AJ Dybantsa Among Wizards' Inactives vs. Charlotte Hornets

The Washington Wizards will look to string together wins for its first win streak of the season when they return to action to face the Hornets in Charlotte on Monday. Yet again, though, the Wizards will be without a key piece.

The wait for AJ Dybantsa's NBA debut will drag on for at least two more days after the rookie was ruled out on Sunday due to his left ankle sprain. This marks the fourth consecutive game that Dybantsa has missed, marking a deflating blow to the start of the Wizards' season. Dybantsa went down with an ankle injury midway through the first half of the preseason loss against the New Orleans Pelicans before being ruled day-to-day by head coach Brian Keefe.

Whether Dybantsa makes his return to the court this week remains to be seen with the Wizards traveling to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers on Wednesday before hosting the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night. Yet with Dybantsa sidelined to begin the regular season, the Wizards turned to Bilal Coulibaly to start at the three in each of the last three games where the French wing is averaging 9.7 points and four rebounds while shooting 50% from the floor.

Through preseason, however, Dybantsa sat third on the team in scoring and averaged 12.8 points across his four appearances. Dybantsa also shot 43.9% from the floor through his unofficial debut, including 2-of-11 from three point and 61.9% from the free throw line.

Dybantsa is also one of three players who were ruled out alongside Jamir Watkins, due to a torn ACL suffered in Summer League, and Tristan Vukcevic, who was diagnosed with a left hip impingement during training camp. Rookie forward Felix Okpara, who was ruled questionable due to illness ahead of Friday's loss, is not on the injury report for game four.

The Wizards, though, may be able to catch a break with the Hornets battling through multiple notable injuries. That includes Kon Knueppel, who has been ruled out due to a left hamstring strain as he looks to make his season debut. Knueppel joins guard Coby White, ruled out due to a left calf strain, along with Grant Williams, who was ruled out with a right hamstring strain.

Both teams enter Monday night sitting a 2-1 overall with tipoff set for 7 PM ET while the Wizards are in the midst of its first road trip of the 2026-27 regular season.