The Washington Wizards have a bench that should be causing problems for opponents, not getting buried by them.
That’s what made Wednesday’s home loss to the Atlanta Hawks so jarring. Washington’s reserves were outscored 52-16, a gap that helped turn a game that was still hanging around at times into a 15-point defeat.
On paper, this second unit has enough juice to be one of the league’s more dangerous groups. In practice, it hasn’t come close.
The roster construction says one thing. The production says another.
Will Dawkins has assembled a group that includes veterans Khris Middleton and Deandre Ayton, former Wizards lottery picks Tre Johnson and Bilal Coulibaly, and promising young pieces like Will Riley, Bub Carrington and Tre Mann. Ayton has been solid, but the larger issue is that the bench hasn’t functioned like a real unit yet. It’s a collection of talent that still looks disconnected from one possession to the next.
Head coach Brian Keefe pointed to the early-season nature of the problem after the loss.
"It’s early in the season. We’re playing with different combinations, different groups. I got great faith in our guys.”
That faith may be warranted, but the numbers from Wednesday were hard to ignore.
The clearest path to fixing it might be adding structure. Right now, the Wizards’ second unit looks like it could use a steady backup ball handler to organize the whole thing.
That could mean using Kyshawn George more with the reserves, or it could mean finding that player elsewhere. Either way, the idea is the same: someone to make the group make sense.
A facilitator could help unlock the rest of the bench’s tools. He’d know when to get the ball to Johnson or Carrington from deep, how to use Ayton as a lob threat in the pick-and-roll, and how to take advantage of Coulibaly cutting to the rim.
The pieces are there. What’s missing is the hand that ties them together.
That’s the part worth watching as the season goes on.
In Other News...
Alex Sarr Faces An Early Wizards Question He Didn't Create
Early in the 2026-27 season, the Wizards are still sorting out who gets the first look and who has to wait for the next one. Even with multiple players capable of scoring in double figures, the offense has not settled into a clean hierarchy, and Alex Sarr has been one of the biggest examples of that adjustment. The young seven-footer, taken second overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, has seen his role change as Washington tries to fit together a new mix around Anthony Davis and Trae Young.
For Sarr, the transition has meant doing more of the quiet work that does not always show up in a box score. He is being asked to stay engaged off the ball, create spacing and take advantage of the chances that come his way rather than serving as a central hub every possession. The question for Washington is whether that approach can unlock the kind of impact it needs from him while he continues to work through some early issues on the glass and with his shooting touch. [Read more 🡒]
Wizards Suddenly Have A Trae Young Question Nobody Expected
Trae Young has long carried the reputation of being a defensive target, the kind of point guard opponents try to hunt because of his size and the strain that can come with covering him for long stretches. But Washington has managed to keep its broader defensive identity intact even with Young in the starting lineup, which is not the sort of development many would have expected when the season began.
The bigger question now is how sustainable that setup really is, because the Wizards have found ways to hide Youngs weaknesses without asking him to be something he is not. The defensive backbone around him has been strong enough to keep the group functioning, and that gives Washington a chance to keep leaning into Youngs offense while trusting the rest of the roster to handle the heavier lifting on the other end. [Read more 🡒]
Kyshawn George Is Giving The Wizards A Bigger Offensive Question
Kyshawn Georges recent stretch has given the Wizards a different kind of offensive conversation, one that goes beyond simple development curves. Over his last two games, he has looked more assertive as a scorer and more comfortable as a playmaker, showing the kind of growth Washington has been waiting to see from a young wing trying to carve out a larger role.
The encouraging part is not just the production, but the way it has come with better efficiency and a stronger feel for creating for others. There is still a consistency piece for George to solve, and the next step may depend on how he handles bigger responsibilities when the offense runs through him more often, especially if he continues to find chances alongside Trae Young. [Read more 🡒]