One Storyline, Player to Watch in Wizards 2026 Preseason Opener

Basketball is finally back… kind of. 

After months of waiting, the Washington Wizards will finally take the court Thursday in their preseason opener against the defending champion New York Knicks. 

It goes without saying that preseason basketball is an entirely different beast than the regular season – the priorities are development, getting back in shape and getting players acclimated to new systems, teammates and gameplans. That's what head coach Brian Keefe emphasized ahead of game one, too. At the end of the day, though, basketball is basketball, and Wizards fans are surely excited to see their team take the hardwood.

Ahead of Washington’s matchup at Madison Square Garden, let’s take a look at one storyline, and one player, to keep an eye on. 

Storyline: How do the Wizards rotate players?

As referenced before, the preseason is a totally different scene than the regular season. In all likelihood, players will see limited minutes, the bench depth will be fully rolled out and, again, it will be more about shaping up than winning. 

But it will still be interesting to see which units get some run together and how those groups gel, even in a small sample size. 

It’s highly likely that the Wizards starting five will be Trae Young, Kyshawn George, AJ Dybantsa, Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr (who is currently listed as day-to-day). Beyond that, there are so many questions yet to be answered. 

Will Tre Johnson get some run with the starters, or will he be a spark plug off the bench? 

How will a starting lineup with Trae Young – one of the worst defensive guards in the association – rotate on defense to cover up his weaknesses? 

How will the minute distribution in the big man rotation shake out, especially with a talented player like Deandre Ayton on the bench? 

Realistically, most of these questions will not be answered before the regular season starts. But it’ll sure be fun to try to parse some answers from a sample that will ultimately prove meaningless. 

Player to watch: AJ Dybantsa

Trae Young, Anthony Davis, Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George, among others, are all great players and will play a huge part in how the Wizards look this year. But no player is more important to the team’s future than first overall pick AJ Dybantsa. 

A dynamic, 6-foot-9 scoring wing with a bag far deeper than most of his similarly-aged peers, Dybantsa is the type of talent and personality who can carry a team on and off the court. For the first time in what feels like a long while, Washington has their guy, someone who can lead the franchise into its next moment. 

Thursday’s action won’t change anyone’s mind about Dybantsa one way or the other, nor should it – it’s the preseason, after all. But it will be fun to watch the uber-talented small forward take the court in something resembling real NBA action, just as it will be all season.