The Washington Wizards are sitting at the bottom of the East with a 4-20 record, and the numbers paint the same ugly picture every night: this roster isn’t close to competitive right now.
The bigger issue is direction. The Wizards have young pieces, but there isn’t a clear cornerstone who projects as a future All-NBA level engine, the kind of player you can build an identity around for the next decade. Without that, rebuilds don’t turn into contenders; they turn into years of “almost.”
Look at the Detroit Pistons blueprint. They took the hits, lived through the ugly stretches with Cade Cunningham at the center of it, climbed to 44-38 and the 6-seed last season, and now they’re sitting first in the East at 21-5. That’s what it looks like when a franchise commits to a real direction.
So if the Wizards don’t trust their draft luck to land a true franchise engine, they should do the thing teams are scared to do: trade for a young blue-chip player, someone you can build around for the next decade and not blink.
1. LaMelo Ball
If the Wizards want a real rebuild shortcut, LaMelo Ball is the kind of swing that actually changes the direction of the franchise. With the Charlotte Hornets sitting at 8-18, the whole situation feels unstable enough for the Wizards to at least sniff around.
Ball’s production is still “star” level in the ways that matter for a team with zero offensive identity. He’s at 19.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 8.5 assists in 16 games, but the efficiency has dipped hard, 38.6% from the field and 28.5% from three, even with 87.7% from the line.
That’s exactly why this is interesting for the Wizards, because you’re not buying him at peak hype. You’re buying him in the middle of messy optics, missed time, and a slump.
The Hornets’ own messaging is basically flashing the “pivot” sign. Michael Scotto said rookie Kon Knueppel “has essentially become the face of the franchise,” while also noting the Hornets still want to see what the roster looks like with Ball, Brandon Miller, Knueppel, and Miles Bridges healthy. That’s not a trade confirmation, but it is a pretty loud indication that the organization doesn’t feel married to the original timeline anymore.
And the trade noise has already been real. Kelly Iko reported Ball had grown frustrated and was open to being moved, then Jake Fischer pushed back that the Hornets weren’t actively shopping him, with rival teams still monitoring the situation anyway. Ball publicly dismissed the idea, but the fact that this even hit the mainstream tells you teams are calling, and the Hornets aren’t exactly thriving.
The “unserious” label is the lazy part of the LaMelo discourse. The handle, the passing, the size, the ability to create shots for teammates, that stuff is real. If the Wizards want a young star with a decade of prime basketball left, this might be the rare moment where the talent screams “franchise engine” while the trade value quietly sits at its lowest point.
2. Jalen Johnson
If the Wizards want a young star who actually looks like a long-term No. 1 option, Jalen Johnson needs to be on the short list. He has been a monster this season for the Atlanta Hawks, putting up 22.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 8.2 assists on 51.6% from the field. The Hawks sit at 15-12, so they’re not exactly in “blow it up” mode, but Johnson’s rise has been so loud that the Wizards should test how untouchable he really is.
The timing is what makes it interesting. Trae Young is trending toward a return, the Hawks said he’s expected back at practice soon, and ESPN noted a possible return around Christmas, which means Johnson’s usage probably comes back down to Earth.
But what Johnson did without Young is exactly why the Wizards should go all-in. Since 2024-25, he has averaged 22.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 9.0 assists in games without Young, that’s basically a nightly near triple-double line.
And lately he’s been pushing it even further. Johnson just posted his fourth straight triple-double last Sunday, a franchise record, and he already has eight career triple-doubles.
That’s the selling point for the Wizards: if you trade for him, you don’t treat him like a “nice piece,” you hand him the keys. He’s been playing like a point-forward wrecking ball, the kind of guy who can run your offense, bully mismatches, and stack numbers in a way that feels LeBron-ish when everything flows through him.
3. Keyonte George
Keyonte George is the kind of bet the Wizards should love because the upside is obvious, and the timing might finally be right. The Utah Jazz are 10-15, still living in development mode, and George has been on a tear over the past week.
He just dropped 37 points and six assists in the win over the Dallas Mavericks, and it was his second straight 30-plus-point game. A few nights earlier, he set a career high with 39 points against the Memphis Grizzlies.
That mini-run lines up with what his season has looked like overall: 23.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game, with 45.0% from the field. He’s not just scoring, he’s creating, and that’s the part that screams “build around me” if a team is willing to hand him the keys.
The angle for a deal is the Jazz timeline and money decisions. Walker Kessler is headed toward restricted free agency in 2026, and that’s the type of situation that can force real roster choices.
If the Jazz land a high pick and feel they can reset the backcourt through the 2026 draft, a prospect like Kansas guard Darryn Peterson sits at the very top of that conversation, with ESPN describing him as a leading candidate to go No. 1 and a potential primary playmaker-scorer.
If that’s the road the Jazz want, the Wizards should be ready to throw a serious offer at George, because this might be the closest thing to a “buy-low” window they’ll ever get on a guard with real star outcomes.
4. Jonathan Kuminga
Jonathan Kuminga is the classic “change of scenery” swing the Wizards should consider if they want upside instead of more empty development reps. The Golden State Warriors still haven’t fully committed to him as a featured option, and the role has stayed inconsistent in a rotation that keeps changing.
This season, Kuminga is at 12.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists on 43.8% from the field. Those are fine numbers, but they don’t reflect what he looks like when the game tilts toward him.
The pushback has always been the same stuff: questions about decision-making, defensive awareness, and whether he processes the game quickly enough to be a main guy. Fair. But the Wizards should be interested precisely because the market tends to punish that kind of player until the moment it clicks.
And the “we’ve seen it” sample exists. In the 2025 Western Conference Semifinals, in four games without Stephen Curry, Kuminga averaged 24.3 points. If you’re the Wizards, you’re basically betting that the player from those nights shows up more often when the offense actually runs through him.
The door might be open, too. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the Warriors will be open to discussing trades for Kuminga once he’s eligible to be moved on Jan. 15, with his $22.5 million salary as a potential piece in a bigger deal.
If the Wizards want to gamble on a young wing who could explode with real usage and real patience, this is the type of bet that can pay off in a way draft picks often don’t.
5. Reed Sheppard
Reed Sheppard feels like the kind of target the Wizards should love because the talent is real, but the perception still hasn’t fully caught up. The Houston Rockets took him No. 3 overall in the 2024 draft, and he’s putting up 12.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.1 assists this season, shooting 46.3% from the field and 43.7% from three.
That’s not “project” production; that’s a rotation guard who can actually tilt spacing and punish mistakes.
The weird part is how his value might still be gettable. The Rockets already sent him to the G-League last season when his minutes dried up, which is the exact type of thing that makes people label a young guard too early.
Now, with Amen Thompson climbing the pecking order as a bigger part of the core, Sheppard can easily get stuck as the “nice player” instead of the guy a team builds reps around, even though Thompson is currently at 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists himself.
And when Sheppard actually gets room to breathe, you see why this is a swing worth taking. He hit 31 against the Golden State Warriors on November 26, right after pouring 27 against the Denver Nuggets on November 21.
Even in the Rockets’ shocking loss to the Dallas Mavericks on December 6, he scored 12 in 20 minutes on 5-of-8 shooting with 2-of-3 from deep. If the Wizards are serious about buying low on young upside, this is exactly what that looks like.
