When the 2025-26 season officially opens later next month, the Washington Wizards will be chuck-full of young prospects as they continue to navigate a rebuild. The Wizards are not going to be contending for anything anytime soon, but they have managed to assemble an intriguing group of prospects. Playing time is going to be crucial for development, and that could result in a shuffle of the Wizards’ starters during training camp.
The Wizards jettisoned most of their higher-priced veterans with the buyout of Marcus Smart this offseason, and by trading Jordan Poole to the New Orleans Pelicans for CJ McCollum’s expiring contract. With McCollum essentially replacing Poole, one could say that his starting spot is the only one pretty much guaranteed coming out of Pelicans’ training camp. Rookie Tre Johnson could give him competition, but for now McCollum should be considered the starting shooting guard.
Alongside McCollum in the backcourt figures to be second-year guard Bub Carrington. Carrington was a bright spot for the Wizards last season and should reprise his role as a starting point guard.
The Wizards don’t have much size on the roster currently, and so Alex Sarr, last season’s No. 2 overall pick should also be considered a shoe-in to be in the starting lineup in the frontcourt. Veteran wing Khris Middleton should slide up and play small-ball power forward.
The one thing that kind of throws a wrench into the Wizards’ plans is the recent injury to Bilal Coulibaly. Coulibaly suffered a thumb injury while playing at EuroBasket, and he was slotted in as the Wizards’ starting small forward. With Coulibaly now sidelined to begin the season, that opens up an opportunity for the one player who was most vulnerable to losing his spot as a starter in Kyshawn George.
Once Coulibaly returns to the court, George is still on the bubble in terms of moving to the bench. But with a team filled with young prospects, consistent playing time is not always going to be certain.
George was also one of the few bright spots for the Wizards in 2024-25, and by the second half of the year, he had moved into the starting lineup. George is a big wing who is capable of playing both forward spots, and even some shooting guard.
The No. 24 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, George appeared in a total of 68 games as a rookie, including 38 starts, at a little over 26 minutes per game. He averaged 8.7 points, 4.2 rebounds. 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 37.2 percent shooting from the field, 32.2 percent shooting from the three-point line and 75.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Depending on how the season starts out, it could actually be Middleton who might be vulnerable to losing his starting job once Coulibaly comes back. But it’s not that likely considering Middleton started all 14 games he played in for the Wizards last season, and that demoting veterans still capable of contributing is a sure way to lose the locker room.
It’s not just going to be a starting lineup conundrum that the Wizards have next season, but a general rotation question as well. The one thing about having too many young players needing to develop is not having enough playing time. AJ Johnson, who was one of the Wizards’ key acquisitions in the Kyle Kuzma trade, is facing an uncertain role with the addition of Tre Johnson. Cam Whitmore, another young player the team took a flyer on, is likely out of the rotation to begin with.
But overall, it’s not a bad problem for the Wizards to have, and their future is looking brighter than it did not too long ago.
