Mar 5, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie (9) reacts during the third quarter against the Utah Jazz at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

Wizards Wing Looks to Outlast Necessary Cuts

Originally posted on Washington Wizards on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Aug 8, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The Washington Wizards' decision to re-sign Anthony Gill for a sixth go-around in D.C. is one that's pleased most fans and analysts who pay attention to the team, much more so than your average end-of-the-bench veteran who rarely logs NBA meaningful minutes.

He provides a stabilizing locker room presence, reinforced by just about everyone who comes into contact with him. Gill doesn't need a regular rotational role to be happy, as he's perfectly content guiding the team's innumerable young prospects and acting as a much-needed counterbalance to the dozen hungry recent-draftees hunting for in-game impact and trust from their organization.

The only people who'll be threatened by Gill's return are the other players on the fringe of Washington's roster, each a decade younger than the veteran with much more to prove. The short contract they handed out on Thursday not puts them one over the maximum number of full NBA players a team's allowed by opening night, with the clock now ticking for them to cut it back down to 15.

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Pieces like Dillon Jones and Malaki Branham were both acquired mid-offseason in attempting to live out their dreams of panning out in the NBA, but the former first round picks will need a lot to go their ways in securing long-term roles on the Wizards and in the league.

The tight-lipped Wizards front office will be sure to keep information from leaking as to who'll get the final boot, but another longer-tenured rotational player is starting to draw attention as a surprise cut candidate. Justin Champagnie would be a tough loss for the Washington's rotation to come back from, but he's the only one of the 16 Wizards playing on a mostly non-guaranteed contract.

Champagnie bounced around a bit before finding his way to Washington, but he quickly grew into one of the team's better players. He earned his minutes the hard way over his first season and a half, ending up with 62 appearances over the 2024-25 season thanks to his versatile defense and greatly-improved 3-point jump shot.

Justin Champagnie 24-25 scoring, rebounding, and defending

Stats last 60 games per 75 possessions:

14.3 PPG
9.1 REB
62.4 2PT%
38.3 3PT%
1.7 STL
1.0 BLK pic.twitter.com/AnkpJOLT24
— DreFC (@HsgvensSon) July 22, 2025

His propensity for dirty work makes him one of the more necessary Wizards in the projected 2025-26 rotation, demonstrating some of the maturity that some of his even younger teammates will need to stick it out in the NBA. Champagnie arrived to the league with little fanfare after going undrafted in 2021, and still had no problem securing a four-year deal in March from pure hard work.

In theory, he's one of the easier players to part ways with between his lack of a rookie contract to pay out and how little guaranteed money the Wizards would have to part ways with, but his impact goes even further than the 8.8 points and 5.7 boards he averaged last season. Similarly to Gill, he'd be a major locker room loss going forward should the team bail on one of their more inspiring development stories.

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

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