NFL
By: Courtney Byrd
The NBA offseason can feel long. Trades and headlines keep us entertained, but there is something about the schedule release that makes the upcoming season finally feel real.
For Washington Wizards fans, that feeling is officially here.
The 2026-27 regular-season schedule has arrived, giving fans their first chance to start circling dates on the calendar. There are reunions to look forward to, tough stretches that could test this new-look Wizards team early, and plenty of reasons to be excited about what basketball in the district could look like this season.
The schedule is not the only thing keeping Washington in the conversation. From Alex Sarr continuing to find consistency, to the Wizards reportedly attempting to bring Russell Westbrook back before his retirement, to Washington now being linked to DeMar DeRozan, there is plenty to catch up on as the season gets closer.
Let’s start with the Schedule.
Every schedule release comes with a few games that immediately catch your attention, and the Wizards have no shortage of those this season.
Of course, one of the biggest storylines will be Trae Young facing the Atlanta Hawks.
There is already plenty of history between Young and Atlanta. It is the organization that drafted him and the city where he became one of the most recognizable guards in the league. Now, he will get the opportunity to return wearing a Wizards jersey.
Washington will face Atlanta twice within a matter of days, first welcoming the Hawks to D.C. before traveling to Atlanta. That second meeting should feel a little different.
Young returning to Atlanta for the first time as an opponent is the type of game that does not need much added motivation. There will be familiar faces in the building, plenty of emotions, and probably a loud crowd waiting for the player they watched lead their franchise for years.
For Wizards fans, it will also be another reminder of just how different this team looks.
There are other games worth circling, too.
The schedule gives Washington several opportunities to see how it measures up against some of the league’s best teams, while also putting the Wizards in some difficult stretches where consistency will matter.
That may be one of the biggest things to watch with this team.
It is easy to get excited about individual matchups when the schedule comes out, but an NBA season is not defined by one big game. Washington will have stretches where the games pile up, the opponents get tougher, and the excitement of opening night has worn off.
Those are the moments when we will start learning more about what this team is.
The Wizards are still trying to develop their young players, but the expectations surrounding them are beginning to look different. There is more experience around the roster, more attention on Washington, and more reason to believe the goal is eventually going to have to become something beyond simply developing for the future.
That brings us to Alex Sarr.
Sarr has already shown why Washington was willing to invest so much in him. The talent is there. The flashes are there. The next step is finding a way to make those flashes appear more consistently.
That word, consistency, will probably follow Sarr throughout the season.
There are nights when you can see exactly what he could eventually become for Washington. His size, mobility, and ability to impact different areas of the game make his ceiling exciting. But as he continues developing, the Wizards need those strong performances to become less surprising.
That does not mean Sarr has to suddenly have everything figured out.
Young players are going to have bad nights. They are going to make mistakes. They are going to go through stretches where things do not look as smooth as they did a week earlier.
But this season feels like another opportunity for Sarr to show that his development is moving in the right direction.
It also helps that Washington is continuing to look for experience around its younger players.
And apparently, one of those experienced players could have been a very familiar face.
Russell Westbrook officially decided to retire from the NBA after 18 seasons, ending one of the most entertaining and unique careers basketball has ever seen.
Before he made that decision, the Wizards reportedly tried to bring him back to Washington with a two-year offer.
It would have been quite the full-circle moment.
Westbrook only spent one season in Washington, but Wizards fans probably do not need much of a reminder about how memorable that season became.
When Westbrook arrived in D.C. in 2020, there were plenty of questions about how things would work alongside Bradley Beal. The season did not always go smoothly, either. Washington struggled early, dealt with injuries, and had plenty of moments where a playoff appearance seemed unlikely.
Then something changed.
Westbrook and the Wizards made a late push, eventually reaching the postseason after fighting through the Play-In Tournament.
Along the way, Westbrook averaged a triple-double and made NBA history in a Wizards uniform when he passed Oscar Robertson for the most career triple-doubles.
