The Washington Wizards play the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow night. Let’s get to the gist of it.
Game info
When: Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
How to watch: Monumental Sports Network
Injuries
Wizards: Corey Kispert, Sharife Cooper, Corey Kispert and Tre Johnson sat out today’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Will Riley is day-to-day.
76ers: Kelly Oubre, Jr. and Trendon Watford are out. Andre Drummond is day-to-day.
What to watch for
The Wizards will kick off December with a back-to-back. As of the time I wrote this, they didn’t play the Milwaukee Bucks yet. But either way, they’ll be in Philly tomorrow on the road for the second night of a back-to-back.
The Sixers will host Washington after losing 142-134 to the Atlanta Hawks in double overtime on Sunday. Philly is now 10-9 and just 5-6 at home. The Sixers will be favored to win this game, but remember, the Wizards beat the Hawks pretty recently back on Nov. 25. Anything can happen in the NBA. Let’s see if an upset happens.
The WNBA and WNBPA players union are still negotiating a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, even after a 30-day extension ended last Sunday. The latest proposal from the league allows for maximum salaries to hit $1 million, but the owners propose removing an offer of providing team housing, according to Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports. In addition, the league proposed moving the start of training camp to April 1 which is during the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
The earlier start to the WNBA season will complicate things for players, regardless of whether they play in international leagues or alternative American-based leagues like Unrivaled, Athletes Unlimited and the new Project B.
Also, with the WNBA removing paid team housing as part of the new CBA, if the WNBPA accepts this, it will be a hit to players who aren’t on guaranteed contracts. They would have to find housing on their own and may have to break a lease very suddenly if they were cut from training camp or in the middle of the season for example.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The Washington Wizards lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 121-102 on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
Let’s say that the Sixers’ three point shooting was one of the major reasons why Washington gave this game away. The Wizards shot 9-of-36 from the three point line while the Sixers went 17-of-40 themselves. In addition, Philadelphia scored 28 points off of Washington’s 15 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Wizards only scored 9 points off the Sixers’ 11 turnovers. Things like this ultimately make a game’s outcome a blowout loss like this.
Tyrese Maxey scored 35 points to lead the Sixers where he shot 13-of-26 from the field. For the Wizards, seven players scored in double figures with Justin Champagnie, Marvin Bagley and Will Riley all scoring 13 points each.
The Wizards’ next game is on Thursday when they host the Boston Celtics. Tip of is at 7 p.m. ET. See you then.
Greg recaps another blowout loss, this one a 121-102 defeat to the Sixers. Bilal Coulibaly and Bub Carrington struggled, while Marvin Bagley and Will Riley impressed. Enjoy!
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The Washington Wizards’ sidelined lineup is, regrettably, starting to look like it would give the main squad a run for its money. Here’s a quick breakdown of the bumps and bruises the players have been dealing with early in the season.
Alex Sarr
Alex Sarr is currently dealing with a right adductor strain that has forced him to miss the last couple of games. Wizards head coach Brian Keefe has assured reporters that the injury is “considered minor.”
The issue, however, will still keep him out for the the Wizards’ Thursday game against the Boston Celtics — his third-straight missed contest. Sarr also missed a pair of games earlier this season due to a toe issue.
Tre Johnson
Tre Johnson has been out of the lineup for the last five games due to a strained left hip flexor, and his return to the floor is not imminent. The Wizards’ prized 2025 lottery pick sustained the injury during Washington’s Nov. 21 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
The good news is that Wizards GM Will Dawkins has assured reporters that the injury is not a long-term issue. Per Dawkins, Johnson is “in great shape” and has returned to on-court activities in practice. However, Johnson is expected to remain out for “a couple weeks” to allow him to get back to 100 percent.
Bilal Coulibaly
Bilal Coulibaly has been the most snakebitten of the Wizards’ rotation players. The French forward missed the first four games of the season while recovering from offseason surgery on his injured thumb. He had another four-game stint on the sidelines in November while dealing with a left leg injury.
Coulibaly got hurt yet again during Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. He was diagnosed with a strained right oblique that is likely to keep him out for multiple weeks. Bullets Forever’s Greg Finberg had more on Bilal’s oblique injury.
