2025-26 Lineup Thread -- How's it shakin out?

[bsilver]

They will have to address rebounding. Sarr and Olynyk are two of the worst rebounding centers in the league. And we don’t have a PF to make up for it. Champagne is good at SF and Bub at PG, but we’re still pretty pathetic. Champagne may be our best SF and still might not get much PT.
We’re trying to be bad, but still need some balance. It’s not fair to the fans, players, and coach to put out a team getting greatly out rebounded every game.

I don't think this FO "cares" what the fans think. Don't get me wrong, they want the fans - they just don't care about the fans' opinions as they go through this rebuilding phase.

They may feel they must lose and try for the '26 draft and this is the best way to do it.

But yeah, they don't have a good defensive rebounder on the team. It is going to be a bit ugly (see Nate's trade proposal for Isaac - I think it does happen for this very reason. But I have been surprised before

Caring about the fans opinion probably got us in this situation, so I agree that it shouldn’t affect the rebuilding. However, they have to put some bodies in the seats. I’d be less likely to go to games knowing we’re starting off giving the other team 10 extra possessions because we refuse to get some rebounders.
Getting Isaac would help. But the only reason Orlando would make that trade is if they don’t believe he’ll be healthy. Since they’ve stuck with him for so long, they’ll probably keep him.

[dckingsfan]

They will have to address rebounding. Sarr and Olynyk are two of the worst rebounding centers in the league. And we don’t have a PF to make up for it. Champagne is good at SF and Bub at PG, but we’re still pretty pathetic. Champagne may be our best SF and still might not get much PT.
We’re trying to be bad, but still need some balance. It’s not fair to the fans, players, and coach to put out a team getting greatly out rebounded every game.

I don't think this FO "cares" what the fans think. Don't get me wrong, they want the fans - they just don't care about the fans' opinions as they go through this rebuilding phase.

They may feel they must lose and try for the '26 draft and this is the best way to do it.

But yeah, they don't have a good defensive rebounder on the team. It is going to be a bit ugly (see Nate's trade proposal for Isaac - I think it does happen for this very reason. But I have been surprised before

Caring about the fans opinion probably got us in this situation, so I agree that it shouldn’t affect the rebuilding. However, they have to put some bodies in the seats. I’d be less likely to go to games knowing we’re starting off giving the other team 10 extra possessions because we refuse to get some rebounders.

Getting Isaac would help. But the only reason Orlando would make that trade is if they don’t believe he’ll be healthy. Since they’ve stuck with him for so long, they’ll probably keep him.

I can't disagree with any of that. I am guessing attendance will be off again this year

And yes, the Magic FO does seem to like Isaac (maybe the fans don't).

[joshuacf]

They will have to address rebounding. Sarr and Olynyk are two of the worst rebounding centers in the league. And we don’t have a PF to make up for it. Champagne is good at SF and Bub at PG, but we’re still pretty pathetic. Champagne may be our best SF and still might not get much PT.
We’re trying to be bad, but still need some balance. It’s not fair to the fans, players, and coach to put out a team getting greatly out rebounded every game.

Nate's Jonathan Issac idea is 200 IQ in my opinion. Orlando, who is trying to compete, needs guys with the upside to play more than 15 minutes a game. We, who are trying to get young guys minutes, need veterans who are ok with playing limited minutes. Plus he's a solid rebounder. It is a match made in heaven and I would aggressively pursue it.

I would genuinely cut Olynyk and keep Holmes. No basketball rationale, I just hate Olynyk.

Which leaves us with:

Bub/Smart/AJ
CJ/Tre/Colby
Bilal/Kispert/Riley/KG
Middleton/Champagnie/KG
Sarr/Holmes/Vuk

And after the trade deadline:

Bub/AJ
Tre/Colby/Jamir Watkins
Bilal/Riley/Jamir Watkins
KG/Champangie
Sarr/Holmes/Vuk

[dobrojim]

These ideas would make sense if we were actually trying to win in 26. As Nate/Doc pointed out, if we want
to be completely sure of keeping our pick, we need to top out at 4th worst. We have a little wiggle room
to 6th against prohibitive odds. But the stakes are too
high to risk doing much better. No need to FAFO.

PS, I remember reading something here about having
a pick swap as soon as next year. If that was accurate,
and if actually got 2 top 10 picks in 26, it would more than make up for getting hosed this year.

[doclinkin]

I would genuinely cut Olynyk and keep Holmes. No basketball rationale, I just hate Olynyk.

Oh no no no no no No!

Kelly Olynyk is an ideal mentor for how Alex Sarr wants to play. A decent passing high post jump shooting big who isn’t the strongest but still manages to be effective on savvy and effort alone.

