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

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Could Socrates play center or was he another wing?

Socrates was a point forward, Plato a shooting guard, and the Big Aristotle a center.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

I'll be searching for analogies between Wizards players and the Greeks.

In what ways is Bub like Socrates for the Wizards? Tre like Plato? Alex like Aristotle?

Stuff like this can hopefully distract us until it's time for the Commanders season.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Could Socrates play center or was he another wing?

I dunno but Big Sophocles was a center:

Watch on YouTube

CCJ woulda loved this kid. He's beefy.

I actually remember him.

There was not much in his bag but bignees.

[penbeast0]

Could Socrates play center or was he another wing?

Socrates was a point forward, Plato a shooting guard, and the Big Aristotle a center.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

I'll be searching for analogies between Wizards players and the Greeks.

In what ways is Bub like Socrates for the Wizards? Tre like Plato? Alex like Aristotle?

Stuff like this can hopefully distract us until it's time for the Commanders season.

Wrong Greeks. Tre is like Achilles the legendary hero (but hopefully not one to stay in his tent while his teammates went to war), Bilal like Ajax the Greater with power and prowess, Carrington like Odysseus the wily strategist, Sarr like Diomedes, etc.

[closg00]

With Tristan back, we now have at-least one other center, and he can only play up to 50 games unless converted to an NBA contract.

[Kanyewest]

Could Socrates play center or was he another wing?

I dunno but Big Sophocles was a center:

Watch on YouTube

CCJ woulda loved this kid. He's beefy.

I actually remember him.

There was not much in his bag but bignees.

His highlights against Team USA. I believe the last team to beat LeBron.

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=FIBABasketball

[doclinkin]

Putting aside the question of the vets, who starts and for how long, I’m intrigued by the chemistry possibilities of the young cats and long term projects.

The two players who will likely get the most time this year (health allowing, prayers up) will probably be:

Sarr. Only future big on the roster at that spot.

Tre. Filling in the spot of high usage young star with range.

CJ and KMidd will earn minutes early but the team won’t risk playing them too long and too heavy before they are shipped for value.

With Poole gone there’s opportunity for players to step up and claim the possessions of his 30% usage rate. None of the guys already on the roster yet showed the inclination to force the action and takeover.

That was Tre’s entire game in college. Keefe’s tendency has been to encourage players to do the thing that got them drafted. Tre will likely have green light to shoot from first tip.

Same way, I expect Cam will also be given room to play full throttle in attack mode. He’s not a ball handling lead guard though so he will get the ball if he can snatch a rebound or outrun the defense. Or get open in the half court.

We have unselfish players elsewhere who will feed him if he stays aggressive off the ball. They learned to play with Poole, I don’t think Cams shot hunting will be a problem. To the contrary. I think Cam becomes a crowd favorite in DC, and fires up teammates to match his aggression.

Coach BK may play Cam off the bench even late in the season if he is low effort on defense. But the minutes will be available. We need scorers.

We have role players and defenders elsewhere. Bilal and Key put in effort on D and will earn all the PT available in the role of utility players. They may scrap with each other for minutes, but are compatible since they each add a different flavor.

Kyshawn is not shy to shoot outside. We want to see his efficiency match his enthusiasm, but if the shot statrs hitting that’s a useful player. 2ndary playmaking, physical defense, as he gets stronger and taller even, I can see him sliding freely 2-4.

Bilal adds a lob threat. Improving handle and first step, passing. No question he also needs to gain confidence in his shot. And adding every skill he can on offense. But his on ball defense has proven to stymie the other teams’ high usage players. We need his athleticism, even if we need his skill level to catch up to it.

Bubs eventual role and upside is a big question mark. I expect his ranged shot to improve. But you also want to see him seize the opportunity left by Pooles departure. Playmaking. Taking his opportunities in the offense. Setting up teammates for easy scores. He has the attitude of leadership but you want him to make the plays as well.

He’ll earn minutes because against all odds he’s one of the better rebounders on the team. He looks a bit thicker and more sturdy, I’m curious if he adds to his game inside the arc, even if I’m not advocating that he does.

