Three Takeaways from Wizards' Pace-Pronounced Pistons Preseason Win

Dybantsa and the bigs were active in the open court, regularly sprinting to the hole after misses and converting on Young's touchdown passes with a slew of acrobatic and high-flying finishes. The reigning No. 1 draft pick, having blossomed as a playmaker himself as BYU's one-and-done star prospect, spun quick-read dimes out of his own face-up looks, and Tre Johnson's spot-up fearlessness proved a viable asset as a fast break alternative.

Head coach Brian Keefe, true to his word, seems to have already begun molding his much-rumored method for flipping defensive stops into quick scoring bursts.

Wizards Reveal Further Depth Intentions

Keefe wasn't passive in deploying his favorite reserve options, sending each of Johnson, Deandre Ayton, Bilal Coulibaly and Bub Carrington as first-quarter reinforcements, but that's as far as he went until tossing Will Riley into that half's final minutes. The inactive Khris Middleton, still having yet to appear in the preseason, joined a healthy Justin Champagnie on Washington's bench until the fourth quarter.

A particularly-loud subsection of Washington's fan base will continue clamoring for another opportunity for the underutilized wing, who's already had to endure back-to-back slow burn Wizards seasons. But even without him, the remaining rotation's depth of shooters, rim-pressurers and possession-maximizers made it possible for the squad to pour the point on every time they took the ball down the court- at least, while they were collectively locked in.

Wizards Will Live and Die by Trae Young

At first, the newly-paid point guard smoothly operated the offense as if he'd appeared in more than five games with last season's Wizards, but an uglier second quarter revealed some of the sloppiness that his ambitious style can lead to. He and Davis combined for 10 turnovers, two of the six Wizards to commit multiple throwaways on the evening.

Additionally, Washington's coaching staff is going to have to get used to Young's defense, despite his self-imposed goals to remain effortfully impactful. The Pistons pulled him into every action by setting a half-dozen screens per set for Duncan Robinson to run through, providing plenty of chances for the little guard to get blown up on picks and force his Wizards teammates into rotation.

Even if he's the one who spearheads the leads, a missed assignment followed by a bricked jumper can whittle away at momentum about as effectively as he once built it.

Some of those shortcomings, particularly those on the grittier side of the ball, were to be expected considering Young's slight frame and extensive history of poor defensive impact, but that'll nonetheless persist as a talking point considering the Wizards' aspirations of shoring up last year's last-ranked defense. Even if Davis and Alex Sarr aid that effort as the problem-solving shot-blockers and switch artists fit for the task, they can only do so much if Young's getting pancaked on picks this often.