Corey Kispert
Corey Kispert could have been the biggest beneficiary of the injuries to key rotation players. The fifth-year forward was starting to hit his stride in late November. Kispert averaged 19.5 points and 3.5 threes in back-to-back starts — his first starts of the season — before fracturing the tip of his right thumb.
The Wizards are reportedly planning to be conservative with Kispert’s injury, which likely means multiple weeks or even a month on the injury report.
The WNBA and WNBPA (players’ union) are negotiating a new Collective Bargaining Agreement for the 2026 season, when there will be 15 teams and a new media deal with a deadline of Jan. 9. We already see a fair number of details ranging from $1 million base salaries to teams not providing housing to players, especially those on shorter-term contracts, and a potential earlier start to training camp. So let’s look at some new details from a report yesterday by Sabreena Merchant and Ben Pickman of The Athletic.
In their reporting, the WNBA will agree to tie the salary cap and salary increases to league-wide revenue. However, it appears that the owners are only willing to let the players get about 15 percent of revenue. WNBA players want 50% of revenue sharing.
The league also wants to add a draft combine for players, but there are some significant penalties. Per Merchants’ and Pickman’s piece:
I fully support a combine. Given that the WNBA is increasing in popularity and visibility, it makes sense for us to see just how tall players actually are, how fast they are and how high they can jump. However, the league also seems to be reaching by requiring that all players go to the combine OR see a 50 percent pay cut. This would hurt international players who want to go to the WNBA where their winter-based seasons constantly conflict with the American league. And it’s unclear exactly when a combine would be, since it could still be during the NCAA Division 1 women’s basketball tournament.
The players also want the elimination of the core player designation and more guaranteed salaries. The teams, on the other hand, still want the core player designation to stay in place and lower the number of guaranteed salaries per team. I think it’s time for the core player designation to go away and if the WNBA is getting so much more money in 2026, it makes sense to guarantee contracts like the NBA.
So, how much do you think WNBA salaries will be in 2026? And do you want to see a formal draft combine? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The Washington Wizards took on one of the hottest teams in the NBA on Thursday and got flamed inside Capital One Arena. The Boston Celtics torched the Wizards in a 146-101 contest that got out of hand in the second half.
The Wizards once again kept things close early, staying within single digits of the Celtics throughout the first quarter. Kyshawn George led the way with eight points as Washington trailed 32-26 after one.
The home team fell behind by 17 points midway through the second quarter, but battled back with a 22-12 run to close out the half. The Wizards trailed by 66-59 at the break.
The game completely unraveled after halftime, as the Celtics outscored the Wizards 80-42 over the final two periods in a complete demolition job. Washington never led in the contest.
There wasn’t any singular stat to point to that explains the lopsided score. Boston simply outplayed our guys in every facet of the game.
CJ McCollum and Khris Middleton combined for 38 points to lead the Wizards in scoring. George finished with 15 points, three rebounds, and a pair of steals.
Tristan Vukcevic tallied 10 points and four rebounds off the bench. The saving grace of the game was when Justin Champagnie put Derrick White on a poster in the second quarter.
GOT 'EMMMMMMhttps://t.co/tDAkTSwtCC pic.twitter.com/vYgyMhDwYd
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) December 5, 2025
The Wizards get a chance to redeem themselves on Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks.
With the Washington Wizards in the middle of a long rebuild, it is worth looking at former players who have gone onto other teams from time to time. And one recent Wizards player made a big play and also officially ended a long record in the process.
Yesterday, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors on the road 123-120. Lakers forward LeBron James, the NBA’s career scoring leader and one of the league’s best-ever assisters, saw one of his streaks end, namely his 1,297 regular season game streak of scoring 10 or more points. He had an off-night shooting the basketball of course. But the Lakers won because James, who had an opportunity to take the game winning shot (and keep that streak alive), decided to pass to Rui Hachimura, a former Wizards first round draft pick, who drained the game winning three point shot. Take a look at the highlight below.
