The Wizards went 17-65 last season, finished dead last in the East and ranked 28th in offensive rating and 30th defensively, but honestly, looking at this roster, now feels like looking at a completely different franchise. Washington added Trae Young and Anthony Davis during the season, landed AJ Dybantsa with the No. 1 pick, then spent the summer bringing in Deandre Ayton , Tre Mann , and Khris Middleton while keeping most of the young core together.
That gives Brian Keefe one of the weirdest rosters in the league entering 2026-27, in a good way. There are established stars, a potential franchise player who hasn't even played an NBA game yet , several recent lottery picks, and enough legitimate depth that players like Bilal Coulibaly and Kyshawn George may come off the bench despite starting basically all of last season.
Washington still isn't a finished product, and health is a huge part of this because Young and Davis combined for only 35 appearances last season, while Alex Sarr underwent surgery on a fractured right foot in June. But Sarr is expected back for the season, Davis should finally make his Wizards debut, and Young is now locked in on a four-year, $212.0 million deal , so there is finally some reason to think this team can actually win games while developing its young guys.
Here's how I expect the Wizards' starting lineup and rotation to look in 2026-27.
Point Guard: Trae Young
Shooting Guard: Tre Johnson
Small Forward: AJ Dybantsa
Power Forward: Anthony Davis
Center: Alex Sarr
The entire offense starts with Trae, and last season really shouldn't be used as the best representation of what Washington is getting. Young appeared in only 15 games because of injuries, averaging 17.9 points and 8.0 assists, then played just five games after the January trade to Washington before another right quad injury and lower-back issue basically ended his year. The season before that, he averaged 24.2 points and an NBA-leading 11.6 assists across 76 games, which is much closer to the offensive engine the Wizards are expecting.
Tre Johnson getting the starting shooting guard spot makes sense after a pretty encouraging rookie year. The 20-year-old averaged 12.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 60 games while shooting 41.9% from the field, 35.8% from three and 87.4% from the line, starting 42 times and already showing he can score without completely dominating the ball.
The player this entire season is probably going to revolve around, though, is AJ Dybantsa. The No. 1 pick enters the NBA after averaging 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.1 steals at BYU while shooting 51.0% from the field, 33.1% from three, and 77.4% from the line. At 6-foot-9 and 217 pounds, he's already physically built to play immediately , and he isn't entering a situation where Washington needs him to create every single possession either.
That's probably the best thing the Wizards can give him, because Young can create easy looks, Davis takes defensive attention inside, and Johnson provides another scorer on the perimeter. Dybantsa can spend his rookie year learning where his offense comes from instead of being thrown into 30% usage from Opening Night, although I'd still expect him to become the second or third option pretty quickly because his downhill scoring and physical tools are too good to hide.
The frontcourt is where this lineup gets really interesting, with AD still waiting to make his Wizards debut after arriving from the Mavericks at the trade deadline. Davis was averaging 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in his 20 appearances last season, and while health has obviously become the entire conversation around him at 33 , Washington suddenly has one of the league's best defensive big men and a pick-and-roll partner who should love playing with Young whenever he's on the floor.
Having Alex Sarr next to him could make both players more interesting too. Sarr made a big Year 2 jump, going from 13.0 points on 39.4% from the field as a rookie to 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.0 blocks while shooting 48.2% from the field. His three-point shot still needs work at 33.3%, but the improvement inside was huge, and he already gives Washington another seven-footer capable of protecting the rim and moving defensively.
The idea should be to let Davis take the more physical frontcourt matchup while Sarr gets freedom to roam, help, and use his length as a secondary rim protector. Offensively, Sarr has to make enough jumpers to keep the lane open because a Young-Dybantsa-Davis offense becomes much harder to defend if opposing centers can't simply ignore him, and that's probably the biggest fit question for a starting five with a ton of talent but basically no experience playing together.
Point Guards: Bub Carrington , Tre Mann
Shooting Guards: Khris Middleton , Kyshawn George
Small Forwards: Bilal Coulibaly , Will Riley
Power Forwards: Justin Champagnie , Anthony Gill
Centers: Deandre Ayton , Tristan Vukcevic
The bench might be the biggest reason I don't think Washington is going to be a bad team, because there are actual NBA players all the way down the depth chart. Bub Carrington would probably be starting for plenty of rebuilding teams after averaging 10.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists while playing all 82 games last season, and more importantly, his jumper made a massive jump from 33.9% from three as a rookie to 40.8% on 5.0 attempts per game.
There's also Tre Mann behind him, but he had a rough season statistically at 5.5 points and 1.6 assists on 36.0% from the field and 32.3% from three, so he probably isn't guaranteed consistent minutes every night with this much guard depth. Still, having a 25-year-old with 234 NBA games sitting as your third point guard is still a pretty nice luxury.
The wing rotation is where things get crowded fast. Khris Middleton is obviously nowhere near the All-Star version of himself anymore, but Washington didn't bring him back on a three-year, $17.6 million deal to carry the second unit. He averaged 10.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists between Washington and Dallas last season, and at this stage his value is experience, decision-making, and having another guy who has actually played high-level playoff basketball.
