The Washington Wizards showed individual signs of improvement in 2025-26, yet owned the league's worst record after drawing a middle regular season grade by one outlet.
All the focus in the Washington Wizards offseason has been centered around avoiding what proved to be another long, long season for fans after failing to win 25% of games for the third consecutive season.
The biggest issue for the Wizards proved to be availability with only three players missing fewer than 20 games during the 2025-26 season, forcing general manager Will Dawkins to turn to the Capital City Go-Go to round out an available rotation by the end of the season.
Though the season did provide ample individual improvement, highlighted by the growth of Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George and Will Riley among others, the lack of sustained team success was tough to sit through with the Wizards suffering three losing streaks of ten or more games.
While the mission may not have always been to stay competitive, ESPN dished a 'C' grade for the Wizards, ranked in the middle of the pack. Washington tied five other teams while 11 teams drew worse grades.
"Like Brooklyn, the goal was clear all season in Washington: guarantee no worse than the fifth pick in the draft. But while the Wizards were securing the league's worst record, the franchise made two of the biggest splashes of trade season when it acquired Trae Young and Anthony Davis. With a high lottery pick coming in June, next season will be a fascinating watch in D.C," ESPN wrote.
What may be impressive is despite the passing grade, it might be a better grade than expected given the Wizards finished the season with the worst scoring differential and finished just 5-50 against teams with a winning record.
The question may be what changes will come next as Dawkins already announced that Brian Keefe is expected to return as head coach in 2026-27, while efforts this summer will be around retaining Trae Young, getting two feet in from Anthony Davis and adding another top five pick to the second-youngest roster in the NBA.
For now, it's a waiting game with the NBA Draft Lottery set for May 10 in Chicago with a 14% chance to secure the top overall pick, a 27.4% chance of securing a top two overall pick and a 40.1% chance of securing a top three pick. The combine begins the same day before the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft is held on June 23 with the second round the following day as the Wizards have three selections to make.