3 players Wizards must trade to clean up roster for Anthony Davis, Trae Young era

The Washington Wizards finished the 2025-26 season with the worst record in the NBA, winning just 17 out of their 82 games. Plenty of Wizards core players took strides, with Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George establishing themselves as long-term keepers for the team, and the front office took the opportunity to surround those young players with veteran stars who should take them into the playoff conversation next season.

Say what you want about Trae Young and Anthony Davis, but it’s hard to view the Wizards as anything other than huge winners in the trades that brought in those two former All-Stars despite their ongoing injury problems.

Young was literally acquired for CJ McCollum, an impending free agent, and Corey Kispert, a man who’s gotten lost in the shuffle of the Wizards’ youth movement. Meanwhile, the team acquired Davis for Khris Middleton, Marvin Bagley III, two uninspiring first-round picks (one from OKC and a heavily-protected one from the Golden State Warriors), and three second-round picks, which is an outright steal considering the caliber of player Davis is when healthy.

And with the Wizards tanking for the majority of the second half of the 2025-26 season, they are likely to bring in another blue-chip prospect. Things are looking up for the team based in the nation’s capital, and it’s worth assessing which players are worth keeping for the Wizards as they are about to run into logjams in multiple positions.

Wizards’ core players are safe from the trade market

Safe from trade: Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Anthony Davis, Trae Young, Bilal Coulibaly, Tre Johnson, Will Riley

Sarr and George are the crown jewel pieces of the Wizards’ rebuild thus far; Sarr is one of the best rim protectors in the NBA already, and his offensive game is only growing by the game. This past season, he averaged 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.0 blocks, and that was with him being a part-time player for the second half of the season.

Meanwhile, George’s all-around game blossomed this past season, and there were stretches were he emerged as the Wizards’ lead ballhandler. George was able to scale up his play with increased responsibility, but he profiles as the perfect complementary piece around Young and Davis — a 6’8″ wing with secondary ballhandling and playmaking capabilities while being able to make open shots consistently from beyond the arc.

There is no way the Wizards are going to be trading away Davis or Young heading into next season barring a huge change of heart from either star. But both of those veterans have expressed excitement about teaming up with each other on the Wizards, and a clean bill of health would make Washington a team to look out for in the East.

They have all the makings of a dramatic turnaround of a season, and their core is growing enough to the point where they can even manage rest days from either star.

Coulibaly and Johnson are auto-includes in the Wizards’ roster moving forward. The former is a low-usage, defense-first player who is very versatile on the defensive end, and he gives Washington another insurance policy for Young’s lack of contributions on that end of the floor.

Johnson showed flashes of being a brilliant scorer in the NBA, and as a sophomore, he’ll be tasked to lead the team’s offense coming off the bench most nights — a role he’s sure to flourish in. It’s also a bit daft if the Wizards give up on him this early in his career.

The last member of the Wizards roster who should be safe from trade talks is Riley. Riley had the unenviable task of being a lead guy on a depleted Wizards team for the second half of the season, and all he did was flash his considerable potential.

A 6’9″ wing who can defend multiple positions is always a necessity for contending teams to have, and he’s only 20 years of age. Moreover, his efficiency should increase as his role scales down.

Will the Wizards keep these players?

Up in the air: Justin Champagnie, Bub Carrington, Tristan Vukcevic, Jamir Watkins

Champagnie is the kind of role player any team would want. He can shoot from deep (perhaps on better percentage even when placed alongside better teammates) and his disruptiveness on defense is sometimes an underrated part of his game. His contract is extremely cheap as well ($5.6 million combined for the next two seasons). He’s the closest to being safe from a trade in this group of players.

Carrington should also be safe from trade. He still has two years left on his rookie contract, and he’ll be the trusted backup for Young. He did shoot over 40 percent from deep last season, making him a good piece to have on a better Wizards team.

Him on a tradeable contract while being in a replaceable position could theoretically make him a trade candidate, but it’s unlikely the Wizards get a backup point guard upgrade over Carrington who’s making a similar amount of money.

Vukcevic and Watkins are on cheap contracts and they flashed good play with the opportunity they got during the Wizards’ tanking.

Washington should scour the trade market for these 3

Trade candidates: Cam Whitmore, D’Angelo Russell, Jaden Hardy

Whitmore’s season ended prematurely, but he did not exactly make the most of the opportunity he got with the rebuilding Wizards. His efficiency from deep dipped below 30 percent, and while his athleticism means he’ll always get a shot in the NBA, he hasn’t yet put together all the tools through three seasons in the NBA.

And with Whitmore being in the final year of his rookie contract, Washington has to at least be thinking of what they can get in return for him.

There is no way Russell will be declining his player option for next season after enduring a nightmare 2025-26 campaign. He’ll be making $6 million next year, and perhaps another team would want to get the privilege of paying him after going through the worst season of his career to this point.

Hardy was a trooper during the Wizards’ final games of the season, but he still has two years left on his contract and the Wizards might be better off allocating the $12 million over the next two years (team option for the 2027-28 season) elsewhere considering the team’s guard depth.

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