{"id":189023,"date":"2026-04-16T15:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T19:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=189023"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:32:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T19:32:00","slug":"the-5-biggest-moves-the-washington-wizards-made-this-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/16\/the-5-biggest-moves-the-washington-wizards-made-this-season\/","title":{"rendered":"The 5 Biggest Moves The Washington Wizards Made This Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

While this season<\/a> won’t go down as one of the most notable for the Washington Wizards, it will go down as the beginning of a fresh era in D.C. Washington’s front office completed a rare roster flip in the middle of the season. In turn, the team has gone from a rebuilding to a contending team in just a season. While we wait for the next era to begin, let’s break down the five biggest moves the Washington Wizards made this season.<\/p>\n

The 5 Biggest Moves The Washington Wizards Made This Season<\/h2>\n

From the beginning of last offseason, the Wizards have made major roster decisions in quick flashes. Washington made the majority of roster moves to fill out the bench and build depth while searching for its future star. Every move seemed to prepare the Wizards for winning basketball next season. With the 2025 NBA Draft, signings, and trades, Washington’s front office continuously flipped the roster this season. All while being able to keep the young core intact, even when replacing veterans and draft capital for star talent.<\/p>\n

Five of Washington’s many moves stand out as far bigger than others. So let’s jump into them, working our way from least to most influential in the future.<\/p>\n

5. Signing Maryland Product To A Two-Way Deal<\/h3>\n

To start the list off, what didn’t Julian Reese<\/a> do in his 13 games as a Wizard? Washington took advantage of G-League talent all season<\/a>, and Reese is the best example of that. The Maryland product would play 24 games this season for the Toronto Raptors’ affiliate team, Raptors 905, before the Wizards would sign him to a two-year two-way contract.<\/p>\n

After securing his rights, the big man dominated on the NBA floors. Reese would own the majority of front-court minutes with multiple injuries coming to fruition. In just his third game at the NBA level, Reese would destroy the Utah Jazz, scoring 18 points and grabbing 20 rebounds. The big man would finish the season with six double-doubles and became the fastest player to reach 10 rebounds since Shaquille O’Neal<\/a> did it over 30 years ago in 1992.<\/p>\n

While he’ll most likely start the season in the G-League next year, Reese has cemented himself as a primary pick-up option for Washington in the future. If the Wizards get hit with another injury plague across the roster, Reese will no doubt be brought up to secure the frontcourt.<\/p>\n

4. Wizards Prove To Have G-League Level Depth This Season<\/h3>\n

While not one particular move in general, Washington proved to have one of the deepest units this season. So much so that their G-League talent stole headlines all season long. As mentioned, Washington’s injuries this season severely impacted the roster, so what did the front office do? Jumped to the Capital City Go-Go, and seemingly pulled names out of a hat.<\/p>\n

Leaky Black<\/a>, Skal Labissiere<\/a>, Keshon Gilbert<\/a>, Kadary Richmond<\/a>, and Alondes Williams<\/a> all made notable impacts in their time with the Wizards this season. After being called up, they put NBA executives on notice. These guys hit the court attempting to prove they had what it takes to play in the NBA, and didn’t disappoint.<\/p>\n

Williams had a 25-point, 10-rebound performance in his stint with the Wizards. Labissiere scored 10+ points in the NBA for the first time since the 2019-2020 season. Black provided steady production in his 15 games with the Wizards, and Richmond and Gilbert both proved to be able to hold their own against NBA-level competition.<\/p>\n

Are the Wizards the deepest team in the league? Not by any means. However, Washington’s depth goes far beyond the Wizards’ roster and deep into the G-League. While the majority of these guys will stay with the Go-Go, they earned an opportunity to be called upon if needed next season.<\/p>\n

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3. Wizards Strike A Deal For Mavericks’ Star<\/h3>\n

Moving away from signings and into trades, everyone knew this deal would be here. Washington trading for 10-time NBA All-Star Anthony Davis<\/a> was a move out of left field. However, it has propelled the Wizards’ rebuild from Play-In worthy to definite contention overnight.<\/p>\n

