The Washington Wizards did not look like they had a coherent plan earlier this year when they traded for two questionable veterans in Trae Young and Anthony Davis. In the months since, however, everything has come up "Wizards" and they look like geniuses for hitting the gas, including winning the NBA Draft Lottery.
On the surface, there is something to be said for buying low on star-level talent. The Wizards traded for two former All-NBA players still somewhat in their primes and didn't give up anything of note. For Trae Young, they got off of the contract of Corey Kispert and moved on from CJ McCollum, who had some brilliant playoff moments for the Atlanta Hawks but at 34 years old wasn't a part of Washington's future.
The danger in trading for veterans in the midst of a rebuild is that it accelerates the timeline. The Wizards needed to lose games to secure ping pong balls to draft elite talent, and with neither Young nor Davis capable of being the long-term centerpiece star for a good team, the Wizards needed to find such a player elsewhere.
No more tanking needed
That problem appears to be going away with the NBA's Board of Governors poised to vote on draft lottery reform that will punish teams for being in the bottom three of the standings, a place the Wizards have lived for years now. Nine teams won at least 50 games this season; the Wizards won 50 combined the last three seasons.
It will be perfectly acceptable for the Wizards to compete to win games next season, as there will be no difference in their draft luck from winning 25 games or 40. Adding a floor-raising player like Trae Young is therefore not an impediment to building a long-term team.
Draft Lottery problem
Heading into the Draft Lottery on Sunday (Mother's Day? Really, NBA?) there was another problem, however. If the Wizards fell down to the fifth pick, as the team with the worst pick had done multiple years in a row, they would have been in line to draft a point guard. The 2026 draft class is absolutely loaded with young talent, but there are two main groups: the "Top 4" filled with three forwards and a guard, and the "Next 6" which are all guards.
Fall, and the Wizards would be drafting a guard and then squashing him behind Trae Young. That would have been a foolhardy move. Play him with Young, however, and you get the disaster that the Hawks had when they tried to play Young off-ball. If you have Young on your team, you have to put the ball in his hands.
Wizards won the No. 1 pick
Luckily for all parties involved, however, the Wizards didn't fall down -- not four spots, not even one spot. They won the No. 1 pick on Sunday, securing them first pick from a dazzling set of options. AJ Dybantsa has the most buzz to go No. 1, but Cameron Boozer is a darling of the analytical models that Washington's front office appreciates, and Darryn Peterson has incredible upside.
If the Wizards do draft Dybantsa, they will have a high-octane scorer to slot into the No. 1 franchise player role. From there, now the rest of the roster fits in around him: Young feeding him the ball, Kyshawn George and Tre Johnson spotting up around him, Alex Sarr rolling to the rim and protecting the paint. Anthony Davis might stick around, might be flipped.
Trading for Trae Young was a risky move with plenty of downside. That risk is not completely gone. But between tanking reform and winning the lottery, now the Wizards look like geniuses as they approach a year where finally, at long last, winning is on the horizon.
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