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[Washington Wizards]

The Knicks were intentional about benching their starters against the Wizards

The Washington Wizards beat the New York Knicks, 120-103 on Monday on the second night of a back-to-back in the preseason. Washington is now 1-1 and has some positive momentum before heading into their next game.

We have already written a bit about the likelihood that the Wizards will be one of the worst teams in the NBA this season once the regular season begins. But why did the Knicks sit out their starters against the Wizards? Even in a preseason game, the starters would show up for at least a little bit. The answer is that it turns out that benching the starters was all part of the plan.

According to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post, Knicks Head Coach Mike Brown did so in order to give reserve players more playing time before roster cuts. Here is the quote where Brown acknowledged the decision to play his reserves:

It’s important. We want to try to give some guys some extended minutes to take a look at them tonight. It’s important because they’ve all been busting their behinds and making that decision is extremely tough.

Do I think that deciding this is fair for Knicks fans who attended a preseason game at Madison Square Garden? No. But I get it. And if you’re a Wizards fan, getting the win isn’t a bad thing. However, when one of the league’s most talented teams decides to bench the starters to play your team where most players did get some time, that also could be rubbed off the wrong way.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: https://www.bulletsforever.com/qual...gton-wizards-new-york-knicks-starters-benched

 

[Washington Wizards]

Wizards at Pistons preview: Washington finishes preseason in Detroit on Thursday

The Washington Wizards close out their 2025 preseason run with a road game against the Detroit Pistons.

Game info​

When: Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7:00 p.m. ET

Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Mi.

How to watch: Monumental Sports Network, League Pass

Injuries: For the Wizards, Bilal Coulibaly (thumb) is out.

For the Pistons, Jaden Ivey, Caris LeVert, and Colby Jones are all questionable. Cade Cunningham missed Detroit’s last game for rest purposes, but should be back for this one.

What to watch for​

The Wizards will try to roll over some of their momentum from Monday’s dominant 120-107 win over the New York Knicks. Whereas the Knicks benched their starters reportedly to evaluate their depth, Washington will more than likely get a taste of the Pistons at full strength.

In many ways, the Pistons are what the Wizards hope to be in the next couple of years. Two seasons ago, Washington had a better record (15-67) than the Pistons did (14-68). The Pistons turned things around in a big way last season, finishing 44-38 and nabbing the East’s final guaranteed playoff spot.

Most teams usually try to simulate a full game of action in the preseason finale. The Wizards’ starting lineup and rotations may provide some indication of how the team plans to operate to start the 2025-26 campaign. Washington’s performance against a playoff-contending Pistons team may carry a bit more weight as well.

Source: https://www.bulletsforever.com/wash...ds-detroit-pistons-nba-preseason-game-preview

 

[Washington Wizards]

Brothers, Blocks, and Bricks: Takeaways from Wizards’ Preseason Loss to Raptors

The first rule of preseason NBA basketball is to not take anything seriously. It’s an exhibition of NBA basketball, but it’s not really NBA basketball. Sure, guys try, but it’s not full-bore regular season intensity, there’s no game planning, and no one even thinks about a scouting report.

What I’m looking for in a first preseason game is to start getting a sense of how much young players improved, see first clues at what the rotation might be, and no injuries.

For a first preseason game, the Washington Wizards loss to the Toronto Raptors was…fine. They fell behind big, came back, and…well…it doesn’t really matter. It’s just preseason, and we don’t take anything too seriously.

Here are a few things I liked:

• Alex Sarr made shots — 4-5 from the floor — and attempted just one three in 17 minutes. He also blocked a couple shots.
• Khris Middleton was spry, made shots, had a game-high five assists, and hit the boards. Presumably he’ll have the next game off.
• CJ McCollum made shots — 5-9 from three.
• Kyshawn George grabbed 9 rebounds and blocked 4 shots in 25 minutes.

And a few things I didn’t:

• Bub Carrington, Tristan Vukcevic, and McCollum each had four turnovers. Carrington and McCollum comprised the team’s starting backcourt. The Wizards were -34 in Carrington’s 23 minutes of action.
• The team shot 29.0% from three-point range, which was in keeping with them being the league’s second worst three-point shooting team last season.
• Cam Whitmore was fine trying to score but had zero rebounds in 17 minutes.

Based on game one of the preseason minutes (and some pre-first game guessing), I’m anticipating an opening night rotation something like:

Starters​

• G — Bub Carrington
• G — CJ McCollum
• W — Khris Middleton
• W — Kyshawn George
• C — Alex Sarr

Reserves​

• G — Tre Johnson
• W — Corey Kispert
• F — Justin Champagnie
• F — Cam Whitmore
• C — Tristan Vukcevic

That’s 10, which is what head coach Brian Keefe seemed to want to play last season. It’ll be interesting to see who drops from the rotation when Bilal Coulibaly returns from a thumb injury.

