Washington Wizards Can't Afford To Repeat Their Biggest Mistake

Forty-eight entertaining minutes of NBA Finals action has got me thinking …

About the Washington Wizards?

In what has already sprouted the roots of a classic duel of Unflappable Jack vs. The Beanstalk, I can’t be the only one dreaming … of Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama on the same team.

We interrupt this thought with news from the nation’s capital: The Wizards believe they are this team. At least that’s the way it appears they are approaching the postseason.

Having caught a huge break by landing the No. 1 pick in the draft, Washington’s fourth sports wheel has a chance to execute a franchise transformation this summer.

It begins with the selection of an All-Star shooting guard (Darryn Peterson), small forward (AJ Dybantsa) or power forward (Cameron Boozer). Peterson seems to have the most potential, Dybantsa the polish to dominate right away and Boozer the smarts to be a great complementary piece through at least two presidential terms.

Unlike two years ago, when the Wizards opted for Alex Sarr with the No. 2 pick in arguably the weakest draft in Elvin Hayes’ lifetime, you could play three-card monte with this year’s terrific trio and come away a winner no matter which shell you picked.

No team in the NBA needs a player like Peterson, Dybantsa or Boozer more than the Wizards, who at this point boast of Antonio Davis, Trae Young and a bunch of guys who somehow managed to lose 65 games last season without tanking.

Eighteen days before one of the biggest days in franchise history, somehow the talk in DC – other than Jaxson Dart, a caged wrestling match and a salary cap that could return Juan Soto to the Nationals – has focused on Young’s contract and the Wizards' reported interest in reworking it.

It helps explain the current state of the Wizards, a franchise that hasn’t learned from previous mistakes.

Wizards can't repeat biggest mistake in NBA Draft

You see, the Wizards once believed they could build around a little man/big man tandem when, at the trade deadline in 2022, they thought pairing Kristaps Porzingis and Bradley Beal was a good idea.

Rival general managers were intrigued … for about five minutes, which was all it took to realize that the addition of an always injured big man does nothing to make a shoot-first guard anything more than a defend-never liability.

The Wizards were lucky eventually to be able to bail on both, proving once again that there are two suckers born every NBA season.

These two numbers tell you all you need to know the likely success of a Young/Davis campaign …

87: That’s Young’s ranking in 3-point shooting percentage (35.2) among the 104 who have averaged 250 or more attempts over the course of his eight-year career.

It's a classic example of a guy who never met a bad shot he didn’t think he could make. Only he way too often doesn’t – 2,405 misses in 3,708 career attempts from beyond the arc.

His 3,708 hoists since his 2018 draft date are the 10th-most in the league. Yep, he ranks last in percentage among that group.

All while being a guy the Hawks were never able to build around – gee, imagine that – and one of the worst defensive guards in the NBA.

215: That’s the number of guys who have played more NBA games than Davis in the post-COVID era.

Remarkably, 22 of those guys didn’t enter the NBA until at least a year later, and 12 either retired before the start of the 2026 season or simply didn’t play a single game last year.

The "D" in DNP has stood for Davis the last six seasons despite him playing most of the time for a playoff contender or, more recently, motivated by those who laughed at the notion that he could be traded for Luka Doncic.

Young and Davis. These are the two guys with whom the Wizards apparently plan to surround their star newcomer this season. Oh, and pay them about a combined $100 million, assuring they won’t be major players in free agency.

It doesn’t have to be this way, and you’d think the once-fooled Wizards would recognize it.

Young has a player option on one of the league’s worst contracts for next season. Only – get this – it appears he wants to opt out of his $48.9 million deal in order to sign a long-term extension.

As demonstrated by his nightly 30-footers, the guy has a lot of guts.

And now it’s time for the Wizards to demonstrate theirs.

Letting Young walk would push Washington well under the salary cap and put arguably the NBA's worst team in a position to surround its rookie with the type of young talent that best suits him.

Or – wishful thinking – the Wizards could get Young to agree to a sign-and-trade with a wannabe contender desperate enough to give up young talent and/or draft picks, doubling up on the Beal heist from the Suns.

And then there’s Davis. The Wizards would have to find a trade partner in order to export him, but that should be easy enough. The sales pitch, after all, is a no-brainer:

You want to beat Wemby in the future? Here’s a proven winner who’s the NBA’s best defensive center.

OK, second-best. (Uh, when healthy, but we won't mention that.)

It all starts with flipping Young. The time is right.

Who says a little guy can’t lead a team to an NBA title?