from an offensive and defensive standpoint going into this season. Fans will see a shift in success as 18 wins shouldn’t be too hard to come by this year.
