That’s partly because of new faces like Trae Young and Anthony Davis. It’s also because the Wizards are no longer tanking, which has introduced winning expectations to a team destined for the draft lottery before each of the last three seasons began.

Washington opened its five-day training camp on Tuesday at CareFirst Arena. The team’s 21-player roster is listed below:

Brian Keefe must make several difficult decisions regarding his starting lineup and rotation. Only nine or 10 players will make his opening-night rotation on a team with 13 realistic options.

The 50-year-old coach said he’ll use training camp and preseason to determine those roles. Tuesday’s practice was a good start.

“It was a big defensive focus today,” Keefe said. “The intensity level, the communication, I was really pleased with … Our guys were ready to get going.”

Making those difficult decisions is easier when your team has no egos, as Bub Carrington described this year’s Wizards.

Keefe appreciates that element of the culture he, Will Dawkins and Michael Winger have built in Washington.

“We’ve got great guys, high character people. They want to get better, and they support each other,” Keefe said. “I think that’s one of the things that goes underrated in this league is that they want to celebrate each other’s successes. That’s something we believe in here, and they always have done that since I’ve been, and they’re going to continue to.”

Keefe said Washington’s veterans will “accelerate the growth” of the team’s young core. He named Young’s decision making and Davis’ ability to anchor a defense as reasons they will mesh well with younger players.

Injury updates

Keefe said Alex Sarr, who’s progressing from June surgery that repaired his fractured right foot, was a partial participant in Tuesday’s practice. Sarr said Monday that he expects to be a full participant next week.

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Tristan Vukcevic (hip) and Khris Middleton were also partial participants. Keefe didn’t specify Middleton’s injury (He wasn’t hiding anything. He said this at the end of his media session, and there were no follow-up questions about specifics).

Jamir Watkins, who underwent surgery in July to repair a torn ACL, was the lone non-participant.

A defensive focus

It was all defense in Washington’s first training-camp practice. In fact, it was all they worked on. And for good reason.

The Wizards ranked dead last in the NBA in defensive rating (121.5) last season. Bub Carrington, whose 125.7 defensive rating ranked dead last in the league, didn’t hide from that fact. He said the team understands winning starts on the defensive end.

“We have to get better at everything. We were last in the league in defense last year, which means we were bad all around. The goal is to be better. That means disruptions, deflections, rim pressure. Everything. Every aspect of defense we’re trying to get better at.”

Trae Young is known as one of the league’s best offensive talents. He also said at his exit interview in April that his biggest offseason goal was to not be viewed as the team’s defensive weak link.

Washington’s star point guard agreed with Carrington’s assessment that defense is mostly about effort. And Young said he will provide that effort. But on a team filled with 6-foot-9 defensive stoppers and multiple rim protectors, he’s okay with outsiders calling him the team’s defensive weak link.

“Defense is about effort and energy. You’ve got to have the physical tools, too. And I’m not one of the guys that stands out, not being one of those 6-foot-9 guys,” Young said. “But I’m able to play in this league because something special on the other end. I’m probably gonna be the weak link defensively, but I can still give effort and make it challenging for the guy I guard.”

Bonus notes

Will Riley did some extra strength and conditioning after practice, running full-court sprints while attached to a resistance band. The second-year wing said he’s added 15 pounds since the start of the offseason to become a more versatile defender.

Young praised AJ Dybantsa’s first official practice. The duo will make up a large portion of Washington’s scoring production this season.

“He was great. He’s a really good No. 1 pick for sure,” Young said.

WASHINGTON — The word “playoffs” was uttered by several Wizards players at Monday’s annual Media Day.

It may seem insignificant to some. But for those who endured the previous three seasons in which the team went 50-196 and lottery positioning outweighed winning, it marked a sign of new times in Washington.

“We’re trying to win, [trying] to change the narrative around the Wizards,” Anthony Davis said. “We’re going into the season with the mentality that we don’t want our season to end in April.”

Wizards general manager Will Dawkins wants to continue a methodical rebuild. He doesn’t want big names or outside expectations to rush the team’s timeline.

But his actions — acquiring proven veterans like Davis, Trae Young, Khris Middleton and Deandre Ayton — showed a willingness to push this young core into more meaningful games. He hopes that experience will propel Washington toward “sustained success.”

Dawkins began this journey in June 2023 when he traded Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis as part of a massive roster overhaul. Three days later, he selected Bilal Coulibaly at No. 7 in the 2023 NBA Draft.

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Coulibaly has only known tanking, as his career .213 winning percentage suggests. The Wizards have always cared more about lottery positioning than wins during his three-year career.

But those limitations on the Wizards’ ceiling no longer exist. The team is finally free to ascend to whatever level it’s capable of reaching.

Coulibaly believes the team’s veterans will help them get there.

“We have a lot of guys with a lot of experience, guys that have been in the playoffs,” Coulibaly said. “Just having those guys now, we’re ready to win.”

Coulibaly has a point. The four veterans Washington has added since January have played a combined 222 playoff games. Davis and Middleton are NBA champions. Ayton was two games away from winning one with the Phoenix Suns. Young led the Atlanta Hawks to within two games of reaching the NBA Finals.

Dawkins hopes that experience rubs off on the team’s young core. He believes those guys can lead the Wizards into meaningful games, which will provide players like AJ Dybantsa and Tre Johnson valuable minutes in high-leverage spots where they’re forced to win or learn.

“We want to play competitive basketball this year,” Dybantsa said. “We're here to win games. [Wizards fans] have been looking for success for a long time. They've been loyal. I remember when I got drafted, they had a little event at a park. Everybody showed up, catching T-shirts, yelling my name. So they're ready, and they deserve it.”