If there’s any positional intrigue, I think it could be Marvin Bagley III pushing Vukcevic for the backup big man spot. I don’t think Will Riley or Jamir Watkins are close to ready to push any of the wings or forwards in front of them.

One fun thing​

Washington Wizards big man Alex Sarr and his older brother — Toronto Raptors big, Olivier — exchanged jerseys after the game.

Source: https://www.bulletsforever.com/wash...eaways-from-wizards-preseason-loss-to-raptors

 

[Washington Wizards]

Wizards at Pistons final score: Washington falls 119-98 in preseason finale

The Washington Wizards got run out of the gym Thursday in their preseason finale, losing 119-98 to the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.

The Pistons trotted out their projected starting lineup for this one, in a contest that felt like a dress rehearsal for both sides. The Wizards’ starting lineup of Bub Carrington, Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Khris Middleton, and CJ McCollum lasted all of four minutes.

An awkward fall forced Carrington out of the game, with teammates needing to help him to the locker room. The 20-year-old was ruled out for the rest of the game with a knee injury, but was later able to return to the bench in street clothes. Bub looked fine.

Bub Carrington is back on the Wizards' bench, smiling and joking with teammates. https://t.co/kjB8e8q6WV pic.twitter.com/UqQqlDbVN3

— Chase Hughes (@chasedcsports) October 17, 2025

The Wizards fell behind by double digits early and trailed 39-23 midway through the second quarter. But the boys battled back to close the half with Sarr, George, and Kispert keying a 28-18 to cut the deficit to 57-51 at the break. The Sarr-George-Kispert trio combined for 21 of those 28 points. Washington came back despite shooting 1-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first and second quarters.

George stayed hot to start the third quarter. He scored seven of Washington’s first 16 points in the half to help tie the game at 67. The Miami product did it in impressive fashion as well. He shed Cade Cunningham with a nasty behind-the-back dribble for a top-of-the-key three.

Ky's in his bag with this one pic.twitter.com/3gBAspQAH9

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) October 17, 2025

George also challenged Jalen Duren at the rim and won that battle for an And-1, which impressed the Pistons’ broadcast team enough that announcer Greg Kesler had to say, “Look at this dude.”

George finished with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a block.

COUNT IT FOR KYSHAWN

20 PTS 6 REB pic.twitter.com/SEsDGwoqnZ

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) October 17, 2025

The Wizards took a 70-69 lead at the 7:01 mark after a three by McCollum. But alas, the good times did not last.

The Pistons closed the quarter out on a 24-9 run to retake a double-digit lead and piled on even more in the fourth quarter. The Wizards fell behind by as many as 26 points late in the 119-98 defeat.

Rookies Tre Johnson and Will Riley did not look comfortable in this one, finishing a combined 2-of-12 from the field for six points. Sarr tallied 10 points, nine rebounds, and a couple of blocks in 23 minutes of work. Kispert added 12 points off the bench.

The games and stats will start to count from here on out.

Source: https://www.bulletsforever.com/wash...e-washington-falls-119-98-in-preseason-finale

 

[Washington Wizards]

Impressions from a three-game Washington Wizards preseason

Once upon a time, the NBA exhibition season was eight games. When players were suspended or pay was pro-rated in some way (say for a 10-day contract), the salary was divided over 90 games, not the 82-game regular season schedule.

While eight games isn’t much, it weirdly provided a surprising amount of information about what was to come in the regular season. For example, for established good teams, the preseason meant basically nothing. They could go 0-8 and still roll in the regular season. In practice, better teams didn’t crater in preseason — they were usually measurably better than opponents, even while not going full bore.

For up-and-coming teams, performance in exhibition games provided a decent barometer on team quality. If they played well in preseason action, they tended to play similarly well in the regular season. If they were bad, they tended to be similarly bad in the real games.

This year — I assume specifically to annoy me and make useless my habit of running statistical analysis on small sample size events like summer league, international tournaments, and preseason games — the Wizards played just three exhibition games to “prepare” for the 2025-26 season.

Yes, I know reducing the preseason schedule was a smart move to trim the length of the schedule, try to reduce the number of injuries, and get more quickly to the games people actually want to see. Me included.

