Rank our top 10 best players as of the start of the 2027/28 season

[nate33]

I saw this question posted on X and thought it was a good one. It's really wild how hard it is to project. How much more will our youngsters improve? How fast will AD fade? Is Trae due for a resurgence in a new setting or is his prototype just not viable in the NBA anymore?

1. Anthony Davis - Even if he only plays 55 games, he'll be our best player. He falls further down the list if he can't stay healthy.

2. Alex Sarr - I'm really hoping for another big jump. But even if it doesn't happen, he's probably still our most impactful player even if he is a little matchup dependent and can't deal with really strong guys. I think there's unrealized gains to be had simply by getting more selective on when to go for blocked shots and when to just secure the rebound. Two more offseasons of lifting weights will help a lot.

3. Kyshawn George - We can't forget that this guy is a psychotic workout freak who will constantly work on his game. Also, he has a bully ball game that will only get better as he builds his physical strength to match.

4. Trae Young - He'll start off looking great, but as the rest of the team gets better around him, we will discover that his negative impact on our defense hurts nearly as much as his positive impact on our offense helps.

5. Will Riley - His floor is an interesting instant-offense 6th man and his ceiling is an All-Star. He is so young, it's really hard to project. That said, even if he has All-Star potential, I think he'll need more than one more year of development to bring that about.

6. Bilal Coulibaly - I think he'll get a little better at shooting 3's, but we are probably nearing WYSIWYG. I'm guessing he can be 10% better than the guy he has been for the last 3 months, and that's a solid starter, but nothing more.

7. Tre Johnson - Even if he gets a lot more comfortable on offense and we start more plays for him coming off screens, he feels a little too one-dimensional. If the shots aren't falling, he might not do much for us. The caveat here is that he is also a psychotic worker so maybe he'll add a lot of stuff in the offseason. We really need him to become a quality defender and I don't know if that's in the cards.

8. Justin Champagnie - He's a little older and hasn't shown much of a bag. I think he'll get incrementally better defensively and as a shooter, and that's still really good.

9. Bub Carrington - I just don't see a big breakout for him. He'll just be a role player.

10. Jamir Watkins - The guy was a great pick, but he is also 3 years OLDER than Bilal Coulibaly. I'm not sure if he has that much improvement ahead of him, but he is already good enough to stick around the league for a while.

[Zonkerbl]

what about the 26/27 season? call me impatient.

It was wild to watch teams instantly switch to their "pick on Trae Young on defense" strats the moment he was on the floor. Teams have scouted him out THOROUGHLY. There is no hiding him on defense.

A little early to do this before we even know who the draft pick is. I guess next season we can assume they'll be a non factor.

[payitforward]

Obviously, any list of this kind includes a lot of crystal-balling -- very cool all the same.

I think I might move Will a little higher on the list. Above Trae, maybe even above Kyshawn.

As well, I'm unclear if you're mostly weighing potential improvement or where guys are now. If the latter, then Justin should be near the top.

[Benjammin]

It may not have been the purpose of the exercise but hopefully the 26 1st round pick if he's in the top 4 will also be a top 4 player on the team going into the 27-28 season.

Sent from my Pixel 10 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[The Consiglieri]

1.Will Riley (major recency bias alert, I should have Sarr or the '26 first here, but unless Sarr is healthy and gets better, or we land a top 2 '26 first, i think its probably Riley, and could be Tre Johnson or of course Sarr or Davis if he isn't traded)
2. Alex Sarr
3. 2026 Washington Wizards First Round Pick
4. Tre Johnson
5. Trae Young
6. Kyshawn George
7. Bilal Coulibaly
8. 2027 Washington Wizards First Round Pick
9. Bub Carrington
10. Either 2026 Late 1st round Pick Acquired or Champagnie

I tend to think Davis will be traded between winter '27 and winter '28, so figured I wouldn't include him. If he's still on the roster, I think he would slot in at 5 ahead of Young.

[nate33]

It may not have been the purpose of the exercise but hopefully the 26 1st round pick if he's in the top 4 will also be a top 4 player on the team going into the 27-28 season.

