Three Bold Rotational Adjustments the Wizards Should Implement Next Season

The Washington Wizards' newly-extended rotation poses plenty of questions that will be sure to threaten any lineup continuity from years past.

Mar 21, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) handles the ball during the third quarter against the Orlando Magic at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Washington Wizards have spent three years quietly re-building their next era from one of the franchise's great many low points. They've repeatedly bottomed out for the entire league to see in the name of maximizing their yearly draft odds, selected from the assortment of prospects available to them and developed those whom the front office deemed worthy of foundational status.

The state of the Wizards in 2023 left few meaningfully-productive alternatives to consider, but that couldn't be any more different from their current situation. Just since this calendar year flipped, they've consolidated their hand-picked young corps by trading for name-brand All-Stars like Trae Young and Anthony Davis to ease the prospects' loads, they've brought in other rotation-extending veterans such as Deandre Ayton and Khris Middleton and, most noteworthy of all, they located their headliner of the future in AJ Dybantsa at the head of this most recent draft cycle.

Oct 24, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) celebrates with Washington Wizards forward Cam Whitmore (1) during the first quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Now, analysts and fans have begun using a word that's never been associated with the mid-2020s Wizards- "crowded." There are a lot of minute-worthy talents to manage, and it's up to Washington's coaching staff to get the hang of the balance between the lessons they've already learned with the demands posed by newcomers on the fly.

The 2026-27 Wizards won't look anything like the 17-win squad that preceded them, and a few schematic alterations may quickly define the differences between the squad's past and future.

Adjustment #1: Take the Ball out of Bilal Coulibaly's Hands

Demotion will be a tough suggestion for Coulibaly's ardent supporters to accept, especially considering the lingering potential of his entering the season extension-less following the strides he enjoyed this past spring.

Bilal Coulibaly 🇫🇷 mine de rien, c'est quand même un des 12 seuls joueurs de toute la NBA avec minimum 1.0 contre et 1.0 interception de moyenne cette saison

J'aime qu'il continue à se donner en défense alors que ça tank sévère aux Wizardspic.twitter.com/0UYOqjaimO

— Tom Compayrot (@Tom_Cprt) March 6, 2026

He flourished as a go-to ball-handler over the final stretch of the Wizards' schedule, ascending as a floor-reading shooter and decisive slasher when he was left alone without most of his playmaking contemporaries. Coulibaly's 3-point numbers may have slumped out to a stagnant start, but his steadily-improving marks seemed to breathe fresh life into the hope that he's still worth investing in as a versatile two-way force.

Unfortunately for Coulibaly's hunts for attention and monetary compensation, he's set to contend against significantly-tougher rotational competition this fall than anything he's yet faced in the pros.

More promising draftees like Dybantsa, Kyshawn George and Will Riley will each be angling to soak up any on-ball reps left over whenever Young hits Washington's bench, leaving little room for the significantly-rawer Coulibaly to consistently practice putting the ball on the floor.

Dec 1, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) celebrates with Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) after scoring while being fouled by Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (not pictured) in the final seconds of the fourth quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

His first full-time return to the Wizards' second unit will allow Coulibaly to play within structure as an off-ball scorer and above-the-rim play-finisher, helpful ancillary additions to a Young-led operation. As seductive as his potential as a point-of-attack bucket-generator has looked in spurts, one of the would-be creators is going to lose something out of Washington's subtly-packed context, and his lack of the All-Star ceiling that most of his fellow prospects possess will factor into that shift.

Adjustment #2: Grant Kyshawn George the Second-Most Minutes

While Coulibaly, as well as most of Washington's scorers and defenders, has yet to prove himself as a reliable two-way wing, George stands as something of an in-house anomaly. He's the rare 22-year-old who's already ascended into a threat on offense and defense, especially impressive considering the uncompetitive in-game results that D.C. frequently caught flack for.

The burly forward has smoothly combined his multi-level scoring package with the instincts and plus-positional size to deter opposing assignments. Alongside Young, who'll require off-ball floor-spacers just as much as he needs defenders to cover up for his own shortcomings, George will thrive in Washington's starting five.

Kyshawn George shot 38% from 3 on 5.4 attempts this past season

LOVE his defense too!

Dybantsa x Kyshawn x Sarr future core 😮‍💨📈 pic.twitter.com/AZI1OvPtwQ

— ItsAllLove (@nbanerdd) August 2, 2026

He'll still have to sacrifice touches for newly-anointed Wizards like Davis and Dybantsa, but George should still remain just as much of a staple within Washington's scheme as he was last season as the team's No. 2 prospect behind Alex Sarr. His versatility will lend itself well to a shot at his first ever 30+ minute season after averaging 29 nightly minutes last season, with a prominent bench-unit role helping to make up for his getting minimized as an overqualified fifth starter.

George's teammates spent the final weeks of last summer's offseason hyping up his second-year leap, insisting that he'd leaped forward as a matchup nightmare between campaigns. With any luck, he'll arrive at camp with a matured eye for how to best aid the team's next steps, as he already seems like the odds-on favorite to seize the role of the Wizards' X-factor.

Adjustment #3: Elevate Deandre Ayton into Sixth/Seventh-Man Status

His fit as a Wizard may have perplexed the occasional outsider, but Ayton's going to play- no matter how the Wizards' staff plans to implement their newest front court option.

The former No. 1 pick seems handcuffed to Washington's bench behind Davis and Sarr, two options who are due to earn more love and attention from Wizards' management. Between the prospect and the future-Hall-of-Famer, that center tandem can combine for all of the post-scoring, rebounding and interior defense that Ayton could have hoped to provide.

Oct 6, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) against Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton (22) during a preseason game at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

Those sure-thing starters will feature in as two of the Wizards' featured weapons over the season to follow, but that shouldn't stop Ayton from being one of the first two reserves to check into the scorer's table.

There's no reason to add unnecessary mileage to the older, brittler Davis, despite his self-professed goal to play as much as he possibly can amidst his own quest to prove his financial worth, especially considering how much the picking-and-rolling Ayton promises to add as a Young-friendly role player.

Even last year, on a generally-listless Wizards offense that only got to deploy Young five times, Washington ranked eighth in both screen assists (8.2) and screen-assisted points (19.2). That's evidence of the skeletal interior reads set to make life easier for the punishing Davis, the still-growing Sarr and Ayton, who's directly coming off of a Los Angeles Lakers stint in which he finished 84.2% of his shots within three feet of the rim.

"That's my 2nd alley-oop from you... first one was when I was in 8th grade at your camp."

The LeBron-Ayton connection picked up where it left off last night (from when Ayton was in 8th grade) 🤣 pic.twitter.com/LcSCof2UEN

— NBA (@NBA) November 19, 2025

Washington's back-line defense won't frighten as many penetrating scorers with Ayton as the low man compared to one of the starting bigs, but the lob-catching clean-up artist is too good of a fit alongside the point guard to bury on the bench.

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