James had 8 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds. Hachimura had 12 points in the win for Los Angeles. And for James’ streak, the last time he scored less than 10 points in a game was on Jan. 5, 2007 when the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team he played for at the time, were against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Wizards haven’t had much to root for since they began embarking on a multi-year rebuild. But it’s good to see that some of their former players have gone on to do great things, like Hachimura who has been a consistent valued part of the Lakers since the middle of the 2022-23 NBA season.
The Washington Wizards play the Atlanta Hawks tomorrow night. Here is the preview:
Game info
When: Saturday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington
How to watch: Monumental Sports Network
Injuries
Wizards: Sharife Cooper, Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson and Corey Kispert are out. Tristan Vukcevic and Cam Whitmore are day-to-day
Hawks: N’Faly Dante, Jacob Toppin and Trae Young are out.
What to watch for
Washington was whooped last Thursday against the Boston Celtics. They look to improve tonight against the Atlanta Hawks who are the last team they beat. Atlanta is also on a two game losing streak. Hopefully they can shock the world one more time.
The Washington Wizards host the Atlanta Hawks tonight at 7 p.m. ET. Watch the game on Monumental Sports Network. We shall see if the Wizards can make things interesting and get another big W!
That was better. A game after losing by 45 to the Boston Celtics, the Wizards fell behind by as much as 20 in the first half, erased that entire deficit to tie the game early in the fourth quarter, and then got bum rushed over the final 10 minutes to lose by 15.
Yes, this was an improvement. And yet, even when the score was tied at 97, it never felt like the Wizards had a realistic chance of actually winning. It seemed like one of those basketball runs where the team burns so much energy just catching up that they just can’t close the deal. The in-game win probability calculator at ESPN shared the sentiment — it still had the Hawks with a 63% chance of winning from that point.
The Wizards lost by 15 despite hitting 17-38 from three (44.7%) and posting an effective field goal percentage of 61.9% because…well…they did almost nothing else well. Atlanta out-rebounded them 45-26. Washington committed 20 turnovers to Atlanta’s 12, and their defense was ineffective throughout.
Rebounding is a major problem for the Wizards. Last night, they managed just 4 offensive boards to Atlanta’s 30 defensive rebounds, and had only 22 defensive rebounds vs. 15 Hawks offense boards.
This against a Hawks team that ranks 26th in offensive rebounding percentage. Repeatedly last night, Wizards players turned and watched for the ball to come off the rim while Atlanta players crashing from the corners ran past them for easy offensive rebounds. They also got pushed around inside by Onyeka Okongwu, who’s been meh on the offensive glass throughout is career, including this season.
I mean, if they’re getting overpowered by Okongwu, what’s going to happen when they play Steven Adams?!
Another big problem is the turnovers. Kyshawn George had five — some of which were just dumb plays — but they’re at worst somewhat forgivable. He’s not quite 22-years-old, he’s in his second season, and he’s trying to make plays. Maybe he learns to be more judicious as he gains experience.
CJ McCollum had six, which — while he was getting hounded by Dyson Daniels or Nickeil Alexander-Walker much of the time — is less forgivable. He’s 34, in his 13th season, and should be making better decisions. In fairness, McCollum’s turnovers this season are near a career low. This was a bad game for him on that front. The six miscues were enough to transmogrify a 73.5% eFG into a below average 111 offensive rating (points produced per possession x 100).
One positive was the willingness to pass — the team had 29 assists on 41 field goals. They did come with 20 turnovers and a subpar 1.45 assist-to-turnover ratio, but let’s choose to be happy about a 71% assist rate.
I was surprised to see Cam Whitmore sidelined the entire night. After the game, Varun Shankar from the Washington Post tweeted this:
“We have certain standards that we have for our team,” said Wizards head coach Brian Keefe. “He has to live up to those better. And he’ll have a chance here, but that’s gonna be up to him when that time comes.”
As the great Fred Katz might have tweeted, “Yikes guys.”
Thoughts & Observations
- Kyshawn George is so close to being genuinely good. Last night: 15 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and a block. He hit 3-7 from deep. He also had five turnovers and three fouls. The number of fouls wasn’t the issue though a couple of them were of the over-aggressive kinda silly variety.