Sent from my Pixel 10 Pro XL using Tapatalk

Yeah, I wanted to include it, but it really depends on where we pick. The #1 pick is likely to be a top 3 or better player by 2027, but would the #5 pick be?

[payitforward]

You know what happens if you count your chickens before they're hatched -- they don't hatch! Sooooo... ssh.

[Tyrone Messby]

1. Hopefully a top 3 pick 2026
2. Will Riley (wait until he bulks up with that bag of his) (future All Star)
3. Sarr (future All Star)
4. Kyshawn (an ASG appearance or two but not perennial)
5. Tre (him and Bilal have high ceilings but just prisoner of the moment on this post)
6. Bilal
7. Bub (Jordan Crawford type microwave scorer for us best case scenario?)
8. Champ (basically our San Antonio Spurs glue guy)

Think a couple of players above will no longer be with the team in 2 seasons from now though. We are sort of where the Capitals are right now with a bunch of of GREAT complimentary players but no real game breaker as of yet. Caps need a 1C and top line winger but love the make up of the rest of the roster. And believe it’s good enough to contend for a cup once those two roles are filled. Maybe young Protas can be our 1C in 2 seasons but I think the Wiz future is brighter if they get AJ or Peterson.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Love this thread Nate. Thanks for starting it. One question. What’s our cap situation at the moment. Did our acquisitions of Brow and Trae kill our chances at a decent signing this summer? I still have my heart set on Hartenstein or another banging big to fill in when AD sits, to anchor the second unit D and to help Trae remain playable for longer stretches.

[Benjammin]

No money for Hartenstein. They have their full MLE and a 13.4 million TPE that expires July 9th. I could see signing a big to have for the inevitable games AD will miss and keep Vuck and Juju as your break glass in case of emergency guys.

Sent from my Pixel 10 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[nate33]

No money for Hartenstein. They have their full MLE and a 13.4 million TPE that expires July 9th. I could see signing a big to have for the inevitable games AD will miss and keep Vuck and Juju as your break glass in case of emergency guys.

Sent from my Pixel 10 Pro XL using Tapatalk

If we sign a veteran big, we won’t be keeping Juju. Except maybe on a 2-way.

[Benjammin]

No money for Hartenstein. They have their full MLE and a 13.4 million TPE that expires July 9th. I could see signing a big to have for the inevitable games AD will miss and keep Vuck and Juju as your break glass in case of emergency guys.

Sent from my Pixel 10 Pro XL using Tapatalk

If we sign a veteran big, we won’t be keeping Juju. Except maybe on a 2-way.

A lot will depend upon how they view Vuck and whether the Wizards draft a 4. Counting on AD playing more than 50 games would be a serious mistake.

Sent from my Pixel 10 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[doclinkin]

Expansion draft wise don’t they say you can protect top 8? I wonder about the best team you can create with the 9th best player on every team. Though that’s a different list since nice teams will expose their big contracts or expiring deals. Still on that list we’d have our 26 & 27 draft pick. Which means we likely lose Champagnie.

[Benjammin]

I wouldn't be shocked if the 27 pick gets moved in a consolidation type deal near the time of that draft. There's only so many young players you can try and develop at the same time.

Sent from my Pixel 10 Pro XL using Tapatalk

[nate33]

Expansion draft wise don’t they say you can protect top 8? I wonder about the best team you can create with the 9th best player on every team. Though that’s a different list since nice teams will expose their big contracts or expiring deals. Still on that list we’d have our 26 & 27 draft pick. Which means we likely lose Champagnie.

Historically, you haven’t been required to protect your brand new draft pick in expansion drafts. If the expansion draft is in 2027, all teams’ 2027 picks will be exempt.

[lastemp3ror]

Great topic! I am going to do my list as "who will have the best careers relative to their future with the Wizards" (hence why Trae is so low):

#1: 2026 1st round pick
#2: Sarr
#3: Riley
#4: KG
#5: Tre Johnson
#6: Trae Young
#7: Bilal
#8: JC
#9: Watkins
#10: Bub

[payitforward]

This is fun, but it's also weird: can we really know anything about, e.g. how good either Tre or Trae will be in 18 months?

