Washington

Wizards

Watkins reportedly suffered the injury during the Wizards’ summer league opener against the Jazz, which explains why he didn’t appear again after playing 20 minutes as a starter in that game. Watkins was selected with the 43rd pick in 2025 and was solid as a rookie, especially down the stretch of the season. Now, there is a chance he misses the entirety of his sophomore campaign. It’s unclear if he would’ve had much of a role this upcoming season, but this solidifies that Bilal Coulibaly and Will Riley will see most of the wing minutes off the bench.

Selected with the 46th overall pick in last month’s draft, Okpara will be on a two-way contract with the Wizards next season. With AJ Dybantsa, Will Riley and Tre Johnson all shut down for the rest of summer league, players like Okpara will have more opportunities on offense. While the Wizards have given two-way and G League players opportunities in the past, that may not happen as often next season as the team moves past its rebuild. Okpara is worth considering in deep dynasty leagues, but that’s it.

Given how well Dybantsa played in his two appearances in Las Vegas, this was the expected conclusion for the first overall pick in last month’s draft. The 6-foot-9 forward totaled 50 points in his two appearances, most recently recording a 23/7/2/3/2 line in Sunday’s win over the Kings. Dybantsa being ruled out for the rest of summer league will allow the other young Wizards more room to show what they can provide. Fantasy-wise, Dybantsa should be one of the first rookies off the board in drafts, regardless of league format. Will Riley and Tre Johnson are also done for the summer.

The rookie out of Tennessee logged 20 minutes in his first summer league outing. He didn’t contribute much in the box score, but he was effective on the offensive glass. Okpara should continue to get more opportunities as summer league progresses.

The focus of this game may have been on AJ Dybantsa’s debut coming against Darryn Peterson, but Johnson stole the show at times. Utah clearly didn’t have an answer for him as a scorer, and Johnson appears ready to be a dangerous player off the bench for Washington entering his second season. His lack of contributions in other areas limit his fantasy impact, but his scoring ability is special.

The first 38 minutes of this game were relatively quiet for Riley, especially coming off a strong rookie season. However, he came alive late in this game, scoring nine points in the final 2:12 of the fourth quarter, which allowed the Wizards to seal the win. With the Wizards likely competing for a postseason spot this year, Riley will play a smaller role than he did as a rookie, though he’s clearly still progressing as a player.

With how well Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer played in their summer league debuts in Salt Lake City, there was a lot of pressure on Dybantsa to produce at a high level in his first game as a Wizard. If he felt the pressure, it clearly didn’t impact him. Just like when he was at BYU, opposing defenses did not have an answer when Dybantsa was driving to the rim. He didn’t shoot the ball well from the perimeter (0-of-5 on three-pointers), but his body control on drives is rare. Plus, he was able to get to the line at will and contribute a few defensive stats. Summer league doesn’t define a player’s career, but Dybantsa rose to the occasion the first chance he got, just like superstars do.

The details from the reported six-team trade are still unfolding, but what’s already known is that Russell is heading to Memphis. The veteran guard had a tough 2025-26 season, playing just 26 total games with the Mavericks before being traded to the Wizards and never logging a minute for Washington. He’ll likely have a chance to play decent minutes for a Grizzlies team that recently traded away its superstar point guard, Ja Morant. If so, Russell could have some value in fantasy leagues this upcoming season.

The second-round picks are in 2031 and 2032. The Lakers recently acquired Walker Kessler to be the team’s starting center, and they’ll offload Ayton just a few days after he picked up his player option for next season. He’ll now likely be the backup center behind Alex Sarr, which eliminates most of the fantasy value that he had this past season. However, he should be one of the better backup bigs in the league and has streaming upside if the Wizards face an injury in the frontcourt to either Sarr or Anthony Davis.

A second-round pick last year, Watkins appeared in 50 games for the Wizards, averaging 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game. He started with a two-way contract, which was then converted to a standard contract, but the Wizards declined Watkins’ team option before free agency. Now Watkins is back where he started on another two-way contract, so not much has changed with his circumstances heading into next year.