The Washington Wizards have heavily utilized their G-League team affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, this season. With that, two-way players have gotten ample experience on the court in both the minor and major leagues. However, on a G-League floor, it’s hard to impress. Playing well could grant you a shot at cracking an NBA roster, but that hardwood is a completely different story. However, the Wizards’ G-Leaguers didn’t just come to play in their recent outing against the Sacramento Kings. They dominated every aspect of the game.<\/p>\n
Throughout the season, multiple players have spent time in the G-League while maintaining a spot on the Wizards roster. Will Riley<\/a> and AJ Johnson<\/a> have seen that the most. They’ve both played a few games with the Go-Go while appearing on the bench during most, if not all, Washington games. However, not only did they play well, but Sharife Cooper<\/a>, Skal Labissere<\/a> and Jamir Watkins<\/a> gave solid contributions to the Wizards.<\/p>\n Riley has appeared in just two\u00a0total contests<\/a> this season for the Go-Go. Not only has he been the best player in each of those contests for either team, but his numbers speak volumes for his potential in the NBA. Over those two games, the rookie forward averaged 28 points, 2.5 rebounds, and four assists while shooting almost 60% from the field.<\/p>\n He’s only averaged 15 minutes for the Wizards this season. However, Riley got plenty of action against the Sacramento. He played 30 minutes and dismantled Sacramento’s defense. He went off for a career-high 18 points, along with six assists and six rebounds. This was by far his best game in a Washington uniform, and it may have solidified his role for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n Johnson has been in a very interesting position this season. He’s played in three total games<\/a> for the G-League team and half of the Wizards’ games this season. While he hasn’t gotten much time in either league, he’s made the most of his limited minutes. Across those three contests mentioned, Johnson has averaged 13 points, three assists, and four rebounds.<\/p>\n However, he was finally called upon against the Kings. He played a season high in minutes (27:18) and showed that he deserves to have some minutes moving forward. Johnson went for 17 points and four assists while shooting over 50% from the field and 40% from three. While he may not play every game for the Wizards, he’s proven to always be ready when his number is called.<\/p>\n Watkins was drafted 43rd overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz. Then, Riley, who was also drafted by Utah, and Watkins were swapped for Walter Clayton Jr<\/a> on draft night<\/a>. Looking back, Washington may have gotten the better of the deal. Watkins is on a two-way contract, but he’s seen elevated time in the NBA in some of Washington’s most recent outings. Over his three contests<\/a> in the G-League, Watkins has averaged 14.3 points and 1.7 assists. However, what stands out is his 7.7 rebounds per game as a six-foot-six guard.<\/p>\n His last few outings have been spectacular, providing a major defensive impact for a team that has been seriously lackluster on that end of the floor. While he’s had some excellent outings this season, the game against the Kings is among some of the better ones. In just 16 minutes, Watkins scored eight points, grab six rebounds, and snag a steal. This game marked his 10th steal in five games, and his third straight game with 5+ rebounds.<\/p>\n Cooper came back to America this season after spending the last two years overseas<\/a>. After a solid campaign averaging 15.5 points and 6.3 assists, he signed a two-way deal with D.C before the season and has spent most of the campaign with the Go-Go. In the G-League this season<\/a>, Cooper has averaged 18.8 points, 6.9 assists, and 4.1 rebounds.<\/p>\n Against Sacramento, Cooper played a career-high in minutes (12:59) and had an all-around performance. He marked new career-highs (albeit not high) in points with five, assists with three, and rebounds with seven. In just over a quarter of an action, Cooper made a significant impact that went a long way in a four-point win against the Kings.<\/p>\n Labissiere has been nothing short of unstoppable in the G-League. He’s averaged at least 16 points and seven rebounds over the last three seasons while shooting over 50% from the field. This season, he got a fresh start, joining Washington’s training camp roster before moving back down, playing for the Go-Go for the first time in his career. After forward Cam Whitmore’s<\/a> season-ending injury<\/a>, Washington signed Labissiere to a 10-day contract. This season in the G-League, the big man has averaged 18.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks across his 13 appearances<\/a>.<\/p>\n In his second outing as a Wizard, Labissiere was Washington’s big man off the bench. In 26 minutes of action, he scored 13 points to go along with his seven rebounds, two assists, and three stocks (steals+blocks). This game marked the first time in over seven full years, or 2,227 days, that Labissiere scored 10+ points in a game.<\/p>\n The proof is in the pudding: Washington’s development is working. Every player listed has spent quality time in the G-League. Growing games equals more chances to play and a long-term position in the NBA.<\/p>\n Riley, Watkins, and Johnson have spent time with both squads this season, even if in short spurts. Cooper and Labissiere haven’t, but they made the most of their opportunity when the team was pushing for a win. With that, they played exceptionally well and could be looking for more time in the NBA moving forward. Labissiere in particular could secure a long-term “prove-it” deal after his 10-day comes to an end.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Washington Wizards have heavily utilized their G-League team affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, this season. With that, two-way players have gotten ample experience on the court in both the minor and major leagues. However, on a G-League floor, it’s hard to impress. Playing well could grant you a shot at cracking an NBA roster, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5480,"featured_media":175598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,3,18],"tags":[49598,50163,4103,2428,49840],"class_list":["post-175535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","category-wizards","tag-aj-johnson","tag-jamir-watkins","tag-sharife-cooper","tag-skal-labissiere","tag-will-riley"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5480"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175535"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175603,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175535\/revisions\/175603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Will Riley<\/h3>\n
AJ Johnson<\/h3>\n
Jamir Watkins<\/h3>\n
Sharife Cooper<\/h3>\n
Skal Labissiere<\/h3>\n
The Last Word<\/h3>\n