- George’s name featured prominently in exactly the kind of stuff that makes me dislike the Monumental broadcast. He tallied his third assist in the first half with a nice pass, and Chris Miller then praised George for doing some excellent playmaking in the half. Except, George had three turnovers to go with the assists, which is…well…not excellent. Just say, “Nice pass.” and move on.
- In a return to the starting lineup, Bub Carrington made shots (including 3-4 from three) and had 9 assists to just 1 turnover. He drove into the lane at least a couple times, which was good to see.
- Tristan Vukcevic played well offensively — 18 points in 27 minutes, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists — including a behind-the-back bounce pass on the break that’ll probably show up in tomorrow’s NBA top 10 plays.
- Justin Champagnie was in the starting lineup and he played well (again) — 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and 3 blocks. Maybe this isn’t galaxy brain enough thinking for the team’s decision-makers, but why not give the productive 24-year-old a consistent role with this team and see what happens?
- McCollum scored 28 points on 17 shots and ended up with a below average PPA because he amassed zero rebounds and 3 assists (to 6 turnovers) in 36 minutes.
- There is no way AJ Johnson is 23 pounds heavier this season than he was last year. Not no way, not no how.
- Jalen Johnson is a helluva player (30 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists). At least when Washington doesn’t have Bilal Coulibaly in the lineup.
Four Factors
Below are the four factors that decide wins and losses in basketball — shooting (efg), rebounding (offensive rebounds), ball handling (turnovers), fouling (free throws made).
The four factors are measured by:
- eFG% (effective field goal percentage, which accounts for the three-point shot)
- OREB% (offensive rebound percentage)
- TOV% (turnover percentage — turnovers divided by possessions)
- FTM/FGA (free throws made divided by field goal attempts)
FOUR FACTORS HAWKS WIZARDS LGAVG eFG% 59.7% 61.9% 54.5% OREB% 40.5% 11.8% 26.2% TOV% 11.9% 19.8% 13.0% FTM/FGA 0.143 0.213 0.221 PACE 101 100.1 ORTG 130 115 115.8 Stats & Metrics
PPA is my overall production metric, which credits players for things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defending) and dings them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, bad defense, fouls).
PPA is a per possession metric designed for larger data sets. In small sample sizes, the numbers can get weird. In PPA, 100 is average, higher is better and replacement level is 45. For a single game, replacement level isn’t much use, and I reiterate the caution about small samples sometimes producing weird results.
POSS is the number of possessions each player was on the floor in this game.
ORTG = offensive rating, which is points produced per individual possessions x 100. League average so far this season is 115.1. Points produced is not the same as points scored. It includes the value of assists and offensive rebounds, as well as sharing credit when receiving an assist.
USG = offensive usage rate. Average is 20%.
ORTG and USG are versions of stats created by former Wizards assistant coach Dean Oliver and modified by me. ORTG is an efficiency measure that accounts for the value of shooting, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers. USG includes shooting from the floor and free throw line, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers.
+PTS = “Plus Points” is a measure of the points gained or lost by each player based on their efficiency in this game compared to league average efficiency on the same number of possessions. A player with an offensive rating (points produced per possession x 100) of 100 who uses 20 possessions would produce 20 points. If the league average efficiency is 114, the league — on average — would produced 22.8 points in the same 20 possessions. So, the player in this hypothetical would have a +PTS score of -2.8.
Players are sorted by total production in the game.
