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Mar 25, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) shoots the ball over Utah Jazz guard Elijah Harkless (16) during the second quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images

Wizards Avoid Making History, But at a Cost

Originally posted on Washington Wizards on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Mar 26, 2026 2:00 PM ET

The Washington Wizards have spent just about all of their ongoing rebuild by testing the fan base's stomachs for extended losing stretches. Four times have they fumbled 16 consecutive games since 2024, with the most recent such streak taking the Wizards within their final few weeks of action.

But every time the players are faced with the chance to make franchise history with a 17th-straight defeat, they clutch up to prevent yet another humiliation ritual. And with a visit to the Utah Jazz sticking out along one of the toughest remaining schedules in the league, the Wizards took advantage of their fellow tanking operation to stick their head above water one more time for what could have been the last time this season in a 133-110 win.

It had to be a cathartic moment for the locker room of professional competitors, life-long basketball savants who aren't accustomed to collecting four times as many losses as victories since entering the NBA. Older stars like Anthony Davis and Trae Young can't be too used to this level of draft-oriented tanking can't feel too comfortable, either, but such is the way for the 2025-26 Wizards.

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

At the same time, though, the Jazz may not have been the optimal opponent to lend any tank-based advantage to. True, they were the rare NBA team to trot out a rotation unimpressive enough to enable the young Wizards to escape the loss column for a night, but that's by design. They, too, are focused on the draft season ahead, and threaten Washington well beyond their status as another team ready to go star-hunting in the summer.

Wizards Remaining on Jazz Watch

It's imperative that the Wizards secure a bottom-four record over the next few weeks. The top-eight protected pick that somehow ended up with the New York Knicks gives the local contenders an avenue to steal that asset should the draft lottery boot the Wizards from a position in the top half of the selection order, a fate they can avoid by remaining put in their current basement tier and avoiding the pick from dropping any further than eight.

This isn't the sort of hypothetical that scarred Wizards fans are willing to fool around with; they finished second-worst to these same Jazz last year, meaning that the sixth spot was the farthest they could drop. Naturally, that worst-case scenario played out verbatim, casting a dark shadow on Bub Carrington's season-ending buzzer-beating winner in Game 82.

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

They still ended up with Tre Johnson out of that deep 2025 draft class, but the Wizards can't afford to lose out on yet another marquee prospect. They're looking to escape the rebuilding years in capitalizing on their improved pieces and star contributors, and one more player with star upside is just what this franchise needs to push their young talent pool over the edge.

The Jazz currently sit as the fifth-worst team with a legitimate lead over their fellow losers, making them the team to not beat as the regular season fully winds down. They still have 21 wins to the Wizards' 17, requiring a brilliant bout of success out of a depleted bunch to seriously challenge, but should the impossible take place and their pick gets threatened or stolen completely, this specific victory will be sure to come up in conversation for years to come.

This article first appeared on Washington Wizards on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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