It didn't look smooth or comfortable over long stretches, but the Washington Wizards successfully converted a win out of their road opener against the Chicago Bulls this past weekend. The depth showed up big in a second-half rally, helping the visitors surge past the Bulls' unimpressive defense in securing another victory over a less-talented roster.
A 2-1 record behind a still-adjusting lineup decorated in recently-acquired All-Stars and ascending development chips is about where most realistic fans assumed the team would end up through three games, and they've got another winnable game ahead of them to kick off the fresh week. The Charlotte Hornets await the road-tripping Wizards in North Carolina, the first of two Hornets games lining the next few days of Washington's schedule.
The Hornets, like the Wizards, were projected by few to make any meaningful noise out east this year, and the string of early-season injuries dotting their initial reports did little to help their chances of frightening anyone to start the campaign.
But, like the Wizards, Charlotte's Kon Knueppel-less supporting cast has prevailed twice in his absence. Brandon Miller, Naz Reid and friends have already successfully knocked off both the Brooklyn Nets and the already-tailspinning Miami Heat, suffering their lone, admittedly-lopsided 47-point defeat in their hosting of the Atlanta Hawks.
Oct 23, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Liam McNeeley (33) directs forward Hannes Steinbach (22) during the second half against the Atlanta Hawks at the Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
These aren't the Hornets that most Washingtonians have grown used to matching up against a half-dozen times per season, though they're still as happy as anyone to hoist 3-pointers en masse.
It's worth noting that LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, the two longest-tenured Hornets from last year's Play-In Tournament participants, are no longer with the club after getting dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Phoenix Suns, respectively. At least until Knueppel comes back, this is Miller's team for the future, even if his 21.3% field goal percentage suggests otherwise.
The reigning Rookie of the Year runner-up will join fellow rotational regulars Coby White and Grant Williams on Charlotte's bench, a position that the Wizards' new potential frontman, AJ Dybantsa , has already grown to now too well. He's yet to parlay his exciting NBA Draft stock into an in-game appearance after rolling his ankle in Washington's preseason finale, another major loss for the night.
Following back-to-back quiet performances in the Wizards' pair of D.C.-bound displays, one of the squad's top prospects finally located some offensive assertiveness in Chicago. 10 points rang in as a season-high for Sarr, and his five field goals matched the number he'd totaled for himself through those first two matchups.
Washington's coaching staff has seemed unsure of how to utilize Sarr within their double-big lineups, often cramming him into the corner as a hypothetical floor-spacer without any frightening volume shooting ability within this current context. He can hit 3-pointers on occasions, though he remains far from a perimeter-first threat despite the tweaked-looking jump shot .
Where he's shined has been through his playmaking feel. The off-ball buckets he's scored haven't only arrived off of Trae Young entry passes in transition or pick-and-roll feeds; he's proven to be an timely cutter when Anthony Davis has the ball in the high post, gliding into space and using his agile 7'1 frame to quickly overpower rotating helpers.
He's repaid Davis himself, too, having fed an alley-oop slam to his fellow big man at least once in every game thus far. Sarr's always been a keen passer, and limiting his range to dump-offs and assists from point-blank range have done wonders for the frontcourt options.
Those positive strides, along with his ability to punish smaller defenders one-on-one in a spaced-out setting, will make head coach Brian Keefe 's job even tougher than it already is in providing another scoring threat worth fixating on, a good problem for any game-manager to have to deal with. And outside of Moussa Diabete, who's three inches shorter than Sarr, the Hornets have little to throw at the opposing center, granting he, Davis and Deandre Ayton plenty of room to throw down in Charlotte.
Young's extension doubters had plenty of concerns to offload over the summer- 'Why is the money backloaded with a player-option four years out?' and 'Who were the Wizards even bidding against?' chief among them. As far as his on-the-court worries went, though, he immediately quelled plenty-a-worry in feeding his dependent play-finishers while sharing the ball with other playmakers.
Oct 21, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) celebrates with Wizards guard Trae Young (3) during a stoppage in play against the Milwaukee Bucks in the fourth quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
And after years of posting gaudy scoring totals on sub-par shooting splits, he finally offered a peak at something resembling an efficient return-to-form with a 25-point performance in Chicago, his highest-mark yet as a Wizard. Young sank six of his 13 field goal attempts, including four 3-pointers for the second-straight game.
His ability to dominate on a mere 13 shot attempts will be key for Washington going forward, even though he'll need to attempt more than three shot attempts within the arc to remain frightening as a slashing penetrator and distributor off of screens.
Unlike the Toronto Raptors , who had all of the perimeter and wing stoppers to make life exceedingly-unpleasant for the Wizards last week, the Hornets' middling defense and lack of high-minute point-of-attack disruptors can open everything up for another Young gem. Except to see a lot of Sion James activity in this one, as well as plenty of camera shots at Dybantsa and Knueppel on their respective benches while we imagine the duels that we'll just have to keep waiting for.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/wizards/onsi as Three Storylines to Monitor Entering Wizards' Inter-Divisional Hornets Debut .