WIZARDS MIN POSS ORTG USG +PTS PPA +/- Bub Carrington 37 78 184 12.2% 6.5 160 -22 Justin Champagnie 32 68 164 14.0% 4.6 152 -16 Kyshawn George 36 76 105 20.9% -1.7 113 0 Tristan Vukcevic 27 57 122 25.6% 1.0 117 -8 CJ McCollum 36 76 111 29.4% -1.2 76 -20 Marvin Bagley III 19 41 108 13.5% -0.4 54 -7 Will Riley 19 40 94 34.3% -3.1 20 1 Jamir Watkins 16 33 86 7.5% -0.8 -23 1 Malaki Branham 14 31 41 21.9% -5.0 -142 -4 Anthony Gill 2 3 0.0% 0.0 0 0 AJ Johnson 2 3 0 24.7% -0.9 -263 0
HAWKS MIN POSS ORTG USG +PTS PPA +/- Jalen Johnson 39 82 141 27.1% 5.7 236 7 Onyeka Okongwu 36 76 122 24.2% 1.1 169 7 Luke Kennard 23 48 188 13.6% 4.7 252 10 Vit Krejci 31 65 165 10.8% 3.5 171 21 Asa Newell 12 26 202 22.4% 5.0 339 11 Nickeil Alexander-Walker 32 67 106 22.6% -1.5 124 2 Zaccharie Risacher 19 39 141 15.2% 1.5 140 3 Mouhamed Gueye 9 18 203 7.9% 1.3 132 1 Dyson Daniels 36 76 81 22.1% -5.8 -14 13 Keaton Wallace 4 8 36 20.9% -1.4 -311 -4
The Washington Wizards lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 131-116 on Saturday night. The Wizards fall to 3-19 while the Hawks improve to 14-11.
Washington was outmatched in this game though they made things interesting the third quarter, going on a 38-27 run in that period.
CJ McCollum led the Wizards with 28 points and had a 7-of-12 performance from the three point line. For the Jalen Johnson, he scored 30 points.
The Wizards won’t be back on the court until Friday, Dec. 12 when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers. See you then.
Last weekend, the USA Basketball women’s 3×3 team won the Gold Medal in the 2025 FIBA 3×3 Women’s AmeriCup played in Mexico. The Americans went 5-0 en route to their gold medal.
The USA Women are the 2025 @FIBA3x3 AmeriCup Champions!
#3x3WNT x #3x3AmeriCup pic.twitter.com/k8Ir7zi5jS
— USA Basketball 3×3 (@usab3x3) December 1, 2025
The Americans’ pool play games were on Nov. 28 where the Americans made easy work out of Brazil and Jamaica. On Nov. 30, the Americans played their best games yet by beating Argentina 22-4 in the quarterfinals and then the Dominican Republic 21-5 in the semifinals. Their one tough game was in the championship match against Canada which was decided 21-19.
Austin averaged 5.8 points per game (keep in mind that each shot inside the three-point line is worth ONE point), tied with Naz Hillmon.
The next FIBA 3X3 World Cup will be from June 1-7, 2026 in Warsaw Poland. The Americans did not medal in last year’s World Cup, losing to Mongolia in the quarterfinals with a younger squad. The Netherlands won the Gold Medal and will look to defend it in 2026.
So, I’m on the road and failed to pack anything to read. The best options where I’m saying are a book about The Actors Studio by James Lipton, the first chapter of which was surprisingly dull, and a memoir(?) by Chelsea Handler, which is not funny, interesting, or insightful. Spending the evening reading either would have been a better use of time than watching the Wizards get annihilated by the Boston Celtics.
The Wizards never led in this one, but the first half wasn’t awful in the sense that Washington’s offense was efficient and the score was close. They trailed by just six at halftime.
Let this one sink in: In the first half, the Wizards defensive rating (points allowed per possession x 100) was an abysmal 137.5. Not a typo. League average is 115.8. In the second half, their defensive rating was 163.3.
It would be tempting at this point to talk about Washington’s abundant injuries (Alex Sarr, Corey Kispert, Bilal Coulibaly, and Tre Johnson all missed the game). Except Boston was missing Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. We’ll generously call that even.
It would als0 be tempting to talk about how this is a rebuilding team that doesn’t want to win games this year. Except “rebuilding” and “getting stomped by 45 points on your home floor by what amounts to the other team’s second unit” are not synonyms.
Part of rebuilding is establishing a foundation for future success. There are certain basics that should (at least in my opinion) be part of that foundation:
- Running back on defense
- Picking up the ball handler in transition
- Matching up with a nearby offensive player whether he’s your man or not
- Setting and using screens properly
These things are somewhat on the coach, but as was clear from the sideline reporting (and the sideline mics), Brian Keefe and the coaching staff were sharing some helpful tips on some of these very subjects throughout the game.