The deal would send contributing pieces Marvin Bagley<\/a> and Khris Middleton<\/a> to Dallas. It also involved sending draft capital and AJ Johnson<\/a> in exchange for Davis, Jaden Hardy<\/a>, D’Angelo Russell<\/a>, and Dante Exum<\/a>. While Exum was cut<\/a> and Russell is one foot out the door<\/a>, Hardy and Davis will no doubt be contributing to a contending Wizards roster next season.<\/p>\n

Davis never debuted this season, but Washington got plenty from Hardy<\/a>. He was averaging career numbers in almost every category. In turn, he could be primed for a sizeable role off the bench next season. Davis built the headline, but Hardy’s impact shouldn’t go under the radar. Davis is one of the best big men in the league (when healthy<\/a>), and playing next to Alex Sarr<\/a> and Bilal Coulibaly<\/a>, the Wizards could be one of the scariest defensive units in the league next season.<\/p>\n

2. Draft Night Acquisitions Make Solid Contributors<\/h3>\n

Jumping back in time to June 2025, Washington was looking to add a new member to their young core. After falling in the lottery, the Wizards took a chance on a Texas freshman named Tre Johnson<\/a>. Later in the evening, they would draft and trade Walter Clayton Jr<\/a> to the Utah Jazz for Illinois wing Will Riley<\/a>. Late that night, the Wizards would draft Florida State guard Jamir Watkins<\/a> with Utah’s second-round pick that was also conveyed in the deal.<\/p>\n

Now, let’s jump back to the present. All three players look primed to join the young foundation Washington has been building for the last few seasons. Johnson’s shooting ability and confidence rival some of the best in the game today. Riley’s late-season dominance<\/a> proved that he was an NBA-caliber scorer coming straight out of college. Watkins will play a major role in the Wizards’ defensive scheme while not requiring a sizeable role on offense.<\/p>\n

The rookie trio won’t be the Wizards’ stars. However, each player will play at least a rotational-level role in D.C for what seems to be the long term. The Wizards were lucky to strike gold with three rotational rookies in the 2024 class. It really is insane to think they went six-for-six in the last two drafts.<\/p>\n

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1. Swapping Ageing Talent For Multi-Time All-Star<\/h3>\n

By far the biggest and most prominent move the Wizards made this season was trading for<\/a> four-time NBA All-Star Trae Young<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Wizards pulled off a true flip masterclass. Washington traded Jordan Poole<\/a> for CJ McCollum<\/a> leading up to the 2025 NBA Draft, and then shipped McCollum and forward Corey Kispert<\/a> out not even a full eight months later. The result? Bring in a true star guard in Young without having to give up any draft capital or young pieces. While Young didn’t play much for the Wizards this year, he proved in his short stint on the court that he will truly unlock the game for Johnson, Sarr, and multiple others next season.<\/p>\n

Young has mentioned how he’s interested in sticking around for the long haul. However, there have been questions surrounding his and Davis’ commitment to Washington’s long-term vision. That being said, there’s no denying that both players make this team a true contender in the Eastern Conference. It’s not a championship-level roster, but adding Young’s offensive prowess makes it a dangerous unit when things are going to plan.<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While this season won’t go down as one of the most notable for the Washington Wizards, it will go down as the beginning of a fresh era in D.C. Washington’s front office completed a rare roster flip in the middle of the season. In turn, the team has gone from a rebuilding to a contending […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5480,"featured_media":190024,"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":[49244,240,4769,50163,2428,1349,49827,49840],"class_list":["post-189023","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-bilal-coulibaly","tag-jamir-watkins","tag-skal-labissiere","tag-trae-young","tag-tre-johnson","tag-will-riley"],"modified_by":"Benjamin Yu","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189023","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=189023"}],"version-history":[{"count":79,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190029,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189023\/revisions\/190029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}