Learning to feed Whitmore and Bilal for easy scores and reward them for being aggressive will go a long way in his growth as a team leader. He needs a screen setting big/pick and role partner to unlock the next level. They may be waiting on Sarr to develop. Or Kyshawn to live on creatine, beef dinners, and roid rage. Both those two incidentally were setting good picks in summer league.

Anyway. I’m liking the rough sketches of this team. We’ve got 2 who are aggressive on offense. A few aggressive on defense. Connective players. Outside shot takers (if not yet shot makers) and a couple whose take no shxt attitude does not yet match their win loss record. But still you’d rather have it than not.

Other than Champagnie and maybe Watkins, Bagley, don’t have rebounding. They’re not an 82 game mismatch in our favor. JC plays bigger than his size is all. Lack of muscle up front though is our biggest weapon on the tank.

I think we will be more aggressive than effective still. But at times that will be fun to watch even in a loss. We may beat some teams who think they can coast on us.

[nate33]

With Smart gone, I think the roster will shake out as follows:

Starters:
PG McCollum (28)
SG Tre (30)
SF Bilal (28)
PF Whitmore (24)
C Sarr (30)

Second Unit:
PG Bub (20)
SG Kispert (18)
SF Middleton (20)
PF Kyshawn (24)
C Bagley (18)

Third String:
Dillon Jones*
Branham
Champagnie

Not Dressed/G-League:
AJ Johnson*
Riley

Two-way/G-League:
Vukcevic
Watkins
Martin

A couple of notes:

• I think they'll adopt an Indiana Pacers philosophy of playing high pace and using their bench to keep everyone fresh. Nobody will log more than 32 minutes and probably not more than 30, except maybe Tre Johnson.
  
  
• The forwards are all pretty much interchangeable. I'm assuming Whitmore is starting and Middleton is coming off the bench so that there is one grizzled vet with the starters (McCollum) and one with the second unit, but Middleton might start instead. Either way, it doesn't really matter. I expect Bilal, Whitmore, Kyshawn and Middleton to split all the time at the forward position, with nobody getting more than 30 minutes and everyone getting at least 18. I'm guessing Middleton will be significantly load-managed, but obviously that's going to depend on a medical evaluation.
  
  
• I think there will be an interesting competition between AJ and Dillon Jones for who dresses for games and who gets sent to the G-League. They both will essentially fill the role of 3rd string PG, because they're our best ball handlers that aren't already in the starting lineup or 2nd unit. Jones is older and looks like a better ball-handler at the moment, so I think he gets the spot. He's also burly enough to fill in as an emergency power forward if we need some beef at that spot against a guy like Julius Randle. AJ has enough potential that they will probably rather have him getting reps in the G-League than sitting at the end of the bench.
  
  
• Champagnie is definitely as good as the rest of our forwards, but I think he'll have to take a back seat for a little while early in the season as we try and figure out what Bilal, Whitmore and Kyshawn can do. Such is the plight of a guy on a vet-minimum contract. He'll get into the rotation once there's an injury.
  
  
• The lineup would definitely be much more balanced if we could cut Branham and add a vet PF like Gill. I don't know if they want to spend $2.5M on such an insignificant move though.

[dckingsfan]

With Smart gone, I think the roster will shake out as follows:

Starters:
PG McCollum (28)
SG Tre (30)
SF Bilal (28)
PF Whitmore (24)
C Sarr (30)

Second Unit:
PG Bub (20)
SG Kispert (18)
SF Middleton (20)
PF Kyshawn (24)
C Bagley (18)

Third String:
Dillon Jones*
Branham
Champagnie

Not Dressed/G-League:
AJ Johnson*
Riley

Two-way/G-League:
Vukcevic
Watkins
Martin

A couple of notes:

• I think they'll adopt an Indiana Pacers philosophy of playing high pace and using their bench to keep everyone fresh. Nobody will log more than 32 minutes and probably not more than 30, except maybe Tre Johnson.
  
  
• The forwards are all pretty much interchangeable. I'm assuming Whitmore is starting and Middleton is coming off the bench so that there is one grizzled vet with the starters (McCollum) and one with the second unit, but Middleton might start instead. Either way, it doesn't really matter. I expect Bilal, Whitmore, Kyshawn and Middleton to split all the time at the forward position, with nobody getting more than 30 minutes and everyone getting at least 18. I'm guessing Middleton will be significantly load-managed, but obviously that's going to depend on a medical evaluation.
  