Sarr is not going to be a force rebounder. But he can still learn the pick and pop game. Screen setting. Screen assists. Boxing out. Positional defense. Taking charges. Flopping when overmatched against stronger players. All the annoying tricks that make you hate KO when he plays against us. You want teams to hate Sarr for the same reason. If we had a Kelly Olynyk with added shot blocking and better end to end speed we’d be very happy.

Personally I think the trades theyve made have been sly in who they added as bench coaches.

CJ —scoring combo guard play for below the rim athletes. (Bub, Tre, Riley)

Smart — defensive cunning and tough juice mentor. (Everybody)

KMidd— plus/minus champion who exemplifies how to play on and off ball and find spacing for efficient shots. (Bilal, Key, Bub, AJJ, JC. Riley)

Olynyk — how to succeed in the NBA as a jump shooting Big. (Sarr, Vuk)

We don’t have a mentor at PF. But we don’t have a true PF to teach anyway. Nor a true strong 5. But as far as maximizing the talents of the guys we do have, I like this chemistry mix if we keep them a little while.

[dobrojim]

I agree with this rationale. But like the Host on Dirty
Buckets, it's gonna take me a while to root for KO.

[joshuacf]

Oh no no no no no No!

Kelly Olynyk is an ideal mentor for how Alex Sarr wants to play. A decent passing high post jump shooting big who isn’t the strongest but still manages to be effective on savvy and effort alone.

Sarr is not going to be a force rebounder. But he can still learn the pick and pop game. Screen setting. Screen assists. Boxing out. Positional defense. Taking charges. Flopping when overmatched against stronger players. All the annoying tricks that make you hate KO when he plays against us. You want teams to hate Sarr for the same reason. If we had a Kelly Olynyk with added shot blocking and better end to end speed we’d be very happy.

Personally I think the trades theyve made have been sly in who they added as bench coaches.

CJ —scoring combo guard play for below the rim athletes. (Bub, Tre, Riley)

Smart — defensive cunning and tough juice mentor. (Everybody)

KMidd— plus/minus champion who exemplifies how to play on and off ball and find spacing for efficient shots. (Bilal, Key, Bub, AJJ, JC. Riley)

Olynyk — how to succeed in the NBA as a jump shooting Big. (Sarr, Vuk)

We don’t have a mentor at PF. But we don’t have a true PF to teach anyway. Nor a true strong 5. But as far as maximizing the talents of the guys we do have, I like this chemistry mix if we keep them a little while.

The idea of "mentors" is hugely overrated on this board.

NBA players don't need "mentors" to teach them how to play basketball. Especially guys who were never anything more than an average NBA center!

You aren't the only person on this board who I've seen say this, but I feel like people on this board have this romantic vision of one veteran at every position, happily teaching everything they know to the young guy playing in front of them. In reality, stuff like that just doesn't happen (nor is it needed). Who "mentored" John Wall? Or Bradley Beal?

Take it outside of the Wizards, who mentored Paulo Banchero? Did 4th year player Tyus Jones teach rookie Ja everything Ja knows? Was Anthony Edwards destined to be a bust if it weren't for Malilk Beasley?

That's not to say you don't need veterans in the locker room to show young guys how to be "professionals". But the idea that Kelly Olynyk is going to help Alex Sarr (who at this exact moment may very well be a better basketball player than Olynyk ever was, by the way) just isn't reality.

[doclinkin]

Then it’s overrated by the players on the team. And the front office.

Check the quotes by Bub and Key on the influence of Marcus Smart. Teaching him things on the bench that he immediately applied in the game.

Check the credit that the players gave Valanciunas, showing by example how to play the pick and roll game.

You’re talking players one year out of high school. They don’t have the experience of an 11 year vet and can benefit from it. Ask HOFers who helped them and it’s common they’ll cite their vet on the team.

Hell check the ranks of coaching staffs. Often the guys who end up better coaches were not the superstars but the bench guys who had to use their smarts to stay in the league since their athletic ability wasn’t going to do it. The Kerrs and Pat Riley’s not the MJs and Magics.

Whether you learn from a guy directly as a mentor or you learn dirty tricks from them when they pull it on you in practice, it does help to have a player against which to test yourself. Late career vets are more likely to teach young cats since they’re looking for hard next when they’re no longer in the league.

Olynyk’s dad was a coach and his mom was a referee. He’s a lifer in the game. He’s been noted by teammates as a quiet coach on the floor.

CJ McCollum is president of the players association. He’s invested in the success of the guys in the league.

I’ll pull footage of Smart teaching Zach Edey low post moves if you need it.

