Hey there, Last Night In Basketballers — I am, as I do every year, re-appropriating the Three Things I Noticed on League Pass format to preview the upcoming season. Instead of three things I noticed, it’ll be something more along the lines of three things I’m looking forward to, interested in, or want to see. Some of them might be narrative-based, some might be stats, and some might include video. But they'll all be focused on the 2026-27 campaign.
The schedule for those posts will be as follows (podcasts previewing each division with Mo Dakhil are in parentheses):
- Atlantic Division (BOS, BKN, NYK, PHI, TOR) (Podcast)
- Central Division (CHI, CLE, DET, IND, MIL) (Podcast)
- Southeast Division (ATL, CHA, MIA, ORL, WAS) (Podcast)
- Pacific Division (GSW, LAC, LAL, PHX, SAC) (Podcast)
- Northwest Division (DEN, MIN, OKC, POR, UTA) (Podcast)
- Southwest Division (DAL, HOU, MEM, NOP, SAS) (Podcast)
So without further ado, let's get to the Washington Wizards, who are actually trying to be a real team this year.
Where are we going?
Here's an excerpt of what I wrote this summer:
Needless to say, after handing Young a four-year, $213 million maximum contract, this no longer qualifies a "buy low" opportunity. It is now a massive investment in a guy who was essentially value-less at the deadline. (And one that the Wizards didn't have to make, especially knowing that they had the No. 1 pick coming in.) The Wiz got Young for CJ McCollum's expiring contract and an under-water multi-year deal for Corey Kispert. Four months later, they paid him as much as they were legally allowed to pay him.
At the time of the trade, I and everyone else heard that Young would likely opt out and sign a new three-year, $120 million contract to replace his player option, giving him more years and more money but a lower yearly salary. That's just about as aggressive as I would have been willing to get. Instead, not only did he get a new deal, but he's making more per year than he would have gotten on the player option, and he got four guaranteed seasons. The Wizards are firmly in the Trae Young business for the foreseeable future. (If he was just barely tradable for neutral-ish value with that $49 million player option, he's certainly not a positive value on this deal.) That's all it took for me to go from liking the trade to loathing it.
All else equal, I would certainly rather Trae Young have $213 million than for Ted Leonsis to have the same amount. I pay to watch Trae Young play basketball, and do it gladly. He's often very fun to watch. Even if he wasn't, he and the other players are still why we're all here. They should get as much money as they can while they can get it, and we should be happy for them when they do. But in a salary-capped league, and especially one that is now functionally hard-capped due to the second apron, signing Young to a deal like this isn't good asset management, and it's okay to call that out...
Then there's the Anthony Davis trade. Again, the Wizards didn't surrender all that much, in the grand scheme of things, in order to land him. They gave up [Khris] Middleton, AJ Johnson, [Marvin} Bagley, [Malaki] Branham, the 30th pick in this year's draft, a top-20 protected 2030 first from the Warriors that becomes a second if it doesn't convey, and three seconds. That's pretty good value for what Davis brings... when he's on the floor. Which is obviously the key phrase with him.
The Wizards have at least so far resisted giving Davis a big contract extension, which would be a clear mistake given his age (he turned 33 in March) and extensive injury history (he's appeared in 70% of his team's games just once in the last six seasons). With a $58.5 million salary this year and a $62.8 million player option for the 2027-28 season, Davis is paid handsomely enough. I don't think the Wizards should want to be committing to him for his age-35 season and beyond, especially when that time period will coincide with when the first wave of their young core will be coming up for new contracts.