The Washington Wizards full schedule was released on Thursday as both the team and their fanbase have got the chance to circle their most anticipated matchups of the 2025-26 season.
Washington will have plenty of matchups that could be must-watch games this season believe it or not, but arguably the one showdown that fans will be most interested to watch will be the Wizards first battle against Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks.
Not only will the Wizards get their first preview of the battle between Tre Johnson and Flagg, but they'll also get the chance to either have their dreams of who Johnson could become validated OR they could have their hearts absolutely shattered
Obviously, entering the offseason, Wizards fans among nearly every other fanbase who had a legitimate chance to earn the No. 1 overall pick were dreaming about the possibility of landing Cooper Flagg.
The Wizards in specific seemed to be in the driver seat of the Flagg sweepstakes for nearly the entire season and their percentage to earn the top pick took a hit courtesy of a Bub Carrington buzzer beater win in the regular season finale against the Miami Heat.
As a result, the Wizards worst nightmare came true in the NBA Draft Lottery when they not only missed out on the chance to draft Flagg, but they fell out of the top five as a whole.
Nonetheless, the fanbase quickly found some hope when they landed one of the most explosive scorers in the entire draft in Tre Johnson with the No. 6 overall pick.
Johnson's strong play in Summer League all but added to the optimism from the fanbase that this offseason may not have been the total wash it looked to be at first.
However, on October 24, the Wizards will get have their first matchup against the Dallas Mavericks and in turn, they'll have the chance to either be relieved of how their offseason unfolded, or leave reminded why it felt like luck was against them the entire time.
Flagg will either dominate this matchup and prove why every fanbase and front office in the league were intrigued at the slight possibility they could earn the rights to draft him OR Johnson could potentially outplay the Mavericks new cornerstone, which would all but add fuel to the fire of a Wizards rebuild that finally seems to be turning a corner.
Regardless, even if Johnson were to put together a strong performance and prove he's just as talented as Flagg, fans would likely walk away from this matchup looking at it as a win.