The Washington Wizards filled the final roster spot on Tuesday as we break down what the re-signing of Anthony Gill means
After months of uncertainty about the final roster spot and with just weeks until the Washington Wizards officially regroup for the start of the upcoming 2026-27 regular season, general manager Will Dawkins added a familiar face to the organization.
Veteran forward Anthony Gill is back for a seventh season with the organization where he returns to an all too familiar scene back inside the locker room once again. The 6-foot-7 forward was among those spotted in attendance for the Wizards' Sept. 11 memorial, pouring fuel on the fire of the increasingly likely return to cement the roster.
Gill returns to the organization coming off a career season where he averaged 5.8 points, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals while shooting 70.7% inside the arc and 62.8% from the field in 17.3 minutes -- all marking new career highs. That also materialized after Gill started in eight games and appeared in 55 for the Wizards where he helped filled out the often depleted Wizards lineups due to injuries. Gill was also fined $35,000 as a result of the fight between Thunders guard Ajay Mitchell and Wizards forward Justin Champagnie back in March, stepping in to protect his teammate. That's the type of teammate that the Wizards, whether players or head coach Brian Keefe, have described of the six year veteran, and why his return to the organization made all the sense in the final notable roster move.
Dawkins and the front office gave themselves the flexibility to potentially make other moves after other veterans like DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook, yet the possibility of adding a veteran who doesn't disrupt the rotation while strengthening the end of the rotation at the four made sense. Add in the reputation that Gill has built as a positive presence both on and off the floor, it's the type of move that makes sense for an organization that has put a premium on building its chemistry.
What Gill is not expected to step back into the same type of role that he did last year, and with a roster largely in place with more of a question about how the minutes get distributed across the upgraded rotation, it wasn't the expectation for the final roster spot. Yet Gill's value will still be one that's felt on a daily basis inside the organization where the 33 year old accentuates the standards and expectations under head coach Brian Keefe. The good news of the official signing is for a player who has stuck with the organization during the leanest seasons in decades, Gill now has an opportunity to impact a winning organization on and off the floor in 2026-27.
