The Washington Wizards are 4-6 and carrying a three-game losing streak into the week, which is not the kind of November anyone around the team had in mind after the softer opening stretch. The early slide has not come down to one clean explanation. It’s been more of a collection of young players failing to hold up their end as the games have tightened.
Alex Sarr is still working through the adjustment of playing next to other bigs. Tre Johnson’s shot has been off more often than not.
Bub Carrington has yet to show much beyond the occasional perimeter finish. Will Riley is out of the rotation.
Bilal Coulibaly has slipped from the starting-caliber level he once seemed to be approaching, and that has opened the door for AJ Dybantsa to get plenty of chances on the wing.
In the middle of all that, Kyshawn George has emerged as the one returning prospect already beating some of the bigger expectations placed on him. He needed a few games to settle in with a more crowded starting group, but his growth as a self-creating scorer at multiple levels has shown up at exactly the right time for a roster still trying to find itself.
At first, it looked like the extra offensive responsibility might be too much. After making more than 38% of his 3-pointers as a sophomore, George was down at 19% while averaging 3.8 turnovers and 3.6 personal fouls per night. The frustration was visible as he tried to step in as Trae Young’s secondary playmaker.
Then, around the time Dybantsa arrived, George started to find his rhythm. He kept the driving poise, the ability to draw contact and the pull-up midrange game, and the missing outside shot finally showed up. He hit four threes in Washington’s win over the Charlotte Hornets a little over a week ago.
Since that game, George has been rolling from deep. Over his last five, he has gone from 15.8 points per game to 21.2 while shooting 47.4% from 3 on 7.6 attempts a night. His assists have climbed, his turnovers have dropped, and even his fouls have come down a bit.
That matters because George’s game is more than catch-and-shoot work or a simple pull-up package. At 6-foot-8, he has the size, passing feel and pace to get into the paint and pressure defenses in a way that gives Washington a different kind of answer next to Young. His handle and touch around the rim let him function as a real secondary creator.
The Wizards’ decision to take him in the 2024 draft is looking better by the week. He was something of a mystery in the prospect conversation, but Washington bet on his on-ball flashes and physical tools after already adding Sarr and Carrington. That swing is aging well as those other draft classmates settle into more complementary roles.
George’s recent stretch has also stood out because of how little help Washington has gotten from beyond the arc. The Wizards are second-to-last in the league in 3-point attempts at 31.5 and second-to-last in makes at 9.5. That kind of shooting profile is hard to survive with for long, especially when opponents can see the math coming.
Washington can point to post play from Davis and downhill pressure from Dybantsa, but the offense still has to deal with the reality of trading twos for threes. That puts even more on George, whose above-the-break shooting has become especially important with so many non-spacers around him.
Young and Johnson should have stronger stretches ahead, but the group around them still includes Davis, Sarr, Coulibaly, Deandre Ayton and, for now, Dybantsa - players who do not scare defenses much when they are 25 feet from the rim. That leaves George in the role of bailout option far too often.
He has also added value on the other end. With his frame and versatility, plus 14 blocks through 10 games, he has become the clearest long-term two-way piece in the organization’s top tier of prospects, even while doing it without steady offensive support from Young or the top-billed rookie. If the rest of the roster eventually thins into something more ready to compete, George looks like the kind of player who can help carry the next step.
In Other News...
Anthony Davis Just Exposed A Bigger Wizards Problem
Anthony Davis put together a huge night against Detroit, piling up 44 points and 13 rebounds, but the Wizards still walked away with a loss that said as much about their own issues as it did about the opponent. Washington had enough individual firepower to keep the game interesting at times, yet the overall flow never really tilted in its favor as the Pistons moved the ball more cleanly and played with far better rhythm.
For the Wizards, the frustrating part is that this was not just a case of one star taking over. The offense stalled too often, possessions broke down, and the lack of cohesion showed up in the final margin. Even with Davis carrying the scoring load, Washington could not match Detroits team execution, leaving another reminder that the bigger problem goes well beyond one matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Davis Gave The Wizards History But Not The Answer
Anthony Davis gave Washington a rare offensive burst against Detroit, pouring in 44 points and 30 before halftime in a game that briefly felt like it might bend in the Wizards favor. It was the kind of scoring outburst that puts a player in unusual company, the sort of half that reminds a franchise how few times it has seen that level of shot-making in recent years.
Still, the bigger picture did not change for Washington. The Wizards fell 122-111 and slipped to 4-7 in the Eastern Conference, leaving Davis big night as history without the result the team needed. For all the individual fireworks, the unanswered question remains the same one Washington keeps carrying from game to game: how to turn those flashes into something that lasts. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Davis Couldnt Cover Up The Wizards Biggest Problem
Anthony Davis gave the Wizards exactly what they needed on the scoring end against Detroit, turning in a dominant night that briefly made the offense look capable of carrying the load. It was his first 40-plus-point performance since his Lakers days, and the efficiency was hard to miss, with Davis finishing 16-of-20 from the field while providing the kind of star-level production Washington has been searching for.
But the bigger issue around him never went away, and the loss to the Pistons only sharpened it. Washington fell 122-111 for its fourth straight defeat, with turnovers and uneven support from the rest of the roster once again undercutting a strong individual performance. Trae Young and the bench both had stretches where the offense stalled, leaving Davis to do far too much of the heavy lifting for a team still looking for a more reliable formula. [Read more 🡒]