With a 130-117 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Washington Wizards close out the 2025-26 season with 17 wins. This means they now go down in history as just the third team ever to win fewer than 20 wins in three consecutive seasons.
The first to do it was the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies, which didn’t crack 20 victories until their fifth season. From 1995-96 to 1997-98, the Grizzlies won 15, 14, and 19 games. They followed up that epic run of futility by going just 8-42 in their labor dispute-shortened fourth season. That’s a 13-win pace, by the way.
They moved to Memphis before season seven without surpassing 30 wins in a season. Their first winning record came in year nine during Hubie Brown’s first full season as coach. Brown was the sixth coach in Vancouver/Memphis history.
Team two was The Process Philadelphia 76ers, which from 2013-14 to 2015-16 won 19, 18, and 10 games. After three years of intentionally losing, Philadelphia won 28 and then topped 50 wins four times over the next decade. All that tanking got them to the playoffs in seven straight seasons — where they exited in the second round five times and the first round twice.
Washington has won 15, 18, and 17 the past three seasons. It’s been a brutal stretch, even for the masochists who comprise the long-time Wizards fan base. The 1-25 run — nearly a third of the season — has been an appalling exercise in strategic losing. To make sure they got the best lottery odds possible, they’ve been restricting minutes and sitting with “injuries” even the young players they hope will be part of their future.
It gets worse. Using strength-of-schedule adjusted scoring margin, this season culminates the worst three-year run in NBA history. Washington has been outscored by an average of 11.02 points per game (adjusted for strength of schedule). The second worst three-year span was by the expansion Grizzlies, which were still two points per game stronger than the Wizards. This season, Washington posted the sixth worst adjusted scoring margin in history. The 2024-25 was third worst. Ever.
The Wizards this season were 28th in offense and 30th in defense. On offense they were 21st in eFG%, 26th in turnover percentage, 27th in getting to the free throw line, and 21st in offensive rebounding. On defense: 27th in deFG%, 24th in forcing turnovers, 29th in sending opponents to the free throw line, and 30th defensive rebounding percentage.
The Wizards hope to resume competing next season. They traded for Trae Young and Anthony Davis, and they expect to add a talented rookie with a pick that can be no worse than fifth overall. History suggests the first foray into trying to win may not go as well as we’d hope. When hitting bottom this hard, it’s probably going to take some time to get good — if it happens at all.
The team acquired some veterans they think will help. The big challenge: the youngsters who have played in an environment where nothing really mattered will have to learn the effort, attention to detail, and execution required to be good in the NBA.
To close out the season, here’s a quick look at each player — a thought or two for each, a level set, and a PPA score. By “level set,” I mean that I’m giving my opinion of the player’s future NBA role based on currently available information. My opinion is formed with full understanding that many of these guys are young and have potential, and their futures are likely to be based more on the work they will do than how they’ve played so far.
PPA is short for “Player Production Average,” which is the overall production metric I developed. PPA is pace neutral, and includes accounting for role and defensive impact. In PPA, 100 is average and higher is better. Replacement level is 45.
A quick note: I use four positions — guards, wings, forwards, and centers — which better reflects the reality of how the game is played than the traditional point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, center paradigm.
The list below is sorted by total minutes played for the team this season.
Bub Carrington | G | 20 years old | PPA: 61 — Shot 40% from three-point range and still ended up with an offensive rating (points produced per 100 individual possessions) more than 10 points below average. He’s competitive and tough (played all 82 games for a second straight season) but is also an ineffective defender who plays smaller than his 6-4 frame. I didn’t like that his turnovers went up at a faster rate than his assists did. Level Set | 9th man.
Will Riley | F | 20 | PPA: 57 — Riley got a lot of buzz for how he’s played the past couple months. While I see the potential, I think the excitement has gotten ahead of his actual performance. His offensive efficiency (both for the season and for his “good” stretch) have loitered 6-7 points per 100 possessions below average. He has much work to do to get stronger. Level Set | 7th man.
Bilal Coulibaly | W | 21 | PPA: 101 — Good defender who showed signs of a pulse on offense in the latter part of the season. Opposing defenders had a difficult time staying in front of him when he decided to drive. But, he also shot 31.9% from three, which is something he must improve. Level Set | Starter.