  
• I think there will be an interesting competition between AJ and Dillon Jones for who dresses for games and who gets sent to the G-League. They both will essentially fill the role of 3rd string PG, because they're our best ball handlers that aren't already in the starting lineup or 2nd unit. Jones is older and looks like a better ball-handler at the moment, so I think he gets the spot. He's also burly enough to fill in as an emergency power forward if we need some beef at that spot against a guy like Julius Randle. AJ has enough talent that they will probably rather have him playing in the G-League than sitting at the end of the bench.
  
  
• Champagnie is definitely as good as the rest of our forwards, but I think he'll have to take a back seat for a little while early in the season as we try and figure out what Bilal, Whitmore and Kyshawn can do. Such is the plight of a guy on a vet-minimum contract. He'll get into the rotation once there's an injury.
  
  
• The lineup would definitely be much more balanced if we could cut Branham and add a vet PF like Gill. I don't know if they want to spend $2.5M on such an insignificant move though.

Add-in the over/under on games played

McCollum - 60
Middleton - 40
Bagley - 45

And there will be plenty of minutes for players like Vuk. And of course, this FO will try desperately to trade McCollum and Middleton.

And next year after folks get waived or not resigned. Maybe one or two of the youngsters will be kept that I think will be waived

PG Bub

SG Tre
SG Kispert

SF Bilal
SF Champagnie
SF Jones
SF Riley

PF Whitmore
PF Kyshawn

C Sarr

[closg00]

No takers for Corey, oh-well

[payitforward]

Based on...? Has a window closed?

[nate33]

No takers for Corey, oh-well

I'm still totally fine with Kispert on the roster. It's not like we desperately need to have $101M in cap room next summer instead of our projected $88M. You gotta pay someone, so why not a useful role player with a flat contract that looks better each year in a rising salary cap environment?

If someone wants to give us some future assets for Kispert, sure, I'd trade him. But I don't see any reason to just try and dump him. Heck, if he just has a bounce-back year where he looks like the 2023-24 Kispert, he'll probably have substantially positive value as a trade asset.

[payitforward]

Could Socrates play center or was he another wing?

Socrates was a point forward, Plato a shooting guard, and the Big Aristotle a center.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

I'll be searching for analogies between Wizards players and the Greeks.

In what ways is Bub like Socrates for the Wizards? Tre like Plato? Alex like Aristotle?

Stuff like this can hopefully distract us until it's time for the Commanders season.

Wrong Greeks. Tre is like Achilles the legendary hero (but hopefully not one to stay in his tent while his teammates went to war), Bilal like Ajax the Greater with power and prowess, Carrington like Odysseus the wily strategist, Sarr like Diomedes, etc.

Missed this -- good for u penbeast, for knowing your Iliad characters!

[dobrojim]

Champagnie creates a dilemma. If our goal was to win
and challenge for the playoffs, he makes winning plays
and would challenge for significant minutes. But we
can't afford to win too much. Our ceiling for wins is
to stay no better than 4th worst or risk the wrath of
the lottery gods. It's weird to consider our worst
fear may be that 1-2 or god forbid, more of our 2nd3rd years guys, or Tre perhaps, takes a major leap
and we win enough to cost us our FRP. I think
ultimately Ky and Bilal have higher ceilings than JC
but it's almost because of how he fell in our laps that
he somehow is undervalued and overlooked.

Right now JC is net positive better player than BC/KG.
(And he's closer to being a finished product)
Having said that, it's obviously speculative. And who
knows how good JC might eventually be. It's just weird
having to be careful about the timing of your improvement.

[payitforward]

Champagnie is a terrific NBA player; you couldn't ask for a better example of an "elite role player" ala, for example, Josh Hart. He should start at the 3.

[doclinkin]

Champagnie is a terrific NBA player; you couldn't ask for a better example of an "elite role player" ala, for example, Josh Hart. He should start at the 3.

… if we want to win.

Which we don’t yet.

JC needs fewer ‘developmental’ minutes than the rooks and upside players. He already is good at what he does. I’m fine with him coming off the bench to beat up on backups and keep us in the game.

