The Washington Wizards are set to open the preseason against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. With a rookie head coach and a revamped roster, Wizards’ fans are set to see a preview of the upcoming season in Washington.
Jordan Poole landed in Washington last season with the hopes of the former Golden State Warriors' explosive scorer taking off in a starting role with a fresh start. The Michigan guard showed flashes of his scoring, but in a role as the team’s primary ball handler, Poole didn’t impress as a facilitator. However, first-year head coach Brian Keefe gave Poole the nod to retain starting point guard duties, and with more talent around him, it’ll be interesting to see if the guard can serve as more than just a shot-taker, sometimes shot-maker.
Alex Sarr was drafted No. 2 overall in this year’s NBA Draft despite many arguing he should have been the top overall pick. Fast forward to Summer League, Sarr could have fooled outsiders that he was an undrafted free agent with his performance. After an 0-15 shooting night in his debut, Sarr’s output didn’t get much better throughout the rest of the summer. The kind of performance that could destroy a player’s confidence, especially one with as high of expectations as him. Nonetheless, the 7-footer has the talent to turn the narratives around with a solid rookie debut ahead of what he hopes to be a Rookie of the Year campaign. If Sarr shows up and plays with confidence on Sunday, that will be a great sign for the Wizards.
Bub Carrington was drafted with the last pick in the lottery during this year’s NBA Draft. The Pitt product has had glaring reviews after a strong summer and throughout the start of the team’s camp. The 19-year-old has the talent to be a starter despite still being a bit of a raw prospect. However, it's unknown just how much his skillset will be utilized in his first year, especially with a crowded backcourt filled with players who deserve minutes. Nonetheless, in a rebuilding year, if Carrington shows promise, it won’t be a shock to find himself as a focal piece of the rotation and even in the starting lineup at one point. On Sunday, the combo guard will get his first real chance to show he was made for the moment.
The Wizards will make a trip north of the border to start the preseason. The Washington Wizards are back to playing basketball after a 6 month (!) break. Boy, isn’t it nice to be on the Wizards payroll! Now they hit the road and they’re going to pack their passports for this trip - the first stop is Montreal where they scrimmage against the Raptors.
The team’s pre-season schedule kicks off Sunday night in Montreal vs. the Washington Wizards. The Raptors held an open practice at McGill University on Friday in front of fans and media, but did so without all-star Scottie Barnes, starting point guard Immanuel Quickley, rookie Ja’Kobe Walter, veterans Bruce Brown and Garrett Temple and all but Temple have been ruled out for Sunday, head coach Darko Rajakovic told reporters in Montreal on Saturday. Barnes at least was back with the team Saturday after missing the week post-media day for personal reasons, but Rajakovic wants him to practice more with the team before suiting up for a game. Toronto doesn’t play again until a rematch, this time in Washington, on Friday. Quickley is dealing with a thumb issue, Walter a shoulder injury and Brown is recovering from knee surgery. Temple was excused for a personal matter, but was expected back Saturday, while rookie guard Jamal Shead took a hit in practice but was expected to play against the Wizards.
Toronto will also play on the road next Sunday, against defending NBA champion Boston, before a home rematch against the Celtics on Oct. 15, the only real “home” exhibition for the Raptors, since Sunday’s NBA Canada series game in La Belle Province is considered a home match. The pre-season concludes Oct. 18 at Brooklyn, with the opener of Season 30 going Oct. 23 against Cleveland at Scotiabank Arena.
There’s a good chance Sunday’s starting centres will be very familiar with each other. Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl backed up new Wizard Jonas Valanciunas before Poeltl was dealt to the Spurs in the Kawhi Leonard deal. Valanciunas, one of the best big men in franchise history, was later dealt himself to Memphis for Marc Gasol, completing Toronto’s championship puzzle. Valanciunas arrived from New Orleans in a sign-and-trade and inked a new three-year deal, but might not be there long. Little is expected of the Wizards this season. They are considered strong contenders to finish with the NBA’s worst record and to trade away veterans like Valanciunas, Kyle Kuzma, Malcolm Brogdon and Jordan Poole (if anyone would actually take on his contract) at some point. Only Detroit and San Antonio have won fewer games than Washington over the last three seasons. Head coach Brian Keefe took over in January and gets his first gig in charge of a team after 14 years as an assistant. Keefe started coaching in Oklahoma City around the same time Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic broke into the NBA heading the Thunder’s G-League affiliate in Tulsa. When Keefe returned to the Thunder for a year in 2019-20, one of his fellow assistants was Vin Bhavnani, who is entering his second year as an assistant under Rajakovic in Toronto.
Both Keefe and Rajakovic got top jobs in large part because of their backgrounds in player development as both Toronto and Washington are in rebuilds, with the Raptors a few steps ahead of the Wizards right now. Fred VanVleet owes a lot to the Raptors organization and even though he now plays for the Houston Rockets, he’s still giving back. VanVleet was once in a similar situation the rookie Shead now finds himself in, an NCAA veteran known as a defensive-minded winning player needing to scrap just to make the roster. VanVleet earned the final roster spot back in the day and went on to become a key piece of the title team, an all-star, the franchise single-game scoring and assist leader and then a highly paid addition with the Rockets. Nobody expects Shead to follow VanVleet’s path exactly of course, but the franchise seems to believe in him. And VanVleet has offered his help, Shead told Sportsnet’s Michael Grange in Montreal on Friday. “He just said ‘anything you need, hit me up,” Shead said. VanVleet knows of Shead because both played in Houston last year, with Shead winning NCAA defensive player of the year for the Cougars and leaving campus as that program’s all-time winningest player.
NBA Canada is holding a 12,000 foot activation called Maison NBA in Montreal this weekend. Vince Carter was scheduled to make an appearance, along with his former teammate Jerome (Junkyard Dog) Williams and Canadian women’s team icon Natalie Achonwa … Washington rosters two teenagers (No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr and intriguing rookie point guard Bub Carrington), plus a couple of 20-year-olds (last year’s No. 7 selection Bilal Couilbaly and Swiss-Canadian rookie Kyshawn George). This is a young group. George’s father, Deon, is from Montreal so this will be a homecoming of sorts. Deon George was a Canadian national team teammate of RJ Barrett’s dad, Rowan Barrett (and of Canadian hoops legend Steve Nash). One of Nash’s assistants in Brooklyn was Keefe, who now coaches young Kyshawn George in a fun coincidence.
