Bullets Forever

Trae Young will lead the NBA in assists per game for just the second time in his career. Young’s been a genius-level passer throughout his career but has carried a heavy scoring burden. In Washington, he’s going to be asked to help his younger teammates learn how to excel on the offensive end, and there’s no better way than using his gravity to help give them open looks. Anthony Davis will be a top five candidate for Defensive Player of the Year.

The Washington Wizards play the New York Knicks tomorrow to start the preseason. Let’s get to it. When: Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET Where: Madison Square Arena, New York, NY How to watch: Monumental Sports Network Wizards: Jamir Watkins and Tristan Vukcevic are out. Washington will begin the preseason tomorrow on the road to play the defending NBA champions. The Knicks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, 120-97.

It is well known among other NBA teams that Davis, who holds a $62.8 million player option that he can exercise for the 2027-28 season, wants a contract extension or a new deal that would pay him at, or very near, maximum salaries. If he were to turn down his player option now, Davis would be eligible for up to a four-year extension, through the 2030-31 season, worth as much as $275 million total.

During an appearance on The Sports Junkies on Tuesday morning, Washington Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said Alex Sarr will be ready for the beginning of the season. “Alex is getting really close. He’ll definitely be ready for the beginning of the season, and I anticipate he’ll play a little bit in the preseason.” Sarr, who underwent surgery to repair his fractured right foot in June, returned to five-on-five work and live drills during Monday’s practice.

WASHINGTON — Nearly four months removed from surgery to repair his fractured right foot, Alex Sarr said he was a full participant at Monday’s practice. Sarr had been a partial participant through the first five days of training camp but has now progressed to 5-on-5 work and live drills. “I was a full go today, [did] most of the drills at the position. Felt good,” Sarr said.

The 2027 WNBA offseason has begun for the Washington Mystics after getting eliminated from the playoffs last week. By all accounts, the 2026 season for them was a success. They were widely expected to be a lottery team though probably not the worst team in the league. But despite having the youngest roster in the league if not league history, Washington went 28-16 and had the No. 5 seed in the 2026 WNBA Playoffs.

After a brutal stretch of losing by design, the Wizards are going to try to start winning this year. The past three seasons, the team totaled 50 wins — tied with the 2021-24 Detroit Pistons for the 10th worst three-year stretch in NBA history. The worst stretch belongs to The Process Philadelphia 76ers, which went 37-109 from 2013-16. That’s a .150 winning percentage. That got them six trips to the second round of the playoffs in the years since.

WASHINGTON — Will Riley didn’t play more than 20 minutes in a game until December of his rookie season. Then he played 32 minutes per contest across the final three months. And he thrived. Riley averaged 15.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists during that stretch. He scored in a myriad of ways — slithering to the bucket for contested layups, draining mid-range pull-ups and sinking a few triples. He carried that momentum into an offseason of growth. “[I feel] super comfortable,” Riley said.

The Washington Wizards are in the middle of training camp, where fans were in long lines to attend an open practice at Capital One Arena yesterday. Before that practice, Bub Carrington was interviewed on WUSA-TV where he said that the Wizards were “held back because [they] were trying to get AJ Dybantsa. That’s no secret.” Watch the video below. Given the vision of Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger, I’m not surprised the Wizards prioritized youth over a competitive record.

Wizards forward/center Tristan Vukčević sustained a left hip impingement and will be reevaluated in approximately four weeks, the Wizards announced Thursday. Vukcevic had been a partial participant during the first two days of training camp. He’ll continue to be a partial participant throughout the remainder of camp. The 23-year-old averaged 9.0 points and 3.0 rebounds across 49 appearances last season. He shot 47.9% from the field and 34.7% from 3-point range.