Taking a look at the young Washington Wizards Summer League Team impressive performance and who has a chance to make the make the 2026-27 roster.
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Our nation’s capital looks like it is on the upswing in the basketball department and some of that may be due to the Washington Wizards Summer League talent. It is no secret that the Wizards have struggled to make the playoffs since the days of John Wall and Bradley Beal. In fact, they have been one of the worst franchises in the entire NBA. All of a sudden though the team brought in Trae Young, Anthony Davis and drafted AJ Dybantsa, putting together one of the more interesting lineups in the East. That hasn’t stopped them from taking closer looks at some of their other young players in summer league, like Reese Beekman, Seth Trimble and Will Riley.
The play of the Washington Wizards Summer League has been one of the stories of the offseason, as they will have some difficult decisions to make when it comes to cutting down the roster.
Young Talent Impresses for Washington Wizards Summer League
While it is tough to judge performances in summer league, due to the fact that some players only player for a handful of games, it is very encouraging as a Wizards fan seeing that three of the four top scorers don the red uniform. Tre Johnson (26 points per game in one game), AJ Dybantsa (25 PPG in two games) and Will Riley (25 PPG in two games) all sit behind Meleek Thomas for scoring leaders in Las Vegas.
We know that Trae Young and Anthony Davis are going to be elite veteran talents in Washington D.C. Add those two to a young core of Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly and Kyshawn George and all of a sudden it looks like Washington can compete in the East. With the three-headed moster of Dybantsa, Johnson and Riley, who have all exceed expectations in their limited time during summer league, Wizards fans have a lot to be excited about for the upcoming season.
What Washington Wizards Summer League Players Can Make the 2026-27 Roster?
As I stated before, the Washington Wizards seem to be headed in the right direction as they look to get back to the playoffs. A lot of that potential comes from the current makeup of the roster. When looking at the projected roster, it appears that Washington has 12 players that are locked into a roster spot: Trae Young, Kyshawn George, AJ Dybantsa, Anthony Davis, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, Tre Johnson, Bilal Coulibaly, Justin Champaigne, Deanadre Ayton, Will Riley and Khris Middleton. At a glance, that core 12 looks like a great mix of youth and veteran talent with championship experience from both Davis and Middleton. With 12 spots filled, that leaves three open spots on a regular contract and three two-way contracts. Washington currently has Julian Reese, Jamir Watkins and Felix Okpara on two-way deals, so in total that leaves one spot left on the roster.
| Position | 1st String | 2nd String | 3rd String | 4th String/Two-Way |
| Point Guard | Trae Young | Bub Carrington | Sharife Cooper | |
| Shooting Guard | Kyshawn George | Tre Johnson | Will Riley | Jamir Watkins (two-way) |
| Small Forward | AJ Dybantsa | Bilal Coulibaly | Khris Middleton | |
| Power Forward | Anthony Davis | Justin Champaigne | Julian Reese (two-way) | |
| Center | Alex Sarr | Deandre Ayton | Tristan Vukcevic | Felix Okpara (two-way) |
Given how they have played in NBA Summer League, the Wizards need to take an extra look at Reece Beekman. During his time at the University of Virginia, Beekman was lauded for his strong defensive efforts, winning ACC Defensive Player of the Year in both the 2022-23 season and the 2023-24 season. With Head Coach Brian Keefe putting a strong emphasis on defensive disruptors, Beekman just needs to be able to hit threes consistently when he gets time on the court. With other names like RJ Nembhard, Seth Trimble and Chris Livingston on the roster, there is talent, but it does not really feel like there is enough to be ready for real NBA minutes. With Cam Whitmore still floating around, the point may be mute, but if it was up to me, Beekman’s defensive skills should put him towards the top of the Wizards Summer League roster players that can make the jump.
