Bulls’ Taj Gibson Decision Could Preview Wizards’ Anthony Gill Plans

One of the player roles that NBA front offices most-frequently struggle to quantify is the "locker room leader"- specifically, the kind of veteran who's more often utilized as a stabilizing presence than a nightly on-court weapon.

The 2022-23 Wizards had two of the game's best at that specific niche. Taj Gibson and Anthony Gill, nearly a decade apart in age, were already each well on their paths to making the most of their seats along the end of Washington's bench. Despite combining for 108 appearances on that last pre-teardown lineup, they each averaged around a mere 10 minutes per game- regular presences on a team without any ambitious aspirations, reflecting the outsized weight of their personable reputations within size-needy lineups.

Former Washington Wizards Forward Taj Gibson and Guard Bradley Beal — Jan 28, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Washington Wizards forward Taj Gibson (67) and guard Bradley Beal (3) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

But a league with only 15 fully-guaranteed roster slots per franchise can only afford to keep so many of those fuzzy veterans around, especially with a constant influx of young talent to continually price out stiffer old-timers.

Gibson's already accepted the changing of the guard. At 41-years-old, he's finally acknowledged the end of his long, well-traveled road by parlaying his years of hands-on guidance into an assistant coaching role, returning back to his Chicago Bulls roots in rounding out head coach Tiago Splitter's sideline staff. With Gill, too, still unsigned mere weeks out from the Wizards' Media Day, fans are wondering: does a similar fate await their longest-tenured player?

After 17 NBA seasons, Taj Gibson is retiring and returning to the Chicago Bulls as an assistant coach under Tiago Splitter to begin his coaching career. pic.twitter.com/K601XXGZe2
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 14, 2026

Gill Offseason Status Report

After getting inked to yet another micro-deal early last August, the six-year veteran remains out there for anyone who cares to pick through the bones of remaining free agents.

But why would anyone besides Washington care to re-enlist him for such a particular set of services? He's only ever known the Wizards since forcing his way into the NBA midway through the 2020-21 season, and despite Gill's career-best 2025-26 statistics, he's still more widely-regarded for his work serving the DMV community than he is as a viable rotational option.

Honoring the hometown heroes in the @dcfireems and the @DCPoliceDept who serve our community every day 💙

On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we remember those who lost their lives and honor all who answered the call. pic.twitter.com/vpeeOr7REz
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) September 11, 2026

Despite his and the Wizards' continued silence on plans to fill out their final roster spot, take the team's post commemorating 25 years of honoring the Sept. 11 attacks as evidence of their enjoyment of Gill's company. If you look closely, there he is near the middle of that first picture to the left of Tristan Vukcevic- an interesting place to find a franchise fixture whose status still remains publicly-ambiguous.

Exploring Alternative Routes

If the Wizards were truly dying to bring Gill back as frequently as they did during the rebuilding years, they wouldn't have explored so many other free agency routes. Storylines featuring other aging veterans like Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan have come and gone, yet his wait silently persists.

Should he and the organization elect to pursue something resembling Gibson's career transition, it's worth noting that the NBA does not enforce a hard cap on the amount of assistant coaches padding respective staffs. Support groups take many forms, and if Washington determines that they'd like to keep Gill in-house without sacrificing a precious playable roster spot, shifting him a few seats down the hardwood and into a polo and khakis may be the route most-worth exploring.

Washington Wizards Forward Anthony Gill — Mar 25, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill (16) warms up before the game against the Utah Jazz at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

His contributions as a hard-rolling forward went appreciated during the dog days of this most recent season, especially with the thin positional alternatives he had to contend with. Now, with Alex Sarr, Anthony Davis and Deandre Ayton preparing to headline a rotation of bigs who mean more business than anything Gill ever witnessed as an NBA player, he won't be quite so leaned upon as a deep-cut scorer.

Wizards head coach Brian Keefe once said "You could write a book on how great of a teammate Anthony Gill is." His authentic Mr. Rogers routine is part of what's helped him stick around as long as he has; as the Wizards shift into a more competitive era, though, Gill may already be watching his place within the Wizards' story shape-shift in real time amidst their institutional quest to best-utilize his one-of-a-kind character.

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