Josh Robbins of The Athletic reviewed the Washington Wizards’ first 20 games, a stretch in which the team stumbled to a 3–17 record.
Although the results have been poor, Robbins points out that Washington has a structural incentive to endure another losing season: their 2025 first-round pick is top-eight protected, meaning keeping their draft position low increases the likelihood of retaining the pick.
Amid the struggles, the organization has at least seen encouraging development from second-year players Kyshawn George and Alex Sarr, both of whom have shown notable growth compared to their rookie campaigns.
Sarr described to The Athletic how he feels the group has made strides even if the standings don’t reflect it.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress as a team and as individuals comparing the first game (this season) to where we are now,” Sarr said.
“Obviously, (there were) a lot of games that we could have won that we didn’t. So it’s a little frustrating when you look at our record knowing that we could have won some more games definitely because we were up at the end of the games. But that’s something you can’t control. It’s in the past. All we can do is learn from it and take it as lessons.”
Southeast Notes: Porzingis, J. Johnson, Wizards, McNeeley https://t.co/mnaOONUYSi pic.twitter.com/s4jxK7kr30
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) December 6, 2025