Which reminds me of something a good friend and former work colleague would say to me when someone would tell us we should have gotten the word out about an event they’d missed, which we’d promoted repeatedly over a period of months: “You can’t read for them, Kevin.”
Thoughts & Observations
- Jamir Watkins got his first NBA start. I wouldn’t say it went well — he had almost no offensive impact (1 field goal attempt and a 4.6% usage rate), and the defense was horrific when he was out there. I wouldn’t say the defensive failures were particularly on him.
- Early in the broadcast, Drew Gooden praised Marvin Bagley III’s board work and said it would be important because Boston was the eighth in offensive rebounding. There were two things wrong with this. First, by offensive rebounding percentage (more meaningful than per game stats), Boston is sixth in offensive rebounding. Second, Bagley is a superb offensive rebounder and a below average defensive rebounder for a big. In other words, the kind of rebounding Bagley does well would not help against what Boston does well.
- While it was nice to give that start to Watkins, the team should go back to Champagnie as a starter, at least until Sarr or Coulibaly returns.
- I think Kyshawn George has the potential to be very good, but he’s gotta cut down on the dumb turnovers and relentless hacking. Last night: 4 turnovers, 4 fouls.
- Let this sink in: league average turnover rate is 13.1% this season. George’s turnover rate last night: 38.6%.
- Someone send me a good book to read!
Four Factors
Below are the four factors that decide wins and losses in basketball — shooting (efg), rebounding (offensive rebounds), ball handling (turnovers), fouling (free throws made).
The four factors are measured by:
- eFG% (effective field goal percentage, which accounts for the three-point shot)
- OREB% (offensive rebound percentage)
- TOV% (turnover percentage — turnovers divided by possessions)
- FTM/FGA (free throws made divided by field goal attempts)
FOUR FACTORS CELTICS WIZARDS LGAVG eFG% 64.6% 47.6% 54.4% OREB% 37.5% 27.9% 26.3% TOV% 9.0% 18.0% 13.0% FTM/FGA 0.182 0.250 0.221 PACE 100 100.1 ORTG 146 101 115.8 Stats & Metrics
PPA is my overall production metric, which credits players for things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defending) and dings them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, bad defense, fouls).
PPA is a per possession metric designed for larger data sets. In small sample sizes, the numbers can get weird. In PPA, 100 is average, higher is better and replacement level is 45. For a single game, replacement level isn’t much use, and I reiterate the caution about small samples sometimes producing weird results.
POSS is the number of possessions each player was on the floor in this game.
ORTG = offensive rating, which is points produced per individual possessions x 100. League average so far this season is 115.1. Points produced is not the same as points scored. It includes the value of assists and offensive rebounds, as well as sharing credit when receiving an assist.
USG = offensive usage rate. Average is 20%.
ORTG and USG are versions of stats created by former Wizards assistant coach Dean Oliver and modified by me. ORTG is an efficiency measure that accounts for the value of shooting, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers. USG includes shooting from the floor and free throw line, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers.
+PTS = “Plus Points” is a measure of the points gained or lost by each player based on their efficiency in this game compared to league average efficiency on the same number of possessions. A player with an offensive rating (points produced per possession x 100) of 100 who uses 20 possessions would produce 20 points. If the league average efficiency is 114, the league — on average — would produced 22.8 points in the same 20 possessions. So, the player in this hypothetical would have a +PTS score of -2.8.
Players are sorted by total production in the game.