Tre Johnson | G | 20 | PPA: 61 — Last year’s tanking prize, Johnson flashed “lethal shooter” potential. He also shot just 28.9% from deep after Feb. 1, and below 50% on twos for the season. My pre-draft evaluation questioned his athleticism and all-around dimension to his game. After watching him play in 60 NBA games, I have the same questions. Level Set | Off the bench shooter.
Kyshawn George | F | 22 | PPA: 87 — George took significant steps forward in per possession, scoring, rebounds, assists, usage and overall offensive efficiency. He also committed more turnovers and fouls on a per possession basis than he did as a rookie. While his offensive rating improved 7 points per 100 possessions from last season, it was still almost 9 points below average. He’s gotta stop fouling so much — it undercuts his defensive value and hurts the team defense by putting them in the penalty sooner. Level Set | 6th man.
Justin Champagnie | F | 24 | PPA: 105 — Always looks like he just woke up, even when he’s dunking on an opposing seven-footer or crashing for yet another offensive board. He was the team’s leading rebounder (well, Julian Reese and Marvin Bagley III had more on a per possession basis in relatively scant playing time), and he was one of the few Wizards this season with above average offensive efficiency. I think he could be a starter on a good team, though he may need to wait until Anthony Davis ages out, if he stays in Washington. Level Set | 7th man.
Alex Sarr | C | 20 | PPA: 132— Sarr improved a bunch from his rookie season on both ends of the floor. On defense, he was one of the league’s busiest and most effective rim protectors (partly because his perimeter teammates did such a bad job). On offense, he shot better on twos, threes, and free throws, showcased burgeoning fluidity in the post and improved his offensive rating by 11 points per 100 possessions. That ortg was still about 6 points below average, and the quality of his play drooped as the season wore on, but he took giant steps for a second-yer player. Level Set | Franchise player.
Jamir Watkins | W | 24 | PPA: 63— Watkins’ defense is what will keep him in the league next season. He MUST improve his shooting to stay beyond that. Level Set | Deep bench.
Anthony Gill | F/C | 33 | PPA: 67 — After 5+ seasons as the team dad, Gill got a steady diet of playing time over the last 20 or so games, and…he wasn’t bad. Level Set | Deep bench and future assistant (and then head) coach.
Sharife Cooper | G | 24 | PPA: 58 — Cooper has some craft and was fun to watch at times, but ultimately was too small to hold up defensively, doesn’t shoot well enough to scare defenses, and commits too many turnovers for his level of playmaking. Level Set | G League or overseas.
Tristan Vukcevic | C | 23 | PPA: 73— The big man can shoot and pass with some flare. He also commits a ton of turnovers (more than four per 100 team possessions), his rebounding is subpar for a big, and his slow feet and lack of anticipation makes him a weak defender who fouls a ton. Level Set | 10th man.
Jaden Hardy | G | 23 | PPA: 39 — His role seems to be instant offense, or at least instant shot attempts. Aside from inefficient offense, he offers little — at least so far. I liked flashes of what I saw, and he could be a good NBA player if he puts in the serious work. Level Set | 12th man.
Leaky Black | W | 26 | PPA: 54 — Poor defender who also struggles offensively. Level Set | G League or overseas.
Julian Reese | C | 22 | PPA: 90 — I wrote a bit about Reese in a recent critique of the Monumental broadcast. Suffice to say I’m lower on Reese’s future prospects than others. I like his competitiveness and effort. I don’t think he can play forward with his skill set and agility. He was productive in the limited minutes he got, though his better games came against teams that didn’t have genuine bigs available. When he went against quality size, he seemed to vanish. He’s undersized and under-skilled for a modern NBA center. Drew Gooden said he sees Reese as a “traditional power forward,” which might have been meaningful 15-20 years ago. I think Reese needs to get much stronger and savvier and become a competent shooter to stick around. I think there’s probably too much work to think he’ll get there anytime soon. Also, are we sure he’s really left-handed? Level Set | Deep bench or G League.
Cam Whitmore | F | 21 | PPA: 49— Whitmore’s career has had some twists. Expected to go in the top 10, he slid to 20th in the draft. The Houston Rockets gave him to the Wizards for essentially nothing after two seasons. His performance in Washington was up and down until he got benched for his attitude. While languishing, he suffered a deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder, which meant he had to miss the rest of the season for medical reasons. He has great athletic tools and some genuine skills, though he suffers from the worst case of tunnel vision I’ve ever seen. Level Set | Deep bench.