The numbers don’t mean much, so I’ll share a few impressions amalgamated from the three games they played:

• As would be expected for a team so young, the Wizards aren’t going to have many games this season where they’re as strong or stronger than their opponent. Maybe that comes after a couple more years of grinding in the weight room.
• If I could give Tre Johnson a “work on this” list, it would include getting stronger and working on his ball handling.
• Lacking strength or not, Alex Sarr looks like he’s going to be a defensive presence at the rim.
• Corey Kispert didn’t look bad as a ball handler in pick-and-roll sets. He made a couple nice passes in the preseason finale against the Detroit Pistons.
• Will Riley has good length and skills. He has a very long way to go physically.
• Justin Champagnie is going to be a solid pro for several years. I would not be shocked if a contending team that needs a boost came calling for a Kispert-Champagnie package.
• Head coach Brian Keefe is adamant about pushing the pace. He hectored the team to get the ball over half court fast, and yelled repeatedly at his team to “RUN!”
• If preseason is any indicator, the Wizards will follow the Indiana Pacers in picking up defensively full court. I like it.
• Kyshawn George looked promising in preseason — he’s one guy who clearly got stronger and worked on his game in the offseason. His production was a bit uneven, but he’s the guy I’m most interested in seeing against real opponents this season.

Hopefully, Bub Carrington makes a quick return from a “sore knee” that kept him out of much of last night’s game.

Next up: My annual forecast.

Source: https://www.bulletsforever.com/wash...rom-a-three-game-washington-wizards-preseason

 

[Washington Wizards]

The Wizards raise season ticket prices and some fans aren’t happy about that

The Washington Wizards are expected to be the one of the worst teams in the NBA for the 2025-26 season. But ticket prices are expected to keep going up in most locations. And because the team is rebuilding, that means at least some fans are deciding to not renew their tickets altogether.

Varun Shankar of The Washington Post wrote a column recently where several fans were interviewed about their reactions to the Wizards raising prices on season tickets despite the team’s poor record on the court. Some fans have also stopped renewing.

The biggest takeaway however from Shankar’s piece is that the Wizards probably aren’t that dependent on season ticket revenue. Here’s the money quote.

Ticket sales make up about 25 percent of a team’s revenue, according to an executive in another team’s front office, who cautioned that number varies depending on team and market. That figure also excludes game day revenue such as parking and concessions.

NBA teams derive the largest share of their revenue from the league’s media rights deals, the value of which increased sharply and now total over $70 billion. Media revenue is distributed equally among the 30 teams. That might mean the Wizards could have fewer fans walk through their turnstiles and still not suffer too much financially.

And that gives the team’s front office a bit more leniency to execute its patient rebuild. But it could push away some of the team’s most dedicated fans — those shelling out thousands for season tickets — and leave Capital One Arena significantly empty on many nights.

Since ticket sales are a minority of the Wizards’ revenue, the reality is that the team can choose to rebuild the long and hard way without cutting into profits. Also, if a team doesn’t spend extravagantly on players, it’s a way for teams to also keep their profits thanks to revenue sharing of the national media deals.

I’m not trying to insinuate that the Wizards are doing this simply to make or keep profits. But given that the Wizards are rebuilding and aren’t investing into salaries at the moment, it is feasible to see them do this long rebuild, see if things work out or not and not become unprofitable in the process.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: https://www.bulletsforever.com/qual...s-season-ticket-price-increases-with-bad-team

 

[Washington Wizards]

Wizards at Pistons Gamethread

The Washington Wizards play the Detroit Pistons at 7 p.m. Thursday. You can watch the game on Monumental Sports Network (preseason games are free). Enjoy the game!

Source: https://www.bulletsforever.com/washington-wizards-gamethreads/65633/wizards-at-pistons-gamethread

 

[Washington Wizards]

Bub Carrington fully participates in practice

On Oct. 16, Washington Wizards guard suffered sore knee injury in Washington’s game against the Detroit Pistons. This forced him to miss the rest of the game.

Knee got caught underneath Bub after an awkward fall.

Gotta hope he’s okay https://t.co/WSP7ss1n3S pic.twitter.com/75tH2jQVYq

— Greg Finberg (@GregFinberg) October 16, 2025

Carrington is entering his second NBA season and will be a key player for the Wizards’ 2025-26 campaign. If he had to miss regular season time, that would be a blow to the Wizards’ goal of having a mostly healthy roster to start the year.

Today, the Wizards hosted practice. And thankfully, Carrington participated fully.

Bub Carrington (sore knee) was a full participant in the Wizards' practice today, Brian Keefe said.

— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) October 19, 2025

What do you hope Carrington shows on the court this season? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: https://www.bulletsforever.com/wash...b-carrington-washington-wizards-injury-update