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Mar 22, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington (7) looks on during the first half against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Wizards Have Plenty to Lose and Gain from Expansion

Originally posted on Washington Wizards on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Mar 25, 2026 3:17 PM ET

It's official: the NBA is moving forward with its expansion into Las Vegas and back into Seattle, bumbing the league's team count to 32 and severely altering the next few years of every presently-existing franchise.

The Washington Wizards have a lot more to worry about than two more opponents to compete against or shuffled conference and division-mates to account for. With enlargement of the league's pool of teams brings an expansion draft, and that's due to make trouble for everyone unwilling to part ways with fringe-rotational reserves.

Even if the Wizards are still a long ways away from competing on a nightly basis, that still spells trouble if their contending windows aligns with a period in which their depth can be pillaged by newcomers for nothing. But luckily for them, 29 other front offices will be stuck in the same boat, opening up the chance to capitalize through the chaos.

The Problem with Protections

Every team will be limited in how many presently-rostered players may be shielded from the grasping hands of the two new hungry associations. In past expansion drafts, that number was eight, which left nearly half of the eligible players of 2004's NBA vulnerable to get scooped up.

Whereas in past years, others wouldn't have found much to get excited about on the outskirts of Washington's depth chart, they've finally gotten their act together over the middle years of the 2020s. Asset accumulation and savvy draft choices have enabled the organization to stack prospects like Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson, Bilal Coulibaly, Will Riley and Bub Carrington, with trades for superstars and other intriguing supporting pieces only offering more options to turn to when the group is serious about competing as soon as next year.

Brad Mills-Imagn Images

That's to say nothing of proven role players like Justin Champagnie or rookie Jamir Watkins, who'd only get pushed further to the fringes by whichever draft picks will further complicates the Wizards' opening night lineup. None of those are players Washington fans would be pleased with losing, but several well-liked prospects and contributors are due to get left looking for a chair when the music stops.

It won't help anyone's odds that two teams will be poring through the rest of the league together, doubling the chance of beloved players getting picked up and taken away compared to the last expansion over two decades ago. Big-league rosters go well past the dozen-or-so men who see routine action, and bench's ends and G League affiliates must be padded, too.

With the league finally putting the wheels in motion to expand, here’s a throwback to what the last expansion draft looked like. Can’t wait to see if Vegas and Seattle can do any better than Wizards/Maryland legend Lonny Baxter with the first overall pick pic.twitter.com/CCo77xQZbr
— Henry J. Brown (@henryjbr_sports) March 25, 2026

But luckily, everyone's in this position together, and the Wizards are armed with a forward-thinking general manager who's already interested in basing the team's on-court product on merit. That'll mean that whichever players make steady appearances next year, as well as the seasons between now and whenever the draft takes place, will have earned their standing.

And with their theoretically escaping the rebuilding phase in approaching the 2030s, fewer contributors' ceilings will be quite so mysterious. Just think how much tougher the choices for who to hold onto would be right now with so many guys still looking for their second contracts.

The soon-to-be-diminished league will see just about every contender weakened, at least briefly, while recovering from their losses. Some team will have to surprise the remaining playoff field as an energetic group with enough remaining firepower to compete and win; who's to say that can't be the turn-of-the-decade Wizards?

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

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