You may hate the guy but you’re dead wrong if you don’t think the right vets can teach players how to perform better. There’s a reason we’ve kept Anthony Gill for so long. And a reason why players suddenly got better when Kuzma was off the team.


That’s not romanticizing the role, it’s just pointing out what’s been documented elsewhere.

[doclinkin]

Who "mentored" John Wall? Or Bradley Beal?

Rod Strickland tutored John Wall, Derrick Rose, and Eric Bledsoe.

And Bradley Beal mentored hometown boy Jayson Tatum, plus Darius Garland who played for his AAU team.

Paul Pierce taught both in his short term with us.

Better believe locker room chemistry and practice habits help players develop. We’ve seen where having the wrong mix can wreck a team. Conversely the right guys can help.

Olynyk as a player is past his prime. And his prime wasn’t all that. But the skills that gave him an 11 year career are the precise skill set that can help Sarr be effective until he grows into full strength.

[joshuacf]

Breaking news: Teammates complement other teammates in order to boost team chemistry. And blow smoke up each others ***.

I'll ask again; who "mentored" Wall, Beal, Banchero, Ja, Ant?

And the hill you are choosing to die on as a must-keep "mentor" is Kelly Olynyk... a career backup...

You can genuinely throw a rock in free agency and the trade market and find a dozen guys who can provide the exact same "mentorship" that Olynyk can.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I'm free agency I would see if I can get aldama but he might be too expensive

If not I'd look at Garza, Sharpe, Tony Bradley, Kai Jones and bol bol.

Id also hunt some undrafted free agents

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

Luka Garza was a beast in the B1G. He is tremendously efficient scoring the ball. By now, he's practiced against the best, and he is poised to break out.

Day'Ron Sharpe impressed me when he was a Tar Heel. He's a terrific rebounder. Brooklyn would be stupid to let him go.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

They will have to address rebounding. Sarr and Olynyk are two of the worst rebounding centers in the league. And we don’t have a PF to make up for it. Champagne is good at SF and Bub at PG, but we’re still pretty pathetic. Champagne may be our best SF and still might not get much PT.
We’re trying to be bad, but still need some balance. It’s not fair to the fans, players, and coach to put out a team getting greatly out rebounded every game.

SHARPE
Johnathan Isaac

[9 and 20]

Wiz won't sign anyone of substance this off-season so the lineup will be made up of guys we have on the roster now - mix of vets and young guys, with vets being traded at the deadline.

Need to keep spots open for next summer when we sign both Luka and Jaren Jackson Jr.

[doclinkin]

Breaking news: Teammates complement other teammates in order to boost team chemistry. And blow smoke up each others ***.

I'll ask again; who "mentored" Wall, Beal, Banchero, Ja, Ant?

And the hill you are choosing to die on as a must-keep "mentor" is Kelly Olynyk... a career backup...

You can genuinely throw a rock in free agency and the trade market and find a dozen guys who can provide the exact same "mentorship" that Olynyk can.

What “die on”? You stated you irrationally hate a guy annd are having a tantrum about it hoping to get rid of him. I stated learning from his game will help Sarr figure out ways to succeed until his frame fills out.

Your belief is that no player learns from a teammate. I cited examples. Your counter is “na na na I’m not listening”. Ok cool. If we wanna go back to elementary school I counter “ya mama found an egg salad sandwich on a bus and she ate it”.

No need to argue with me. Go play with whatever other analyst you like. Here’s Sam Vecenie:

Analyst Sam Vecenie at the Athletic showing praise of our FO draft moves and trades so far:

“It’s also worth shouting out what the Wizards did earlier in the week. They got off the Poole contract, a deal that is viewed leaguewide as being at least $20 million underwater over the next two years, and they received positive value. McCollum is a good, veteran replacement for Poole who will have trade value this winter as an expiring contract. Olynyk is a terrific big who’ll help some of their young players develop. He will also have trade value.
…
All told, the Wizards accomplished both talent-acquisition and long-term strategic goals. This is as good a week as Wizards fans could have asked for.

Grade: A”

[penbeast0]

Who "mentored" John Wall? Or Bradley Beal?

Rod Strickland tutored John Wall, Derrick Rose, and Eric Bledsoe.
...
Better believe locker room chemistry and practice habits help players develop. We’ve seen where having the wrong mix can wreck a team. Conversely the right guys can help....

Are you implying that Rod Strickland modeled locker room chemistry and practice habits? I can believe he mentored Eric Maynor.

The guys we got seem to be less knucklehead and more play smart guys than Kuz and Poole. It may not be a huge factor but it's still a plus.

