Wiz of Awes
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The Wizards and Mystics share one surprising secret weapon in their rebuilds

DC has an embarrassment of riches in terms of young basketball talent.
ByMarco Gacina|
Apr 14, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Georgia Amoore poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected with the number six overall pick to the Washington Mystics in the 2025 WNBA Draft at The Shed at Hudson Yards. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Apr 14, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Georgia Amoore poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected with the number six overall pick to the Washington Mystics in the 2025 WNBA Draft at The Shed at Hudson Yards. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

An 18-64 record and league-worst -12.4 net rating aside, the 2024-25 NBA season turned out to be an unexpectedly fun one for the Washington Wizards.

The reason? The rookie trio of Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, and Kyshawn George.

The Wizards took all three in the first round of this season’s draft — Sarr with the no. 2 overall pick, Carrington with the no. 14 overall pick, and George with the no. 24 overall pick. All three have been resounding successes in Washington so far, especially considering the relative weakness of the 2024 draft.

Coincidentally, another professional basketball team based in Washington DC is also kicking off a rebuild with three first round picks — the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.

The Mystics controlled the no. 3, no. 4, and no.6 overall picks in Monday’s WNBA Draft, and with those selections they took Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron, USC’s Kiki Iriafen, and Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore, respectively.

There's no shortage of top lottery talent on both Washington teams

This new Mystics young core is quite comparable to the Wizards’ recently-drafted young core. Citron, Iriafen, and Moore, like the Wizards’ three rookies, are not necessarily home-run prospects, but they all project as solid pros with the potential to emerge as franchise players.

On top of those parallels, the Wizards’ fourth crucial young piece is Bilal Coulibaly, a second-year forward. The Mystics’ fourth young star is… second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards.

Then there’s the Wizards’ AJ Johnson, a ludicrously young cast-off who played sparingly for the Milwaukee Bucks, not unlike the Mystics’ Jade Melbourne, who was sent to Washington after her rookie season in exchange for a throwaway draft pick. Melbourne is entering her third WNBA season but is actually still younger than most rookies because of the different eligibility rules for foreign players.

The Wizards’ young core is still yet to even entirely come together. The NBA Draft is on June 25, and the Wizards are guaranteed to be picking in the top six of a loaded draft. They also may have an extra first round pick courtesy of the Memphis Grizzlies, should that pick convey. Adding Duke’s Cooper Flagg to DC’s stacked young core of hoopers would be a dream.

A new era of basketball in this city will be upon us soon enough. There’s an embarrassment of riches in terms of young basketball talent between the Wizards’ and Mystics’ rosters, and soon enough both teams will be competitive once again.

For now, enjoy the developmental journey as Coulibaly, Sarr, Citron, Edwards, and company restore DC back to its basketball glory days.

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