Wizards to bring back former No. 2 overall pick 

On paper, it makes sense for the Wizards to target a veteran big man in free agency given the fact they traded away Kelly Olynyk. Washington only has one player on the team taller than 6-foot-9 — second-year center Alex Sarr.

However, it’s an interesting and noteworthy signing seeing as the Wizards just traded Bagley away at the deadline to the Grizzlies. Washington originally acquired the former No. 2 overall pick ahead of the 2024 trade deadline alongside Isaiah Livers and a second-round pick. This year, the Wizards sent Bagley out in a multi-team deal that landed them Marcus Smart and a first-round pick that was used to trade down and select Will Riley.

Bagley appeared in 43 games (16 starts) with Washington across parts of 2023/24 and ’24-25, averaging 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds.

Despite the move making positional sense, it remains to be seen whether Bagley will actually stick on the roster. For starters, the Wizards roster is already crowded. They have 15 players on official, standard contracts. They also have Richaun Holmes and Justin Champagnie on standard deals, but Holmes’s $13.28M contract is only guaranteed for $250K and Champagnie is non-guaranteed.

If Bagley’s deal is non-guaranteed, it would seem like a cut-and-dry situation to let go of all of him, Holmes and Champagnie to solve the roster crunch. However, Champagnie being cut would be somewhat surprising despite his non-guaranteed status, given that he started in 31 games last season and averaged 8.8 points while shooting 51.1% from the field and 38.3% from three. If Washington opted to keep Champagnie, it would mean letting go of a player with a guaranteed contract. If Bagley is guaranteeed, that means two players on Washington’s roster could potentially be cut despite having guaranteed deals.

And even in the situation Bagley and Holmes don’t make the opening-night roster, that would mean Washington would be entering the season with 6-foot-8 Kyshawn George and Bilal Coulibaly as its tallest players outside of Sarr.

After the Grizzlies acquired Bagley last season, he only appeared in 12 games and averaged 3.6 points. It was unlikely he would return to Memphis after the season. Bagley holds career averages of 12.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in 238 games.