Between drafting BYU star AJ Dybantsa No. 1 overall, signing four-time All-Star Trae Young to a four-year, $212.8 million contract, trading forwards Cam Whitmore and Julian Reese to acquire guard Tre Mann, and signing veterans Khris Middleton and Deandre Ayton, this has been a very eventful summer for the Washington Wizards.
Add in the trade that sent 10-time All-Star big man Anthony Davis to Washington in February, and it's not hyperbolic to call the past few months transformative.
That's what makes the quiet signing of 33-year-old Anthony Gill on Tuesday all the more important.
Anthony Gill is the familiar face that the young core needs
While Gill certainly doesn’t hold the standing in the league that other veterans on the team like Davis, Young, Middleton, or Ayton do, he is the longest-tenured Wizard, and that matters during times of change.
Gill has spent his entire six-year career with the Wizards dating back to the franchise’s last playoff appearance in 2021, and his experience adds value and wisdom to a talented young core that needs it, headed by rookie sensation AJ Dybantsa.
The Wizards understand that talent alone won't equal success
On paper, this is the most talented team the Wizards have fielded in a long time.
That’s why the inclusion of Anthony Gill, who is a no-ego veteran that teammates love, is a productive way to use the final roster spot.
In 2025, then-rookie wing Kyshawn George said that Gill is a "good person on the inside, and shows that every day," per Varun Shankar, formerly of the Washington Post. In February, then-rookie guard Tre Johnson said that the Virginia alum is "everything for the team."
“He’s a vet; anything you can name, that’s AG all in one category, to be honest," he said. "But he’s just great overall. Like, just the person he is off the court, the person he is on the court, he’s just always ready. That’s one thing I can say about Anthony Gill: he’s always ready whenever his number’s called.”
With this move, general manager Will Dawkins is exhibiting that he understands that it takes more than just having great players to win. Gill provides the stability and energy that the young squad needs day in and day out.
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