With the 2025-26 regular season officially complete, we look at the four biggest questions that the Washington Wizards have to answer this offseason.
At last, the 2025-26 regular season has officially come to an end for the Washington Wizards with a third consecutive season with the team failing to reach 20 wins, yet this offseason has a much different feel than the previous two. Yet there will still be answers for the front office and ownership to answer ahead of a 2026-27 season that has elevated expectations.
Status of Trae Young, Anthony Davis
While the post-All Star portion of the 2025-26 season provided a glimpse into the Trae Young era with Anthony Davis sidelined for the final three months, the 2026-27 season will mark the start of a new chapter of Wizards basketball. But before the Wizards get there, the front office will have to address the two newest pieces.
For Young, the layout is much more clear. The former star Hawks point guard has a player option just shy of $49 million ahead of him with a June 23 deadline to opt-in. The expectation since Young arrived in Washington has been the two sides will seriously explore a long-term deal this offseason after Young prioritized going to a team that would, at least, be receptive to him staying long term.
General manager Will Dawkins noted he has a "good relationship with [Trae's] reps," after the team introduced Young, but what would that contract look like? And how quickly will we see a resolution? ESPN noted that Young is eligible to sign a three year, $156.9 million extension until June 30.
Davis, meanwhile, will enter year two of a three year, $175.3 million deal but the veteran is also extension eligible. August 6 marks the start of when Davis is able to sign a new four year extension, but he admitted he wants to remain patient to see what the offseason plan looks like for a Wizards team looking to bounce back from the NBA's worst - and second youngest - team in 2025-26 to a playoff contender in 2026-27. While the Wizards have the pieces, outlining the offseason vision could help cement an imposing starting frontcourt tandem at least next season.
Roster Flexibility
The Wizards currently enter the offseason with 14 players under contract, though similar to Trae Young, some decisions will be made. D'Angelo Russell never suited up - or even arrived in Washington - for the Wizards after being part of the Anthony Davis package, yet he enters the offseason with a near $6 million player option. How general manager Will Dawkins moves on from the veteran point guard will be its own question with an expected limited market.
The Wizards have a $2.15 million team option on former second round pick Jamir Watkins, which might be a no brainer after proving to be a menace defensively while flashing as a scorer as a rookie.
Still, the Wizards don't have too much room to tweak its roster given the current makeup. And that's before the 2026 NBA Draft where the front office will have a top five pick to use to add another playmaker to the roster before addressing the pair of second round picks.
While Cam Whitmore will join Bilal Coulibaly as extension eligible on July 1, the Wizards are also staring at a trio of players - Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George - as extension eligible next summer. Does the front office opt to make a move on any of the young pieces?
Change in Head Coach
This has no legs beyond speculation among various outlets through the final weeks of the regular season, including Yahoo reporting that former Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins could be an option if Washington goes in another direction.
Since taking over as interim head coach, Brian Keefe is just 43-159 with the Wizards. Keefe owns the second-fewest wins by any coach in franchise history who has lasted more than one season. His .213 win percentage is the worst by any Wizards coach who has spent one full season with the organization. And it comes off the heels of the worst three seasons in franchise history.
In defense, at no point during Keefe's 2.5 seasons as head coach has the Wizards roster or mindset been on winning in the moment. That changes in 2026-27. Having suffered three ten-game losing streaks and winning no more than three consecutive games in 2025-26, Washington will need to prioritize defense while emphasizing winning habits across its mix of young and veteran leadership. But if Keefe returns, he'll also do so with elevated expectations and pressure in his fifth season with the organization.
Decisions At the Wing
It was a question that somewhat ended up playing itself out in 2025-26, specifically in the first half of the season. After falling in and out of the rotation, Cam Whitmore was lost for the remainder of the regular season due to deep vein thrombosis, playing just 21 games as a Wizard.
Yet there was plenty of development at the position with Kyshawn George improving his point, assists, rebounds and inside-out shooting during his injury-ridden sophomore season. Despite playing nearly seven minutes fewer per game, Bilal Coulibaly improved his shooting efficiency from both the field and three point in year three while averaging just 0.6 points less than 2024-25.
Maybe the biggest development in the second half of the season was the emergence of former first round pick Will Riley, who ranked seventh among rookies in scoring post-All Star break with 15.6 points per game. Riley also posted a pair of 30-point games in April, shooting at least 56% from the field in each game, in addition to eight 20-point games since Feb. 5.
The individual development each showed adds hope to the multiple scorers on the 2026-27 roster, but Washington has some decisions to make this offseason.
Bilal Coulibaly will be the first of the young players who will become extension eligible beginning July 1, while the Wizards have a club option on Whitmore, who will enter the final season of his four year, $15.5 million deal. While the upcoming NBA Draft Lottery, set for May 10, will ultimately determine which direction the Wizards will go, it's a question whether adding at the three will be much of, if at all, a focus this offseason. The question is, will all four return?