For a player who spent only one season in Washington, he gave the city quite a few moments to remember.
That is why there is something special about knowing Washington was interested in bringing him back.
Would it have worked? We will never know.
The Westbrook the Wizards would have been signing today is obviously not the same player who was putting up triple-doubles every night during his first stint in Washington. His role would have been different, and the expectations would have been different.
But his experience, energy, and leadership could have meant something for a young team.
There also would have been something fitting about Westbrook ending his career in Washington.
Instead, he chose to walk away from the game, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Congratulations are for a player who put together a career that will be talked about for a long time. An MVP, a nine-time All-Star, and the NBA’s all-time triple-double leader, Westbrook built a legacy that stretches far beyond his brief stop in Washington.
Still, Wizards fans got to be part of it.
They got to watch him make history in their jersey. We watched him help drag a struggling team back into the playoff picture. One of the most relentless players of his generation bring that same energy to D.C.
It may have only lasted one season, but it mattered.
So, while there will not be another Westbrook chapter in Washington, there should still be plenty of appreciation for the one Wizards fans already got.
And apparently, the Wizards did not stop looking for veteran help after Westbrook decided to retire.
Washington has now been linked to DeMar DeRozan.
Yes, that DeMar DeRozan.
The Wizards are reportedly among the teams interested in the veteran scorer, which immediately raises another interesting question about where Washington believes this roster is headed.
DeRozan would bring something completely different to this team.
At this stage of his career, nobody should expect him to arrive in Washington and suddenly become the long-term face of the franchise. That is not what a move like this would be about.
What he could bring is experience, scoring, and another veteran presence for a team filled with players who are still figuring out what winning consistently in the NBA looks like.
DeRozan has been around just about everything this league can offer. He has been a franchise player. He has been an All-Star.
He has played in big games, dealt with expectations, and built a career around being one of the league’s most reliable scorers.
For Washington’s younger players, there is value in having someone like that around.
DeRozan has made a career out of creating offense and getting to his spots, particularly when possessions slow down. Having another player capable of generating offense could give Washington a different option when games get tight.
But the interest itself might be just as interesting as the potential fit.
First, the Wizards reportedly offered Westbrook a two-year deal.
Now, they are reportedly in the mix for DeRozan.
Those are not necessarily the moves of an organization interested in simply putting the youngest roster possible on the floor and waiting another few years to see what happens.
Washington has spent several seasons collecting young players, draft picks, and developmental pieces. Eventually, there has to be a point when those pieces are surrounded by enough experience to see what they can actually do in meaningful games.
Maybe we are beginning to see the early stages of that transition.
That does not mean the Wizards suddenly need to be viewed as contenders.
The Youth Movement
There is still plenty of development that needs to happen, and there will almost certainly be growing pains throughout an 82-game season.
But there is a difference between rebuilding without expectations and developing while trying to win.
The Wizards seem to be moving closer to the latter.
That is what makes this upcoming season so interesting.
We have games worth circling on the calendar. One is Trae Young’s return to Atlanta. There are difficult stretches that will challenge Washington early and show how this group responds when the schedule gets uncomfortable.
Alex Sarr, still developing and looking to turn flashes into consistency.
This is also a front office that apparently saw value in bringing Westbrook back and, after he chose retirement, is now being connected to another accomplished veteran in DeRozan.
A lot can still happen before opening night.
DeRozan could end up somewhere else. Another move could come out of nowhere. Players could surprise us in training camp, and expectations could look completely different by the time the first ball is tipped.
That is the fun part of August.
The schedule gives us something to look forward to, the rumors give us something to talk about, and the questions surrounding this Wizards team give us plenty to watch once basketball finally returns.
For now, circle the dates, keep an eye on what Washington does next, and maybe take a second to congratulate an old friend, Russell Westbrook.
Wizards’ basketball will be back before we know it.