WIZARDS MIN POSS ORTG USG +PTS PPA +/- Kyshawn George 28 59 119 17.5% 0.3 79 -30 CJ McCollum 31 64 110 28.9% -1.1 72 -22 Khris Middleton 25 52 118 23.6% 0.2 85 -19 Justin Champagnie 15 32 119 23.1% 0.3 140 -1 Tristan Vukcevic 11 24 162 25.1% 2.8 159 -9 Jamir Watkins 18 38 224 4.6% 1.9 76 -30 Bub Carrington 28 57 79 16.3% -3.5 -7 -18 Will Riley 27 55 92 17.4% -2.3 -7 -39 Marvin Bagley III 26 53 61 17.8% -5.2 -30 -19 Cam Whitmore 18 38 48 23.1% -5.9 -49 -20 Malaki Branham 8 17 100 22.6% -0.6 16 -9 Anthony Gill 5 10 54 28.1% -1.7 -65 -9
CELTICS MIN POSS ORTG USG +PTS PPA +/- Derrick White 29 60 146 32.5% 5.9 355 17 Jordan Walsh 30 62 223 15.3% 10.1 319 20 Payton Pritchard 32 67 120 29.0% 0.9 202 27 Neemias Queta 21 44 160 22.8% 4.5 262 29 Hugo Gonzalez 18 37 186 18.1% 4.7 306 23 Baylor Scheierman 25 52 154 7.8% 1.6 187 42 Anfernee Simons 25 53 129 22.0% 1.6 174 34 Josh Minott 22 46 139 16.4% 1.7 172 2 Sam Hauser 21 43 128 11.7% 0.6 119 4 Luka Garza 8 17 171 20.0% 1.9 281 9 Ron Harper Jr. 5 10 26 24.2% -2.1 -31 9 Xavier Tillman Sr. 5 10 0 9.8% -1.1 -213 9
The Washington Wizards have assigned guard AJ Johnson to the Capital City Go-Go, the team announced Tuesday
Johnson, 21, has appeared in just 10 of Washington’s 22 games this season and played less than 10 minutes in each of those contests.
This marks Johnson’s second stint with the Go-Go in as many weeks. The sophomore guard averaged 19.5 points and 3.5 rebounds across two games last week, including a 22-point effort on 7-13 FG last Friday.
The Wizards have done something similar with fellow youngster Will Riley, who recently completed his second stint with the Go-Go. Johnson will see increased playing time in the G League as he continues to develop his game.
It is rare to see a player’s NBA draft profile skyrocket as quickly as Kingston Flemings has this season. He really was not on my radar as an NBA Draft pick, let alone a potential high-lottery pick heading into the season, but his early-season production has forced him into the conversation as one of this classes top prospects. If he continues to improve and play this well, he could be in consideration for the Wizards if they fall out of the top three.
Especially if the Wizards identify point guard as the position they would like to target in the 2026 NBA Draft, Fleming is a very intriguing option.
Here is everything Wizards fans need to know about Flemings, and whether or not you should buy into the hype about his hot start with Houston.
Kingston Flemings, 6’4” freshman guard from Houston
Heading into the season, Houston, who was a shot away from winning last year’s NCAA Tournament, was expected to be one of the best teams in college basketball. The hype was deserves, with the Cougars’ only loss so far coming against a ranked Tennessee team. They are looking like legitimate contenders. Upperclassmen Jojo Tugler, Milos Uzan and Emmanuel Sharp have been great, but freshman guard Kingston Flemings has come out of nowhere to be Houston’s most important player. He was the least-heralded of Houston’s three five-star freshmen, and is not only outperforming fellow first-years Chris Cenac and Isiah Harwell, but is shooting up draft boards at a truly unprecedented rate.
Flemings, a true do-it-all playmaker, has the look and frame of an elite NBA point guard at 6’4”. Through nine games, Flemings is averaging 15.9 points, 5.0 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 2.0 turnovers while shooting 56.0% from three. Flemings recently had his best game of the season in Houston’s 82-67 victory over Florida State where he dominated on both ends of the floor, scoring 21 points, dishing out five assists and collecting a career-high eight steals while shooting 8-13 from the field and 3-4 from three.
At first glance, there really do not seem to be any glaring weaknesses to Flemings’ game. He is an NBA-caliber athlete, has a great jump shot, is an advanced playmaker well-beyond his age, is a high-effort defender with a plus defensive IQ that allows him to get in passing lanes and is the floor general for a Final Four contender. But, this is a small sample size. While he was a five-star recruit, no one predicted that Flemings would be playing this well and that he would be such an important player for Kelvin Sampson’s Houston team.
