{"id":178246,"date":"2026-02-20T14:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T19:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=178246"},"modified":"2026-02-20T14:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T19:00:14","slug":"wizards-alex-sarr-trae-young-anthony-davis-claim-spots-on-bleacher-reports-top-99-nba-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/02\/20\/wizards-alex-sarr-trae-young-anthony-davis-claim-spots-on-bleacher-reports-top-99-nba-players\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Wizards Claim Spots On Bleacher Report’s Top NBA Players List"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Wizards are finally in the spotlight of the league following two massive deals<\/a> before the deadline, thrusting the team into a new era of competitive basketball starting next season. Now in the new light, the media is beginning to see the real talent that D.C holds. With that, Bleacher Report<\/a> has recognized three Wizards as among the best players in the association this season in their recent player rankings.<\/p>\n

3 Wizards Claim Spots On Bleacher Report’s Top NBA Players List<\/h2>\n

Bleacher Report released its Top 99 NBA Players list just hours before the season resumed after the All-Star Break. For Washington, Alex Sarr<\/a>, Trae Young<\/a>, and Anthony Davis<\/a> all appeared on the list. While both veterans<\/a> were almost locks for the list, the sophomore jumped onto the list after not being ranked before this season started.<\/p>\n

Alex Sarr<\/h3>\n

Bleacher put the second-year big man just outside the top 80, ranking him 82nd in the league. Sarr is ahead of several notable names: Alex Caruso<\/a>, Draymond Green<\/a>, and Coby White<\/a>, just to name a few. He’s elevated his game tremendously, putting his average rookie season firmly in the rearview mirror. Bleacher’s Andy Bailey had this to say about the young Wizards star:<\/p>\n

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“It’s time to get excited about the future of Alex Sarr.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He’s putting up that well-rounded statline listed above in just 28.2 minutes. He moves laterally better than most 7-footers. His instincts as a rim protector are way ahead of schedule. And although his three-point percentage is still below average<\/u><\/ins><\/a>, his form looks good enough to expect continued improvement there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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All in all, Sarr’s versatility on both ends of the floor might be as big a source of optimism for the Washington Wizards as the acquisitions of Trae Young and Anthony Davis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In fact, he may be the X-factor behind those acquisitions working. He’s a dynamic, young lob threat for Young, while also having enough perimeter skill to play alongside AD.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Sarr’s new teammates will fully unlock his unique skillset for his size. He is no doubt on the rise as an elite two-way threat, and soon will become a core member of Washington’s big three. Over the course of the season, Sarr has averaged 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and two blocks across his 41 games this season.<\/p>\n

The only unfortunate situation is the big man’s current injury<\/a>. If he sits out another six games this season, the second-year pro will not be able to qualify for any awards. Sarr could be up for several awards and nominations at the end of the season, with a great chance to make one of the All-Defensive Teams.<\/p>\n

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Trae Young<\/h3>\n

The NBA’s 2024-25 assist leader came in at 57, falling over 30 spots from B\/R’s preseason rankings, which listed him at 23. Young has had a bad case of the injury bug this season, which has limited him to just 10 games this season. Bleacher’s Greg Swartz was quick to jump on Young, questioning if any team can truly build around the four-time All-Star:<\/p>\n

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“Is Trae Young a generational offensive talent, or are his defensive shortcomings doomed to handicap teams who try to build around him?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The answer is probably somewhere in the middle, although the four-time All-Star had a horrendous end to his Atlanta Hawks tenure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Young juiced up Atlanta’s offense by 9.3 points per 100 possessions this season, good enough to rank in the 96th percentile<\/u><\/ins><\/a>. Unfortunately, the Hawks gave up (and this is not a typo) 15.6 more points<\/em> over this same stretch. That means that with both ends considered, Atlanta was getting beat by 6.3 points per 100 possessions (22nd percentile) with their star point guard on the floor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Maybe things will be different with the Washington Wizards, especially with two big-time shot blockers in Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr behind him. Maybe Young’s passing is the key to unlocking Washington’s young core. Or maybe Young is in danger of losing his position as a starting point guard in the NBA altogether unless he can improve his own shooting efficiency (41.5 percent overall, 30.5 percent from three) and become less of a traffic cone on defense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We likely won’t have the answers until next season.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Washington’s newest guard still has yet to make his debut, which hasn’t helped his case any. However, Washington has the defense to cover up Young’s lack of talent on that end of the floor. It’s yet to be seen how the new Wizard will pair with the current core, but one thing is for sure: Washington basketball will revolve around the seven-year pro for years to come.<\/p>\n

Throughout Young’s brief 10 games this season, he’s averaged 19.3 points, 8.9 assists, and 1.5 rebounds. A down year, no doubt, but with plenty of recovery time, the guard will come back stronger than ever.<\/p>\n

Anthony Davis<\/h3>\n

The newest member of Washington came in at 52nd, dropping 40 spots from his preseason rank of 12. With that being said, it’s important to take a step back. Let’s look down south and realize the true dumpster fire he was a part of with the Dallas Mavericks. The team gravitated to the rookie sensation Cooper Flagg<\/a>, and Davis saw a decline in his numbers.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Davis has suffered the same plague as Young, and injuries derailed an already down season for the 10-time All-Star. Swartz gave his opinion on the injured star:<\/p>\n

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“Anthony Davis is one of the toughest NBA players to rank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On one hand, he’s still one of the league’s premier defenders who held opponents to just 53.6 percent shooting at the rim<\/u><\/ins><\/a> and ranks tied-for-eighth with 1.7 blocks a game. His rebounding has stayed consistent over the last few years and Davis is averaging over 20 points per game for the 13th consecutive season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Unfortunately, injuries have cut short yet another season for the 10-time All-Star, who’s not expected to play for the remainder of the year following a trade to the Washington Wizards. He’ll finish the 2025-26 season at just 20 games and has averaged 46.5 contests over the past six seasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Wizards bought low on Davis by giving up two bad first-round picks and can afford to give him the next seven months to get completely healthy before training camps open up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A healthy Davis is still one of the best two-way big men in the NBA, but how much can we actually expect him to stay on the court?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Davis still has time left to insert himself as a true Hall of Famer. He’s a decorated veteran with a championship under his belt. However, with the injuries he’s suffered lately, it’s going to be a real upward climb from where he is.<\/p>\n

Washington’s new big three will shake up the league, no doubt. Team success is going to be almost dependent on the big man’s health. Young and Sarr can do great things together, but Davis can make the team a true juggernaut.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Washington Wizards are finally in the spotlight of the league following two massive deals before the deadline, thrusting the team into a new era of competitive basketball starting next season. Now in the new light, the media is beginning to see the real talent that D.C holds. With that, Bleacher Report has recognized three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5480,"featured_media":178380,"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":[49244,240,1349],"class_list":["post-178246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","category-wizards","tag-alex-sarr","tag-anthony-davis","tag-trae-young"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178246","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=178246"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178381,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178246\/revisions\/178381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}