Not long ago, third-year guard Bub Carrington was seen as one of the few bright spots on the otherwise dim Washington Wizards.
After a rookie campaign that surprised many fans, the 21-year-old out of Pittsburgh was an effective three-point shooter but showed weaknesses outside of that in his sophomore season.
Despite his average points going from 9.8 as a rookie to 10.7, assists going from 4.4 to 4.6, and his three-point percentage jumping from under 34% to just under 41%, his defensive and rim-pressuring weaknesses left questions about his long-term viability with the Wizards.
Washington added more competition at guard on August 19, as it was part of a five-team trade that sent Tre Mann to the nation's capital. The 25-year-old is coming off a bad season himself, but that does not mean he doesn’t have the skills to leapfrog Carrington on the depth chart.
Mann arguably has a more well-rounded game than Carrington
Not much went right for the newest Wizard in the 2025-26 campaign.
Playing in 55 games for the Charlotte Hornets, the sixth-year guard out of Florida shot just 36% and averaged 5.5 points a game after averaging 14.1 points on 43.5/40/90.5 splits across just 13 games in 2024-25, a season he missed most of due to injury. He fared better in 2023-24, averaging 9.3 points on 45.9% shooting (37.3% 3-point) over 41 combined games for the Hornets and Oklahoma City Thunder. Unlocking that version of Mann would take Washington to the next level.
Even at his worst, the 6-foot-4, 178-pounder provides an ability to get to the hoop more than Carrington does at this point in their respective careers, which might appeal to head coach Brian Keefe when he decides his rotations next season. Carrington took just 5.3% of his shot attempts within three feet of the rim last season, down from 10.2% as a rookie. Conversely, Mann took 12.2% of his attempts from that distance in 2025-26 and has taken 14.9% of his shots from there in his career.
Someone will be cut out of the rotation
This is a new problem for the Wizards, but even after offloading Cam Whitmore and Julian Reese, the roster is still bloated enough that someone will inevitably be left out.
Despite the three-point shooting prowess that Carrington has shown in Washington, the backup point guard role will be up for grabs if he doesn't improve his overall game moving forward, and it starts with increasing his paint touches.
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