The Washington Wizards have dropped all but one of their last 21 games, but rookie Will Riley continues to shine. He drew praise from a veteran and one media member this week.
With only a handful of games left in the 2025-26 regular season, coupled with just one win over their last 21 games, there hasn't always been a ton of good to come from the Washington Wizards over the recent stretch.
The Wizards have been especially short-handed over the last month while the team announced that Kyshawn George, who had already been sidelined since March 2, will miss the final six regular season games after suffering a grade two ulnar collateral ligament tear in his left elbow. The team did announce that Anthony Davis, who has yet to make his debut since being traded ahead of the deadline, was cleared for "light contact" though a timeframe for a return to court has yet to be announced with growing skepticism that a debut does actually materialize this season.
It'd an understandable development despite general manager Will Dawkins previously saying that it's "highly likely" that both Davis and Trae Young, who remains away from basketball activities per head coach Brian Keefe, play for the Wizards this season.
But there has been one bright spot since the calendar turned to 2026: rookie Will Riley.
Since New Years Day, Riley ranks sixth among rookies in scoring with 12.8 points perennially game while shooting 45% from the field. That also includes seven 20-point performances this season, while he's shot at least 60% from the field on at least eight attempts in seven games during that span.
Given the 6-foot-9 rookie has done so during a second half of the season with an inconsistent and incomplete supporting cast around him, it's fueled optimism for what year two could look like for the inside-out scorer. And despite giving up a season-high 153 points in Wednesday's loss against the Philadelphia 76ers, veteran swingman Paul George praised the Wizards rookie after scoring a game-high 39 points.
"I love his aggressiveness. I love his assertiveness. He can dribble. He can do a lot of things, I've watched film on him: Dribble, handle, play-make, score," George said. "He can do a little bit of everything on the court. It is great for him here. He is playing with confidence. I see a lot of myself in him."
George wasn't the only one to sing Riley's praises after Tom Haberstroh described the Wizards rookie as "fluid" after watching him in person last week.
Riley's ascension through the second half of the season could make him the early X-factor on Washington's early 2026-27 roster outlook with a chance to add scoring versatility to a lineup that features shooters in Tre Johnson and Trae Young along with big men in Alex Sarr and Anthony Davis. Add in Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly and Bub Carrington, there's reason to be confident in the outlook of what could be with the rebuild nearing an end. But Riley has made clear he's a core part of that turnaround as general manager Will Dawkins has a chance to build, at a minimum, a playoff-caliber team in DC next season.