The Washington Wizards came home still carrying the weight of a five-game losing streak, and the trip back to D.C. didn’t do much to lighten the load. The skid is now six after another rough night against the Detroit Pistons, and the same bench problems that have been dragging Washington through its early 4-8 start showed up again when it mattered most.
Head coach Brian Keefe made a point of shaking up the rotation after the latest loss to Detroit, adjusting how he staggered his starters. But the second unit mostly stayed the same, and that’s where the damage kept piling up.
Keefe has continued leaning on Tre Johnson, Bilal Coulibaly, Deandre Ayton and Bub Carrington off the bench, even using all four together at one point alongside Trae Young, and that group once again struggled badly against the Pistons. Just days after those reserves combined for three buckets apiece in Detroit, they were part of another costly collapse in a double-overtime game.
The box score offered a few signs of life, at least on the surface. Coulibaly was back in the lineup after a brief injury-management stretch, and Johnson finished with 13 points. Both saw extended run in the overtime periods, with more minutes coming their way after Anthony Davis and Kyshawn George ran into foul trouble.
But the production still didn’t come close to matching the opportunity. Carrington went 1/6 in another quiet outing, and Ayton played fewer than nine minutes while Davis and Alex Sarr provided the more dynamic big-man scoring. Washington needed more shooting and more spacing, especially from the bench, and it didn’t get it.
Johnson and Coulibaly combined to shoot 7/19, and neither was able to tilt the game in Washington’s favor. Coulibaly’s activity around the rim helped some, and Johnson’s perimeter threat was there in theory, but both finished with box score plus-minus marks of -20 or worse, the lowest numbers on the team.
Johnson’s slow start has become a real concern. The Wizards are asking a lot from last summer’s top prospect, but when open corner looks aren’t falling and trailing chances aren’t being punished, the offense keeps exposing how thin the team’s self-creation really is.
Keefe deserves credit for benching Ayton and continuing to feed Sarr and Davis after their 30-plus-point performances, but Johnson could use more help too. A few designed looks his way might go a long way, especially if the goal is to get him shooting with some confidence rather than waiting for the ball to swing around to him.
Will Riley is another young player who merits patience, even if he’s getting less of it than Johnson. He checked in for his usual short second-quarter stint and knocked down a three, only his second of the season. Riley brings length and passing ability that give him a different look on the floor, but that wasn’t enough to earn him more minutes over the next four stretches.
For now, Keefe’s options are thinning out. Riley is still too raw, Khris Middleton doesn’t appear physically ready to help at this point in his career, and Tre Mann and Anthony Gill aren’t playing. With the bench offering so little, the Wizards are running out of answers while the losses keep stacking up through November.
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Wizards Loss Put Alex Sarrs Role Into Sharper Focus
Alex Sarr gave the Wizards one of the few bright spots in their loss to Detroit, and it was the kind of performance that can sharpen the conversation around a young players place in the rotation. His scoring burst and work on the glass stood out in a game Washington otherwise spent chasing, offering a reminder that even amid the losses, there are still development markers worth tracking closely.
Sarrs night also put a spotlight on how he is being used right now, because his role has not always matched the impact he can have when he is involved early and often. For a Wizards team still sorting through its long-term pieces, the question is no longer just whether Sarr can produce, but whether Washington can find a way to put him in position to do it more consistently. [Read more 🡒]
Wizards May Be Reaching A Breaking Point With Deandre Ayton
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Brian Keefe has been trimming Aytons minutes while the staff looks for better production elsewhere, and the center rotation is starting to feel like a moving target. Washington has leaned more into Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr at the five, which only adds to the uncertainty around where Ayton fits if the current slide continues. For a team trying to reset on the fly, the next decision on him may say as much about the direction of the roster as it does about the player himself. [Read more 🡒]
Wizards May Need To Make A Tough Call On Bilal Coulibaly
Bilal Coulibalys second season has not delivered the offensive leap the Wizards hoped for, and the early returns have only sharpened the questions around his long-term fit in Washington. The young wing has struggled to find consistent shooting rhythm, and the broader concern is that his development has stalled enough for the front office to start weighing difficult options sooner than expected.
With the trade deadline approaching, the possibility of moving Coulibaly is now part of the conversation as the Wizards assess whether his skill set matches where the roster is headed. It is the kind of decision that says as much about Washingtons timeline as it does about the player himself, and it leaves the team with a delicate choice on a former first-round piece who still has value around the league. [Read more 🡒]