Going from 17 wins to a playoff contender doesn’t happen overnight. It starts in the gym — a place Kyshawn George has virtually lived in since May 4, when he began his offseason training. George, who looks noticeably stronger, said he added eight pounds of lean muscle since last season.

Why? The NBA playoffs are physical. He wants his body to withstand that physicality when the Wizards make what he hopes is a deep playoff run.

“Just having the durability to withstand a playoff-length season, [being able to] guard multiple positions,” George said. “I haven’t accomplished anything in this league. That’s why I work for it, to be able to bring the Wizards organization to the next level.”

George is one of the team’s best defenders. He didn’t have much help last season, as displayed by Washington’s NBA-worst 121.5 defensive rating.

He finally has some help between Coulibaly’s perimeter defense, Davis and Sarr’s rim protection and a team fully bought into winning. It’s why Davis believes the Wizards will be a top-10 defense in 2026-27.

Even Bub Carrington, Johnson and Will Riley — who ranked among the league’s worst defenders last season — said improving as individual defenders topped their offseason goals.

That improved defense, plus an offense directed by Young that features Dybantsa’s scoring and impressive depth, has Washington eyeing the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

Young understands what playoff basketball would mean to a fanbase that’s gone 50 years without an Eastern Conference Finals berth. He admitted he sees the outside noise and the constant disrespect thrown Washington’s way.

The 28-year-old wants to change that narrative. And it starts on opening night.

“I want to get back to that type of excitement and love for basketball again [in the DMV],” Young said. “[Wizards fans] have experienced the lows that we’ve been through these past few years. And as we start to win more as these years go forward, I want the fans to be a part of it. We can’t win without them.”

After four years covering the Wizards while serving as a full-time Penn State student, I’m excited to announce my latest endeavor. I’m launching a Substack for full-time, on-site Wizards coverage.

It’s a dream job for me, and one I don’t take lightly.

I grew up a die-hard Wizards fan. I witnessed the 2010 lottery that netted John Wall. I watched Bradley Beal blossom into an All-Star. I screamed when Paul Pierce called game. I took pictures with Isaiah Thomas, Tomas Satoransky and Davis Bertans. Kelly Oubre Jr. gave me his warm-up shirt when the Wizards visited Philly in 2017.

In the same light, I cried when Kelly Olynyk ended the Wizards’ playoff run in 2017. I sat speachless as the Wizards unfathomably blew a 35-point lead against the Clippers. I witnessed Tommy Sheppard hand Beal one of the league’s worst contracts before Will Dawkins somehow got off that deal for great value.

Bottom line: This team is my life. Just ask my friends, who rolled their eyes when I declined their invite to the bar because the 16-55 Wizards were playing the 21-51 Jazz in a tanking battle for the ages.

That’s the dedication I’ll provide you as a subscriber to Wizards Central.

Now, that doesn’t mean I won’t provide objective coverage. If you’ve followed me for the last four years, you know I tell it like it is. That will only continue this season.

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This site will serve as a one-stop shop for all things Washington Wizards.

Ever wondered what the Wizards’ salary cap sheet looks like? Confused about which picks the Wizards own and the complicated protections that follow?

The “Front Office” tab answers all those questions with easy-to-understand graphics and descriptions of Washington’s roster, cap sheet and future draft picks.

https://wizardscentral.com/s/front-office

Every episode of The Wizards Podcast, which is recorded after every game in addition to bonus episodes covering breaking news, opinionated rants and more, is available on the site.

Want to discuss the game live with fellow Wizards fans? Use the chat feature under game threads and all other posts to connect with those who share the same passion for their favorite NBA team.

What monthly/yearly subscribers will get access to:

• In-person coverage of all 41 home games and at least half of the team’s road games. Every game will be covered, whether on site (majority of games) or remote

• Game threads with notes from Brian Keefe’s pregame availability, injury updates and more

• Game stories from the arena immediately following the final buzzer

• The next morning: Additional game stories with quotes from Keefe, Trae Young, AJ Dybantsa and other Wizards players based on that night’s events

• Practice coverage — quotes from post-practice media sessions, shootaround observations and more

• Breaking news coverage — Injury updates, trades, signings

• Feature stories — long-form articles about all of your favorite Wizards players

• Access to every episode of The Wizards Podcast

• And so much more

Subscriptions start at $6.99/month or $69.99/year. Yearly subscriptions save you 17%, so if you plan on being here for more than a year, I’d recommend that option.

I estimate subscribers will get access to 40 articles per month, which comes out to 17 cents per article for monthly subscribers.

The appeal of becoming a founding member

As you know, travel is expensive. Especially for independent journalists like myself.

I’m using my own money to travel to at least half of the Wizards’ road games this season. Funds from founding members will help build my travel budget so I can get to as many road games as possible to provide subscribers with the best possible coverage.

To conclude

I’ve covered this team for the last four years while juggling life as a full-time student at Penn State.

Last year, I live-tweeted through all 82 games, recorded 131 episodes of The Wizards Podcast, wrote hundreds of articles for BulletsForever.com and provided updates on injuries, trade news and more. All while completing my bachelor’s degree at Penn State, completing an internship covering Penn State football for the Philadelphia Inquirer and covering Penn State’s men’s hockey for The Daily Collegian.

If you thought my coverage was dedicated before, just imagine how in-depth it will be now that my schedule is clear.

Thank you for your support over the last four years. I hope you’ll join me for this journey!

The Washington Wizards enter the 2026-27 season trying to do what only four teams have done in the last two decades: make the playoffs one season after winning 20 or fewer games.

Washington won just 17 games last season — the final chapter i…

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