Sampson spoke glowingly of Flemings’ work ethic and character after his standout performance against Florida State (via Paper City Magazine’s Chris Baldwin).
“Kingston is getting better because of the way he practices. He is a great, great, great, great young man, so his character allows him to be coached.”
Based on Sampson’s comments and the way Flemings has exceeded expectations, it is a reasonable expectation to believe that he will continue to improve at the next level and unlock even more aspects to his game.
Despite all of Flemings’ early-season dominance, I do have some very real concerns about the small sample size of his success. While he did earn a starting spot and was a five-star recruit, I could not find a single preseason mock draft that included him in the first round (if it’s out there please let me know). The stats are great. He passes the eye test. His team is winning. But I want to see Flemings sustain this once Big 12 play starts and there is a bit more tape on him before feeling confident about using a potential top-five pick on him.
As the Wizards’ season has gone on, I think it is clear that their biggest need is at point guard. Bub Carrington is not progressing the way many thought he would after his impressive rookie season last year. If it makes sense based on where they are picking in the draft, the WIzards should absolutely prioritize a point guard. Those options would likely be Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson, who would be the obvious choice if he is available, Louisville freshman Mikel Brown Jr. or Flemings.
Flemings’ athleticism, shiftiness and playmaking has led to some comparisons to De’Aaron Fox and Brandon Knight. I do not think he has the same raw speed as Fox, but their play styles are very similar. In regards to Knight, Flemings should have a much higher ceiling, especially on the defensive end. Another player with a similar type of game to Flemings is George Hill. Hill was known throughout his career as a very steady, all-around point guard. Flemings has a similar amount of versatility and well-roundedness, but with more athleticism and scoring firepower.
The hype right now for Flemings is deserved. If he continues to play at this level for the rest of the season, he would be a very intriguing option if the Wizards end up with the No. 4 or No. 5 pick in the draft.
During his weekly Wednesday appearance on The Sports Junkies, Washington Wizards coach Brian Keefe lightened his stance of Cam Whitmore’s benching.
“We were looking at different rotations. We hadn’t played well in the games before that. We wanted to try something new,” Keefe said. “[Whitmore] didn’t do anything wrong himself, but he’s learning our system … We wanted to give some other guys a chance.”
Whitmore was the lone Wizard to not play in last Friday’s 131-116 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. The 21-year-old forward was listed as questionable pregame with an illness before being upgraded to available.
Keefe took a different, harsher stance last Friday when asked why Whitmore didn’t play.
“We have certain standards that we have for our team,” Keefe said. “[Whitmore] has to live up to those on the better. And he’ll have a chance here, but that’s gonna be up to him when that time comes.”
Keefe’s answers suggest differing reasons for why Whitmore was benched. Keefe’s response on Friday insinuates he took issue with something regarding Whitmore’s recent performance — Whitmore shot 4-22 FG and was a -38 over the prior two games — while his comments on Wednesday explicitly state Whitmore “didn’t do anything wrong himself.”
It is an interesting change in tone from Keefe, who is trying to establish some sort of culture in Washington despite a 3-19 record this season and a 29-114 overall record as head coach of the Wizards.
I get it. This week has been quiet because of the ongoing NBA Cup elimination round games, so the Wizards have been on a de-facto break to get their legs fresh before Friday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In the meantime, Washington is 3-19 so far this season. As Kevin Broom wrote earlier today, the team has no intention of competing for anything more than a high draft pick. Fair enough. But how bad will Washington be in terms of objective numbers? Wins and losses?
The worst NBA team by win percentage was the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats (now the Hornets) who went 7-59 in a lockout-shortened season. They won just 10.6 percent of their games. But most NBA seasons are 82 games long. The 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers hold that record with a 9-73 record in the regular season and an 11 percent win percentage. They remain the only NBA team to win less than 10 games in a regular season. The Sixers nearly repeated that with a 10-72 campaign in the 2015-16 season during their “Trust the Process” years.
It’s early, but could the Wizards “make a run” for a sub-10 win season? I never thought the Wizards could be … that bad. But at the same time, Kevin’s piece earlier today shows that under the right conditions, it’s certainly possible.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
