Wizards' Young Trio Continues to Shine in Loss

The Washington Wizards 1-6 start to their 2025-26 campaign has left much of the momentarily, cautiously excited fanbase resigned to their usual mode of negative expectation. Entering his second season at the helm, head coach Brian Keefe has thus far fallen short of the natural supposition that Washington should improve, given their overhauled roster and emphasis on young talent.

Hope for the Future

While the former factor has been called into question by the little-to-not output from the team's veteran pieces, the latter has been much more exciting and compelling, even in the Wizards' now-weekly losing ritual. If nothing else, this is a franchise that appears to be slowly building on long-term assets.

Especially juxtaposed with the performance of the team's seasoned scoring option, CJ McCollum, Washington's composite trio of young options shone a lone light in the team's recent road loss to the New York Knicks.

McCollum, in a starting, minutes-heavy role, scored just five points on a scathing 22% clip from the field. When the Wizards offense looks to his play in the backcourt, especially when breakout rookie Tre Johnson is trying to find his footing, the offense takes a heavy hit due to uneven performances like these.

While the team still lost, seeing the likes of Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George and Bilal Coulibably all string together well-rounded, double-digit scoring games goes a long way for a renewed faith in the franchise.

This is Alex Sarr's progression!@DrewGooden worded it perfectly: "See the difference this season vs. last season? Momentum is going TOWARDS the bucket."

Rookie Sarr did not consistently move like this. pic.twitter.com/6J3oxg9MkT
— Bijan Todd (@bijan_todd) November 4, 2025

Slow-Moving Star(r)

As pointed out on X (Twitter) by Wizards reporter Bijan Todd, Sarr specifically is seeing a major sophomore leap, both by the numbers and as evidenced on the hardwood. Against the Knicks, Sarr posted 19 points, eight rebounds and 7 assists, leading the team in each of those metrics and standing out as the burgeoning "go-to" guy on both ends of the floor.

Thankfully for Washington, it appears that Sarr is slowly turning into the star they hoped he'd be.

As for the remaining 66% of the trio, George and Coulibaly each scored 15 points in workable complimentary roles to Sarr's overt statistical leadership. Coulibaly pulled in seven rebounds, George nabbed five, and each added to assists to their overall numerical total, too.

All of these players still have plenty to work on — most of it being on the defensive end — but their early shows of prowess promise the sort of turnaround that Washington as a franchise has been hunting for years.

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