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The Washington Wizards are just six days away from progressing in their rebuild, but will they make the right decision? Only time will tell, but there's a clear picture of who they want to take during Wednesday's draft.
A team insider revealed insight into the front office's thought process, via The Athletic's Josh Robbins.
“A team source said the Wizards’ draft board is similar to [The Athletic's Sam] Vecenie’s,” Robbins reported on Tuesday. “In Vecenie’s third tier of ‘high-leverage starters,' he has identified four players: Duke wing Kon Knueppel, Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe, Texas wing Tre Johnson and Rutgers wing Ace Bailey.”
Duke superstar Cooper Flagg, who the Dallas Mavericks will undoubtedly draft at No. 1, sits alone in Vecenie's first tier of “future All-NBA player.” His second tier of “future All-Star” also only has one player, which is Rutgers guard Dylan Harper. The New Jersey native will likely go No. 2 to either the San Antonio Spurs or a team that trades up, but it would be tough for Washington to jump up that high from the No. 6 pick without selling most of its valuable draft capital moving forward.
However, the Wizards have a realistic chance at everyone else.
“In their third tier, the source said, the Wizards likely have six players, listed here in alphabetical order: Bailey, Edgecombe, Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears, Johnson, Knueppel and Duke big man Khaman Maluach,” Robbins continued.
While not all of those players will be available at No. 6, Washington could trade up with the Philadelphia 76ers at No. 3 or the Charlotte Hornets at No. 4 to get one of them. General Manager Will Dawkins moved up for Bilal Coulibaly in 2023 and Kyshawn George in 2024, so it wouldn't be surprising.
How should the front office rank the aforementioned prospects?
Wizards must divide ‘tier three' into multiple levels
Bailey, Johnson, Fears, Edgecombe, Knueppel, and Maluach are all talented players with warts that keep them from being either as pro-ready or as high-ceiling as Flagg or Harper, and a couple of them are neither. While it's sensible to divide players based on both their potential and the odds of them fully reaching it, it's also important to distinguish one or two of the best targets.
Washington should rank this group in the following way:
Tier A
- Ace Bailey
- VJ Edgecombe
- Tre Johnson
Tier B
- Jeremiah Fears
- Kon Knueppel
Tier C
- Khaman Maluach
While the Wizards are two years into their rebuild, they still have a long way to go. Coulibaly, George, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, and AJ Johnson have all shown flashes of being productive players, but that group won't be enough to take the team to the promised land. However, Bailey's difficult shot-making talent, Edgecombe's three-and-D capabilities, and Johnson's shooting/playmaking would all elevate the squad.
Bailey shows the most tantalizing flashes of this entire “Tier Three” group. The 6-foot-8-inch forward can not only make heavily contested looks regularly, but he's explosive at the rim and can dunk on anybody.
Ace Bailey handles and first step highlights
Excited to see him with NBA spacing pic.twitter.com/0oCm7Z1Ohb
— Brett Browns burner (@HinkieBrown) May 16, 2025
However, Bailey's shoddy shot selection, inconsistent defensive effort, and average handles keep him from the Flagg/Harper tiers. Meanwhile, Edgecombe is a 6-foot-5-inch wing with less flashy tape, but is a reliable defender and an efficient shooter. The Big 12 Freshman of the Year notched a 55.4 true shooting (field goals, three-pointers, and free throws) percentage and was one of only two freshmen to average at least two steals per game. That was on top of totaling 20 blocks in just 33 games, which is rare for a non-big man.
Rounding out Tier A is Johnson, who shot a blistering 39.7 percent from deep with the Longhorns but had just a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio as a point guard. Additionally, the 6-foot-6-inch, 190-pounder only took 20 percent of his shots at the rim, which would make him too predictable at the next level. He will need to improve his playmaking and rim pressure, but his shooting gives him a reliable baseline.
Fears must get better at shooting, which is why he's in Tier B. The 6-foot-4-inch, 182-pounder shot a ghastly 28.4 percent from downtown for the Sooners, but he did notch a 57 true shooting percentage. That was aided by his 85-percent free-throw clip on 215 attempts, the latter of which ranked 30th in the country. Still, the free throws are a good perk considering that his calling card is rim pressure, which will help him draw fouls and collapse the defense.
Knueppel might be the best pure shooter in the entire class, as he shot 47.9 percent (40.6 percent) for the Blue Devils and carried their offense while Flagg was injured. That gives him a high floor, but his lack of explosiveness and quickness caps his potential to a high-level role player. There's nothing wrong with that, but he's unlikely to move the needle in Washington's rebuild.
Finally, the 7-foot-2-inch Maluach would create a “Twin Towers” lineup with the seven-foot Sarr, but his lack of outside shooting (4-16 3 PT on the season) could be disastrous for floor-spacing. The latter big man is still just 20 years old, but his 30.8 percent clip from deep this past season shows that he also has a long way to go as a stretch big. The rim protection would be elite (Maluach averaged 1.3 blocks while Sarr had 1.5 for the Wizards), but it's hard to compete in today's NBA without prioritizing shooting.
Whether Washington acquires an on-ball playmaker, an off-ball wing, or a big man, there will be encouraging traits about the prospect. However, they're not all created equally, so the front office will have a difficult decision to make no matter how the board falls on June 25.