Kyshawn, Bilal, Whitmore all have a steeper learning curve & gap between their potential vs production. I don’t see JC as the guy who displaces them. KMidd and Kispert are going to play to be showcased for trade. I think JC is caught behind the numbers game early in the year and once again shows up in the 2nd half.

[closg00]

Nowhere else to put this, he's got the young Wiz core as a Tier-3 young core, interesting content for debate.

Watch on YouTube

[doclinkin]

I think Tristan Vukcevic has the chance for a breakout year.

I don’t see him on the roster for the Serbian team (nor Greek, Italian, or Sweden — all of which he’s eligible for). With the extra time I’d like to see him spend every minute he can in the weight room. Or Flexibility. Yoga training. He either needs to get quicker in lateral movement or thicker and tougher in the paint.

The latter probably makes more sense. Easier to develop strength than quick twitch speed. Given that Sarr has the perimeter skills to guard the outside it’d be good to develop Vuk as an interior defender and rebounder. He’s actually put on some good muscle since Europe. Shows in his rebounding. Trending in this direction would make him a useful player. That and commitment/focus on defense.

Especially since his skills are otherwise nice. Passing. Shooting. Read of the floor. In limited opportunities he’s begun developing a surprising game. If he could see himself as a center on defense and a perimeter guy on offense I’d take the compromise. Previously he’d played as if defense was someone else’s job. Its what got him benched In Euro play and from what I could tell in the g league. His improvement on this end was good to see.

Love it if he could develop a screen assist game too. Smart play off the ball on offense. Would help players like Bub, Trey, Riley who only need a sliver of space to hit a shot.

Bagley is penciled in as back up, but I think a focused Vuk could force the issue to take those minutes. I expect if he can play both next to Sarr and in relief, he could easily earn a permanent roster spot instead of a 2 way deal.

Bub
Whitmore/Riley
Champagnie/Whitmore
George
Vuk bulked up and in the paint.

Is a bench line with a certain kind of swagger. Outside shooting. Passing. Ball handling. Length. Creativity and competitiveness.Aggressive. Unafraid. Fun to watch.

Outside shooting all around opens roads for Whit/Champ to attack the middle. Five out play draws the center out of the way. Relay passing finds the open shooter. Gang rebounding collects long bounces.

Sub Middleton in for Riley/Whitmore and you actually might win the minutes against back ups some nights.

[doclinkin]

On Whitmore I think he should be given the greenest of green lights. Streamline everything so he understands that the instant he touches the ball he should attack. No dribbling in place. No hesitation. And otherwise his only job should be to stay in motion to get open.

Let everyone else decide when he should get the ball. Knowing his only job on that end is as a weapon.

Likewise on defense I’d give him the job of locking down one player. Bully them when they have the ball. Deny them the catch. Punish picks and screens to stick them tight. Track the player not the ball. Like many one-on-one legends I think Whitmore loses track of team concepts. He’s going to have a blast in the Big 3 when he graduates from the NBA. A baby Mike Beasley.

In this respect Whitmore reminds me of a pitbull. Single minded. He’s not a circus poodle. No tricks. Just focus his talent on the things he’s good at. Maximize that. If that makes him a 6th man at best let him be a nasty 6th man. I think we can get the best effort energy and effect out of him if we just set him loose to wreak havoc and not try to force him into something he’s not.

[AFM]

I don’t see him on the roster for the Serbian team (nor Greek, Italian, or Sweden — all of which he’s eligible for). With the extra time I’d like to see him spend every minute he can in the weight room. Or Flexibility. Yoga training. He either needs to get quicker in lateral movement or thicker and tougher in the paint.

I thought he was playing on the Serbian team, did that change?

Read on Twitter

[doclinkin]

I don’t see him on the roster for the Serbian team (nor Greek, Italian, or Sweden — all of which he’s eligible for). With the extra time I’d like to see him spend every minute he can in the weight room. Or Flexibility. Yoga training. He either needs to get quicker in lateral movement or thicker and tougher in the paint.

I thought he was playing on the Serbian team, did that change?

Read on Twitter

Right. Dunno. Maybe the rosters are not up to date. Didn’t see him confirmed anywhere. Maybe he’s trying out but they haven’t yet cut down?