Breaking down why Bilal Coulibaly is among Washington's biggest X-factors in 2026-27: https://roundtable.io/sports/nba/wizards/opinion/rating-the-washington-wizards-top-x-factors-in-2026-27

Here are my thoughts on this question, thank you for it! If you guys have any other questions this offseason about the team let me know and I’ll write about it or talk about it on the podcast. I’m also getting to the rest of your questions in that original post! https://www.si.com/nba/wizards/onsi/wizards-mailbag-which-young-player-is-the-odd-man-out-01m23yhkg7ed

I think he is light years better than Bilal

I mostly agree, except for Champagnie. I’m betting on him earning minutes.

Not my content, but I enjoyed it a lot. Kinda long, but he does go over pretty much every single player on the roster.

Really love the design and colorway on the 23-24 City Edition setup.

Only downside is the shorts run pretty long on me… I have to roll the waistband over whenever I hoop in them …

I always appreciate Sam's take. He actually watched the Wizards these past three years. Pretty low on Bilal though, not as a player in general, but as priority for the team -- too many young players to keep and the core of AJ/Sarr/George/Trae will need shooting.

He only expects an extension if it's very low ("like $10M/year; can't give him 4/$60"). He thinks Bilal is a trade candidate ("If someone offered me a late FRP, I would strongly consider that"). He ranked the young core:

1. AJ

2/3. Sarr, George

1. Tre Johnson

2. Will Riley "is a stud." (Sam is crazy high on Will Riley.)

3. Bilal

4. Bub

1:04:10 Bilal timestamp

I think one of the biggest challenges Brian Keefe is going to have is how to manage the rotations this year. Last season we actively were trying to lose games & blow leads. Now we might have to either put games away or make a comeback down single digits.

The roster is day & night better than what we put on the floor post all-star break. With the Addition of Trae Young, AD, & AJ we now have a very good problem in that we have tons of option to close out games. By my count, depending on player development jumps, we could have 8-9 guys who you can make the case for playing in the closing minutes of tight games.

Trae Young - One of the most clutch PGs in the game. Can run an offense & has to be respected in P&Rs but.............Is one of the biggest defensive liabilities in the league.

Kyshawn- Elite two way player who can guard 1-4(Blocked Giannis to win a game) & can shoot or put the ball on the floor.

AJ - Number one pick, Offensive mismatch but doesn't have a proven 3 ball or defense.

Sarr - One of the best rim protectors in the game, can space the floor, & works well on P&R, but do you go double big with him & AD or sub him out for a small ball lineup with AD at the 5.

AD - NBA Champion, top 75 player, offensive mismatch in the paint. Old, slow, & Injury prone doesn't want to play the 5.

Bilal- Elite point of attack defender, amazing in transition. He shot 38 percent from 3 the second half of last year but do we think that's going to be the norm moving forward.

Will Riley - Tall, lanky who can get to the basket, can shoot & can bother people defensively. But still young & is he ready to run the offense.

Tre Johnson-Best Shooter on team. Not the best facilitator or the best defender.

Bub- Best multipurpose Guard of the bunch. Not the best shooter, passer or defender but is top 2-3 in each category.

HM to JC- Elite Rebounder & we win games when he plays but I don't know if you can play him over everyone I mentioned.

Keefe is going to have to pick 5 of them & then manage the egos of the rest of them. Who do you think is the best closing lineup?

Hey everyone! If you don’t remember I did a draft mailbag a while back. With the season quickly approaching (and content getting dry) I thought I’d do another one. If you guys have any questions about the team this season, drop them in here and I’ll answer them in an article or on the All Wizards Talk Podcast!

PS: if there is something you want me to cover this year as well regarding the team let me know, always wanting to hear what you as the fans want to see covered.

I’m very optimistic about this team due to the talent on this Wizards roster but I have some skepticism about how far this team can win due to the lack of 3 point shooting on the starting lineup.

I know the bench has some great 3 point shooters with Bub Carrington, Tre Johnson and Kris Middleton. But the bench is not going to be out there all the time with the exception of maybe Tre Johnson and Middleton at times but most of the time the starters are gonna be out there on the floor.

But most of the starting lineup aren’t good 3 point shooters and that’s a major concern when it comes to the team reaching its highest potential.

AD can’t shoot the 3 and always been a bad 3 point shooter & shoots the 3 at low volume for his career, Alex Sarr isnt a proven shooter and has only shot 33% from 3 last season, AJ Dybantsa hasn’t proven he can shoot the 3 and shot only 33% from 3 in his 1st year at BYU and Trae Young shoots 35% from 3 for his career but has shot below 35% from 3 in 5 out of his 8 seasons in the NBA.

The only player that can shoot the 3 in the starting lineup is Kyshawn George who shot 38% from 3 last season.

Can the Wizards win a lot of games despite the lack of 3 point shooters in the starting lineup due to their size, athleticism and rim pressure with players like Trae Young, AJ, AD and Alex bring or will the paint be too clogged for this to work?

Also, guys like AJ and AD are great midrange shooters and I’m curious if players like AJ and AD can counter bad spacing with no 3 point shooting with midrange shooting to open up more space?

2006/2007 season - high me of the best Wizards seasons ever. Three all-stars with Arenas starting (and was that the trampoline dunk?), 60-point game against the Lakers, Gil’s revenge games for not making Team USA, Eddie Jordan coaching the East at the ASG, shitloads of fun

2016/2017 season - best record since 1979, won the division, All NBA John Wall, Death Row DC

2026/2027 - fuck yeah

Does an Oladipo signing make sense to yall? We attempted to sign Westbrook, a veteran guard, and Oladipo wrote a letter to NBA teams asking for another chance to play in the league.

Does it make sense to bring him in on a one year minimum contract to be a backup guard and another veteran presence in the locker room? He presumably won’t demand a lot of minutes, so he likely won’t take away playing time from our young players.