5 Winners and 5 Losers from the Wizards' Complete Preseason Slate

The days-long gap between Washington Wizards' preseason finale and their upcoming regular season debut provides the fan base with plenty of evaluations to gush over and vent about.

Oct 12, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards forward AJ Dybantsa (4) dunks the ball as Brooklyn Nets guard Egor Demin (8) looks on in the second half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Washington Wizards fans have long-been dying for their games to hold any nightly value, a desire that extends well beyond this ongoing offseason's draft period, Summer League, training camp, preseason and all of the mini-droughts in between. Three seasons of fairly-blatant losing in the name of bolstered draft odds led up to this week, with a litany of prospects and veterans set to approach the schedule to come with a shared, realistic competitive interest.

This October's preseason served as the closest glimpse we've gotten of the 2026-27 Wizards, and the hodgepodge of playable options on two drastically-different timelines produced some predictably-inconsistent results. A few rotational options soared while others careened in the critical eye of the masses, leaving the basketball-viewing populous with one particularly-glaring reminder: this development-driven team will require time and patience to coalesce.

Post-Preseason Stock Risers

Kyshawn George: Once predicted to steal the final spot in Washington's starting lineup, the Wizards' young point-forward averaged 15.3 points on 65.5% shooting to go along with 10 total assists and 11 total stocks this month.

Having enjoyed regular stints as the group's playmaker over years past, he slotted comfortably into the Wizards' need for that secondary table-setter whenever Trae Young hit the pine. If there was any doubt that George, arguably the front office's most inspiring development story, wouldn't start, his disruptive length, smooth shooting touch, feel for the game and impressive malleability may have come together to help him clinch his role to come.

Oct 16, 2026; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) passes the ball against New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

AJ Dybantsa: Barring the most optimistic of surprise shooting developments, the average Washingtonian's expectations for the reigning no. 1 overall pick have included, as follows: instant play-finishing impact, regular glimpses at playmaking excellence, a defensive impact that supersedes a so-so statistical collegiate profile and a brand of athleticism that the Wizards' evaluators couldn't turn down.

He only made four appearances in the preseason, including an early injury-related exit in that final New Orleans Pelicans matchup, but he still found ways to immediately check each of those boxes. Dybantsa looks like a candidate for the game's next great fast break finisher, and he's already enough of a communicative blur to sustain as a difference-maker on the floor's other end. The odds that he's just some non-factor while he adjusts to his rookie-year role are slim.

Justin Champagnie: The hard-working wing was stuck on the outside looking in of the rotation he regularly occupied a season ago, but eventually won the coaching staff's back over with the usual combination of voracious rebounding and gritty defense that got him here. Champagnie's re-resurgence will do the corps some good as a necessary role player to gleefully do the dirty work, and his productivity as a bench hand should breathe optimism into his chances to continue forwarding winning from the rotation's margins.

I asked Wizards HC Brian Keefe about his plans to keep Justin Champagnie involved in the wing rotation, and his message was for everyone to stay ready.

“Depth matters, things are gonna happen…opportunities are gonna arise…I know Justin Champagnie is gonna have a big impact.” pic.twitter.com/g3h0zOFZHW

— All Wizards Talk (@AllWizardsTalk) September 29, 2026

Tre Johnson: The Wizards' shiniest new pre-Dybantsa prospect continues inching closer to the squad's full-time sixth man role, with the entrance of Young perfectly-complimenting Johnson's upside as an off-ball shooter. His smooth release knew no distance restrictions, with the guard shooting 47.6% from 3-point land on the 21 consistently-ambitious attempts he took over four exhibition games.

His upside as a key scorer is just too sparkly to ignore as a key inclusion, even if the defensive mistakes he'll be prone to committing at Young's side threatens to hurt Washington's deterrence just as frequently as the pair carries the shooting burden.

Tre Johnson scoring this preseason > pic.twitter.com/tqsx3oCwnM

— Basketball Performances (@NBAPerformances) October 13, 2026

Felix Okpara: With Tristan Vukcevic potentially sidelined through the first few weeks of the oncoming regular season, Dybantsa's fellow 2026 draft classmate put himself in a good position to seize an emergency-fourth big position should Washington need any extra bit of rim-running. His energy was greatly-appreciated, though he's still far from reaching his graceful peak as a consistent weapon.

Post-Preseason Stock Droppers

Trae Young: You can only be so burdened by a four-year, $212 million extension to play basketball in D.C., but arguably no Wizard, save for the needier Anthony Davis, is entering this season under a more aggressive microscope lens.

It won't help the point guard's push to silence the doubters that he's coming off of a viciously-inefficient shooting sequence over his four preseason appearances. Young's pull-up game was streakier than ever, but his slashing elicited even more concern whenever his driving lanes fizzled out. And with his late-20s looming, he'll have to prove himself as a still-athletic scoring advantage-creator to keep the detractors at bay.

Oct 8, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Washington Wizards guard Trae Young (3) celebrates a three point basket during the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Alexander Wohl-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Center Rotation: The Wizards' trio shot-blocking and rebounding bigs get lumped together into a pack here. Davis, Alex Sarr and Deandre Ayton did not look like ideal fits alongside one another during their shared minutes, a problem that reflects on the coaching staff (more on that later) just as much as their iffy individual approaches.

Davis, to his credit, enjoyed a strong debut peppered with multiple 3-point swishes, even if he lingered out by the perimeter too much for the fan base's liking. Sarr, too, failed to leverage his size and improved at-the-rim scoring skills to his advantage, but the off-balanced shooter was even-less successful as a jump shooter than Davis, and that's to say nothing of Ayton's blocking off the paint for his part-time floor-spacers. This position group, more than any on the roster, will need a few months of reps before the overlap gets ironed out.

Bilal Coulibaly: The longest-tenured prospect of the bunch is still in need of an extension, and he didn't depart the limited schedule having inspired many viewers of his development track.

Save for one big shooting game against the Brooklyn Nets, he shot 1/7 from behind the arc as a reserve defender. The cutting and lob-catching will surely produce some easy buckets off of Young's gravity, though it's hard to feel optimistic about his chances of securing an extension that appeases all parties involved before 6 p.m. on Monday.

Enjoyed the energy that Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington and Bilal Coulibaly brought for the Wizards. Just had moments where they played with a high level of activity. pic.twitter.com/Xsaw3eaTbg

— Steve Jones (@stevejones20) October 11, 2026

Bub Carrington: Much like Coulibaly, the Wizards' exuberant guard did little to convince analysts that he should be a stamped inner-circle reserve. The shot-making highs are still there, but he's still limited as an offensive difference-maker who's now sinking below an increasingly-deep assortment of playmakers.

His minutes were all over the place this month, and that may just be a theme he'll have to endure in preparing for life alongside an array of respectable rotational options.

Brian Keefe: Washington's head coach seemed to trip as many alarms as a quartet of otherwise-meaningless matchups could have activated. There were minimal traces of the off-ball motion that everyone was hoping out of his clunkily-spaced bigs, not to mention a general-lack of focus in the transition and half-court defense that Keefe spent training camp pressing to the media. The pace he's got in mind- let alone the fringe playoff aspirations that continue echoing through Washington's walls- will require more discipline than what we've seen across various low-stakes environments.

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