Kyshawn George might deserve more minutes pretty quickly after a huge sophomore jump to 14.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.5 assists while shooting 43.8% from the field and 38.1% from three. He was one of only four players age 22 or younger to average at least 14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.0 steals last season, which is pretty good for someone who now projects as a reserve.
Bilal Coulibaly gives Keefe another option in crunch defensive situations after averaging 11.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks last season, and although his shooting remained shaky at 31.9% from three, he's still probably Washington's best perimeter defender. Will Riley is more offensive, coming off a rookie year with 10.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game, but his 31.6% three-point shooting still needs to improve, and Washington was outscored heavily in his minutes last season.
Justin Champagnie should keep getting minutes because he does the boring stuff this team needs. He averaged 8.7 points and 5.6 rebounds in only 20.0 minutes last season, shot 50.2% from the field and grabbed 2.1 offensive rebounds per game, while his 17.3 PER was actually one of the better marks on last year's team. Anthony Gill is further down the rotation after averaging 5.8 points and 2.9 rebounds in 17.3 minutes while shooting 62.8% from the field, and at 33, he's more depth and locker-room presence, which is fine for a roster already loaded with young players.
Then there's Deandre Ayton, who somehow enters the season as Washington's backup center after starting all 72 games he played for the Lakers last year. Ayton averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting an absurd 67.1% from the field, and Washington acquired him for Jaden Hardy and two second-round picks, so paying only $8.1 million for a 27-year-old double-double center is ridiculous depth.
Tristan Vukcevic probably gets squeezed because of that. He averaged 9.0 points in only 13.7 minutes last season and shot 34.7% from three, so he still gives Washington a different five-out option, but finding consistent minutes behind Sarr, Davis, and Ayton won't be easy.
The obvious strength is talent, because Washington can put Young, Dybantsa, and Davis on the floor together and then bring Carrington, George, Coulibaly, Middleton, and Ayton off the bench. That's completely different from the roster that finished 17-65, and it should also lead to a dramatic improvement in playmaking.
Young has averaged 9.8 assists for his career, George reached 4.5 last season, Carrington averaged 4.6, Dybantsa averaged 3.7 at BYU, and Davis can make plays from the elbow. Last year's Wizards ranked 28th offensively, but they shouldn't be anywhere near that low if the main pieces stay available and the young guys don't completely fall apart.
The frontcourt depth is also kind of ridiculous, as we just said before. Davis, Sarr, and Ayton give Washington three legitimate starting-level centers, while Vukcevic provides a completely different shooting skill set, so the Wizards should be much better on the glass and around the rim after finishing with the league's worst defensive rating last season.
Health is easily No. 1 after Young played 15 games, Davis played 20, and Sarr required foot surgery. Washington's projected three most important veterans/frontcourt pieces barely played healthy basketball last season, so everything about this rotation can fall apart if that continues.
The other concern is spacing, because Sarr shot 33.3% from three, Davis 27.0%, Dybantsa 33.1% in college, and Coulibaly only 31.9%. Johnson, Carrington, and George give Washington some shooting, but teams are going to test whether the Wizards can consistently punish them for packing the paint around Young's pick-and-rolls and Dybantsa's drives.
Experience is probably the third major issue. Dybantsa is 19, Johnson is 20, Sarr is 21, Carrington is 21, George is 22, Coulibaly is 22, and Riley is 20, so there are going to be nights where this team looks talented and other nights where it looks exactly as young as it is.
In my 2026-27 season prediction, I had the Wizards finishing 12th in the East and outside the Play-In, and I'm still comfortable with that prediction right now, but that doesn't mean I think they're bad. Actually, I think Washington could be pretty decent, the problem is that the East has become ridiculously deep .
The Knicks are defending champions, the Celtics , Cavaliers, Hawks, and Pistons still have strong cores, the 76ers have Joel Embiid , LeBron James , and Jaylen Brown , Miami has Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo , Toronto added Kawhi Leonard , while the Magic, Pacers , and Hornets all have legitimate postseason expectations. There simply aren't enough spots for everybody, so finishing 12th doesn't necessarily mean Washington is going to win 25 games (I even put them at 37).
The Wizards could improve by 15 or even 20 wins and still spend most of the year fighting around the bottom of the Play-In race, especially with Dybantsa playing his first NBA season, Sarr still developing, Johnson entering Year 2, and Davis and Young both coming off injury-filled seasons. At the same time, this is one of those teams where a preseason prediction could look stupid pretty fast if two or three things break correctly.
Maybe Dybantsa is immediately a 20-point scorer, Sarr makes another jump, Young gets back to his 25-and-10 level, Davis stays healthy for 65 games, Johnson becomes a legit high-volume shooter, or George forces himself into 30 minutes every night. If a couple of those things happen together, Washington absolutely has enough talent to become annoying in the Play-In race.
The NBA also never stays exactly the same for six months. Injuries happen, trades happen, contenders disappoint, young teams jump much faster than expected and the entire conference can look completely different by February, so having the Wizards 12th today isn't me saying there's no path for them to finish eighth, ninth, or tenth.
I just think they're young, inexperienced, and entering a conference with way too many teams that already know exactly what they are. Washington is still figuring that part out, but with this much talent on the roster, they might figure it out a lot faster than I'm expecting.