[Ed Wood]

Olynyk has been very nearly a 40% three point shooter for the last half decade and is a very unusually capable tertiary distributor for his position. He's definitely aging and isn't without his flaws either, but his skillset is too unique and his strengths are significant in areas that have become increasingly valued. The odds that he is a part of a value-positive future transaction seem very high and so it makes all the sense in the world to give him the chance to generate that opportunity.

[doclinkin]

Olynyk has been very nearly a 40% three point shooter for the last half decade and is a very unusually capable tertiary distributor for his position. He's definitely aging and isn't without his flaws either, but his skillset is too unique and his strengths are significant in areas that have become increasingly valued. The odds that he is a part of a value-positive future transaction seem very high and so it makes all the sense in the world to give him the chance to generate that opportunity.

My point. Sarr by inclination wants to be an outside shooting Big with passing chops. A finesse 5. If you want him to pick up tips on how to succeed in that then Olynyk is a better model than a Goliath like Valanciunas. Yes Jonas does both things. He’s also a huge sack of cement masquerading as a human being. He does things that Sarr can’t hope to imitate.

Olynyk will have trade value, play value, and also value as an object lesson on how to influence the game with more skill and smarts than talent. Sarr has talent. If he develops both then we have a really good player.

A player like Middleton isn’t going to teach and instruct. Pull you aside to give tips. He’s still fighting to keep his job as a starter. Prove he’s relevant for a contender to pick up. My read on a guy like Olynyk is that he may be looking to his next career on a coaching staff. Marcus Smart ditto, even if he had a few more years left. His fluke injuries have put him in position to watch the game more than play, recently. He may be thinking about what’s next. You see him often coaching on the bench. I think a guy like CJ may be hoping to join a front office. But he’s not self focused.

All of the players they added ended up in the league based on more guile than raw talent. They’re later in their careers with less to prove. Yes we can showcase them for trades. But all likely understand their role here is as veteran examples for the young talent coming up. And whether or not they think that’s their role guys like Bub and Key will make it so, since that’s the reports we got from last years vets who said they were barely off the plane before the young guys were grilling them for tips.

Stupid to me to think there’s even an argument whether young players can learn from teammates. That’s why young teams lose. They don’t know how to win. Surrounding them with the right sort of vets can help speed up the process. It’s my opinion these are the right sort of vets. Apparently that’s the opinion of the front office as well. Unless anyone thinks Dawkins won’t mention that when he holds a press conference after the trade goes through.

[DCZards]

The idea of "mentors" is hugely overrated on this board.

NBA players don't need "mentors" to teach them how to play basketball. Especially guys who were never anything more than an average NBA center!

You may be right that some of us here (myself included) are making too much of the mentor role that vets like Smart, CJ, Middleton and Kelly O. can play. But there is no doubt that youngins like Sarr, Tre, Bub, etc. can (and will) learn from being around solid, highly professional vets who can model, demonstrate and teach things—both on and off the court—that have helped them to have long and productive careers.

I’ve hated KO as well from his role in the Zards-Celts rivalry. But you gotta admit that the guy has scraped out quite a career for a player with limited athleticism and no elite bball skill. Someone like that clearly knows something about how to be a successful NBA player—and can teach Sarr and other Zards some of the techniques and tricks that has helped him along the way.

[joshuacf]

Olynyk will have trade value

No

A player like Middleton isn’t going to teach and instruct. Pull you aside to give tips. He’s still fighting to keep his job as a starter. Prove he’s relevant for a contender to pick up. My read on a guy like Olynyk is that he may be looking to his next career on a coaching staff.

So now you're the NBA player whisperer? You can read into Olynyk and Middelton's psyche and determine that Middelton won't "teach and instruct" but Olynyk will?

[joshuacf]

The idea of "mentors" is hugely overrated on this board.

NBA players don't need "mentors" to teach them how to play basketball. Especially guys who were never anything more than an average NBA center!

You may be right that some of us here (myself included) are making too much of the mentor role that vets like Smart, CJ, Middleton and Kelly O. can play. But there is no doubt that youngins like Sarr, Tre, Bub, etc. can (and will) learn from being around solid, highly professional vets who can model, demonstrate and teach things—both on and off the court—that have helped them to have long and productive careers.

I’ve hated KO as well from his role in the Zards-Celts rivalry. But you gotta admit that the guy has scraped out quite a career for a player with limited athleticism and no elite bball skill. Someone like that clearly knows something about how to be a successful NBA player—and can teach Sarr and other Zards some of the techniques and tricks that has helped him along the way.

I'm not disputing Olynyk's ability to play a role for an NBA team. I just think >90% of the development and training an NBA player is going to get comes from skills coaches or players that the NBA player chooses themselves. Doesn't have to be (and in most cases isn't) a guy on the player's own team.