The Washington Wizards may not alter Trae Young's minutes soon, but both he and Julian Reese are capitalizing on their minutes so far.
The Washington Wizards will return to the hardwood tonight to take on the Miami Heat in the second of four meetings against the divisional foe, but all eyes will be on whether fans will get to see the new star play more than his last two games.
after making his debut in last Thursday's loss against the Utah Jazz, new Wizards guard Trae Young is set to make his third appearance on the court in tonight's game as he builds his on-court chemistry with the rest of the roster while providing late season optimism and intrigue within the fanbase. But Young also opened his career on a minutes restriction after head coach Brian Keefe noted he was expected to play within 17 to 20 minutes in his debut, but that range will likely remain the same at least at this point in the regular season.
"I think it'll stay where it's at for a little bit, but definitely increase gradually as he continues to cross off the day," Dawkins said on Monday.
Young has played 19 and 18 minutes in each of his first two games, though he's made the most out of those minutes after posting double figures scoring in each along with 14 combined assists including a pair of highlight passes to Tre Johnson. Though limited minutes across a limited sample size, it's been evident that the former Hawks guard elevates the rest of the Wizards' roster and adds a different element of playmaking that has been missing on the roster, an expected development after acquiring a four-time NBA All Star.
But Young isn't the only Wizard who has drawn headlines after DMV native and University of Maryland product Julian Reese has turned heads through four games with the team.
"When we wanted to address a need, it was to find a big and when you thought about our team, someone that had some physicality, some toughness, and could rebound the ball is what we were looking for," Dawkins said of Reese. "Having someone who is local and a product that we've got to be able to watch over the years."
After posting two points and four rebounds in his NBA debut, Reese followed it up finishing just shy of a double double after tallying nine points and eight rebounds against Orlando. Two days later, Reese made franchise history after recording 20 rebounds against Utah, becoming the first Wizards rookie to do so since 1993 while also becoming the first rookie to record ten offensive rebounds since the ABA-NBA merger in the 1970s. It marked another highlight on the night that Trae Young made his Wizards debut, adding fuel to the two-way addition becoming a permanent piece on the 2026-27 roster.
"He's got a connectivity with Bub [Carrington] and Cam [Whitmore] and some of the other guys on the team, so we figured we could put him in this environment and let him thrive and kind of get an opportunity. And I wasn't expecting him to have the game he had game three, but he's been consistent, dominant on the glass, physical, good hands, making good passes," Dawkins added.