Plus, if what we mean by "best" is "most productive overall," then Justin should be up near the top based on current levels of play.

Then there's the fact that only nate, who started the thread, even mentions Anthony Davis!

[dobrojim]

I concur with Nate's list.

If/when he is healthy and playing, AD has been the best player of anyone on our roster.
He is not so old that if he ever is able to have an extended period of healthy play, he couldn't resume that.

[gesa2]

My guess is that AD is gone by the trade deadline next year, still hoping for a Jacob Poertl and 2 FRP kind of deal after Toronto fails in the playoffs. So my top 10 would be the same as lastemp3ror except I’d have KG above Riley for his 2 way play

[Dat2U]

My rankings for the '26-27 roster

1. PF Anthony Davis
+1.9 EPM - 87% percentile
+0.3 OFF - 73% percentile
+1.6 DEF - 93% percentile
Note: Still a high level - near elite defender. Offense has slipped to solidly above average. Still a very good player, just no longer a top 20 guy.

2. PG Trae Young
+2.1 EPM - 89% percentile
+3.8 OFF - 97% percentile
-1.7 DEF - 6% percentile
Note: Trae is also still an elite offensive player. Bad defender as always but the elite offense significantly outweighs his poor defense. Bottom 6% percentile defender is terrible but its actually not in the Cam Thomas/Isaiah Thomas level of bad. Also Trae is a significantly better defender than Bub Carrington if that makes folks feel better, lol.

3. C Alex Sarr
-0.5 EPM - 59% percentile
-0.0 OFF - 68% percentile
-0.5 DEF - 37% percentile
Note: Went from unplayable offensively last year to solidly above average. What a jump! Active team defender who still struggles with individual matchups. Sarr's defensive impact cratered in lineups with Bub. AD next to him will help tremendously.

4. SF Kyshawn George
-0.6 EPM - 58% percentile
-0.3 OFF - 63% percentile
-0.3 DEF - 45% percentile
Note: Improved in every aspect last year. Offensive impact is just slightly ahead of his defense but he's trending towards becoming a well rounded two way player.

5. PF Justin Champagnie
-0.9 EPM - 53% percentile
+0.0 OFF - 69% percentile
-0.9 DEF - 22% percentile
Note: Another guy who's defense tanked with Bub. I think he's a much better defender than stats indicate. I could see him having a similar breakout as his brother in SA in a competitive environment next year.

6. SF Bilal Coulibaly
-1.1 EPM - 48% percentile
-1.5 OFF - 37% percentile
+0.4 DEF - 73% percentile
Note: Defense has taken a huge step forward as he's now a well above average perimeter defender. Offensively, he's starting the flash more but still too many nights where he's not an offensive threat - consistency offensively will be the next stage of his development.

7. SG Tre Johnson
-2.8 EPM - 21% percentile
-1.1 OFF - 46% percentile
-1.7 DEF - 6% percentile
Note: Started off strong to begin the year but completely fell off a cliff over 2nd half. Seems to be injury related. Shot is not currently falling but I would expect a strong bounce back next year. Had a positive impact offensively & wasn't a total train wreck on D prior to injuries.

8. PF Jamir Watkins
-1.2 EPM - 46% percentile
-1.9 OFF - 27% percentile
+0.8 DEF - 82% percentile
Note: Might be Lu Dort in training. Already a significantly plus defender out the gate but its the offense that will determine is upside/playability.

9. SF Will Riley
-4.4 EPM - 6% percentile
-1.8 OFF - 30% percentile
-2.6 DEF - 1% percentile
Note: Productive not impactful just yet but thats fine for 19. Offensively, alot of his game is creating something out of nothing. Will need to learn to score in the flow of the game without dribbling the air out and teammates just watching, standing around. Defensively, he's too weak, undisciplined and has a ton of room for improvement.

10. Anyone we draft with the 5th/6th pick.
If we go PG at 5 or 6 (Wagler, BrownJr, Flemings, AcuffJr), i would expect them to be a significant negative next year. Thats just usually how it works with rookie PGs. If we land a top 4 pick, that player may very well be the third best player on the roster as early as next year.