Kyshawn George promises ‘best is yet to come’ amid Wizards’ 10-33 campaign

WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s one thing for the young building blocks on the Washington Wizards to have a good game, and it’s another to do so the same day Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger announced that the front office will evaluate which players it will keep over the next six to 18 months as the team progresses in its rebuild. That’s what second-year wing Kyshawn George and rookie sharpshooter Tre Johnson did in Thursday night’s 107-97 home loss to the Denver Nuggets.

George cracked a joke postgame when asked to evaluate where Washington’s rebuild is at right now.

I had a funny postgame exchange with Kyshawn George last night (thread):

Me: How would you evaluate where the Wizards’ rebuilding process is at right now?

Ky: So you’re basically asking if me, Alex and Bub are doing a good job?

Me: That’s part of it, but just in general pic.twitter.com/IjIlgGQMA9

— Joshua Valdez (@joshvaldez100) January 23, 2026

“So you’re basically asking if me, Alex [Sarr], and Bub [Carrington] are doing a good job?” the 22-year-old asked. After the reporters and staffers laughed, he gave his analysis.

“I think we’re good, I think we’re starting to figure stuff out. We’ve been in a couple close games, we keep our heads level with the game going on,” he said. “We’re able to fight back after other teams go on runs and respond with a run of our own. I think we’re trending in the right direction, and I hope and think that people see the progress. The best is yet to come.”

The Wizards had their third straight competitive performance against a playoff-caliber squad on Thursday, as they lost 121-115 at Denver on Saturday and 110-106 to the Los Angeles Clippers at home on Monday. The Nuggets didn’t have future Hall of Famer Nikola Jokic (knee) in either matchup, but they’ve gone 8-5 without him over the last 13 games and are one game out of second place in the Western Conference entering Friday night. Meanwhile, the Clippers are 10th in the West and didn’t have two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard on Monday, but are 14-3 since Dec. 20 and made it to Game 7 of the conference quarterfinals last year.

That progress matters for a Washington squad that lost four straight games by double digits after trading veterans CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Atlanta Hawks for star guard Trae Young on Jan. 7. It also fell 131-110 to the Philadelphia 76ers on the road hours before the trade with McCollum, Kispert, and fellow veteran Khris Middleton all sitting out.

The improved team performance is partially because of individual contributions, as George notched a team-high 20 points (6-17 FG, 2-6 3-point) with a game-high 12 rebounds and seven assists over 34 minutes on Thursday, while Johnson tallied 19 points (7-14 FG, 3-7 3-point) with three rebounds, three assists, and one block across 34 minutes. George added a steal as well.

George continues to establish himself as a shoo-in for the Rising Stars Challenge, as he already has 10 15/5/5 (points/rebounds/assists) games this season and has done it in three consecutive outings. The former Miami Hurricane has also scored 15-plus points in seven of his last eight games, as well as 20 times this season, and has one-plus steal in five straight contests.

Meanwhile, Johnson has made multiple three-pointers in 26 games over the 2025-26 campaign, which ranks third among NBA rookies. The 19-year-old also has the most three-pointers made (75) through his first 35 career games in franchise history, besting Bradley Beal (58).

However, the Wizards’ defense has been effective over the past two games as well. They held the Clippers to 18 percent shooting from beyond the arc (28 attempts) on Monday and held the Nuggets to 45 percent shooting from the field on Thursday, which helped them stay in the game despite shooting just 38 percent.

Head coach Brian Keefe revealed postgame whether the defense is where he’d like it to be overall at this point.

“Yeah, I can see it really growing in the last three games for sure. You know, obviously we made a move here about a week and a half ago, and I think it took us a couple games to get adjusted, and that’s normal,” he said. “But I really like how we’re playing defensively. The defense kept us in the game, and that’s what you have to do when things aren’t always going your way, and we talked about that in the timeouts. The guys kept guarding, and that gives you a chance to win every night. That’s the most important thing for us going for it.”

Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson shine amid Michael Winger ultimatum

Winger spoke to the media pregame to give updates on the Wizards, Washington Mystics, and Capital City Go-Go (Wizards’ G League affiliate). One of his standout quotes about the Wizards was his “six to 18 months” comment, via Monumental Sports Network.

“We are coming up on a time, mostly within the next six to 18 months, where we have to declare which of our youngest players can make material contributions to our eventual contention,” he said.

George and Johnson have shown that they can make those “material contributions,” and ditto for Sarr. The latter player is tied with Indiana Pacers big man Jay Huff for the NBA lead with 2.1 blocks per game and is averaging 17.2 points on 50.2 percent shooting (34.4 percent 3-point) despite not playing with a true point guard all season. That’ll change when Young (knee, quadriceps) returns sometime after the All-Star break.

Carrington and third-year guard Bilal Coulibaly (back) have more to prove. Carrington is shooting 40.3 percent from deep this season but just 39.8 percent from the field, and his 14.7 turnover ratio was the NBA’s 16th-worst entering Friday. Additionally, Coulibaly is in the midst of his third straight injury-shortened season and is shooting just 39.2 percent from the field (27.3 percent), a stat he’s regressed in each year. On the bright side, the 21-year-old is one of the best perimeter defenders in basketball and would be tied for 16th in the league with 1.4 steals per game entering Friday if he had played enough games to qualify for statistical rankings. He’s played just 25 out of 43 contests thus far.

Luckily, the “Wiz Kids” have the entire second half of the regular season to show Winger and company why they deserve to be on the winning version of the team next year and beyond.

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