The Washington Wizards have addressed the frontcourt on night two of the 2026 NBA Draft after trading for Tennessee forward Felix Okpara
After selecting former BYU forward AJ Dybantsa with the top overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Washington Wizards have now finalized their draft after acquiring a big man on the second night.
The Wizards have acquired the draft rights to former Tennessee forward Felix Okpara, who was selected with the 46th overall pick by the Orlando Magic. In exchange, the Wizards dealt both second round picks available with the 51st and 60th selections now headed to Orlando.
Okpara was among the several prospects the Wizards hosted for pre-draft workouts with the chance to upgrade the end of the frontcourt on night two of the draft.
The Nigerian big man began his college career at Ohio State where he started in 11 games as a true freshman, averaging four points and 3.6 rebounds, before starting all but one of the Buckeyes' 35 games the following season.
Okpara then departed Columbus, Oh. and entered the transfer portal before landing with the Tennessee Volunteers where he became an impact piece during his final two seasons of college basketball. The versatile scoring big started in all but one of the 73 games he appeared in at Knoxville, averaging 7.1 points and 6.4 rebounds as a junior then eight points and 6.3 rebounds as a senior. He also ranked in the 98th percentile in rim efficiency defense with opposing teams shooting just 27% at the rim against him, while also not allowing a dunk through the 2025-26 season.
Okpara also finished his college career named to the SEC All-Defensive Team, becoming the second Vol to draw the postseason honor in as many seasons, after playing alongside Ja'Kobi Gillespie, who was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs an hour before, and Nate Ament, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. Per Synergy, Okpara also allowed just 15 points on post-ups while notching 105 blocks during his two seasons, good for 20th in program history. In addition to averaging at least one block per game in all four seasons, his six games with at least three blocks points to the two-way potential that Okpara offers after shooting at least 58% from the field in all four seasons.
The Tennessee product now arrives in Washington with a chance to upgrade the frontcourt where he will likely compete with Julian Reese, who signed with the organization on a two-way deal near the end of the 2025-26 regular season.
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