2024–25 Washington Wizards season

The 2024–25 Washington Wizards season was the 64th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 51st in the Washington, D.C. area. Brian Keefe, who served as the interim head coach the previous season following the firing of Wes Unseld Jr., was hired as the fulltime coach during the offseason.

The previous season ended on the lowest-ever note for the Washington Wizards franchise, with a 15–67 record through the regular season, including an 0–4 record in the group stage of the new 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament, and a 16-game losing streak. The only team to perform worse during that season was the Detroit Pistons, who finished with a 14–68 record, including a record-high 28-game losing streak. Continuing their rebuild, the new front office prioritized finding and developing youth talent. The team decided to make Brian Keefe, who finished the season as the interim head coach after Wes Unseld Jr.'s removal, the full-time head coach for the season.^[1]

The Wizards also made multiple trades to land multiple picks in present and future drafts. After winning the #2 overall pick through the lottery, and a pair of draft-night trades, the team finished the 2024 NBA draft with three first-round picks, selecting Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, and Kyshawn George. In addition, Deni Avdija was sent to the Portland Trail Blazers to land Malcolm Brogdon, while Jonas Valančiūnas was acquired in a sign-and-trade deal with the New Orleans Pelicans. The Wizards then signed multiple players to lower-end contracts. Of note were extensions to Corey Kispert ($54 million over four years) and Richaun Holmes ($25.9 million over two years), and the signing of former Atlanta Hawks forward Saddiq Bey ($19 million over three years).

The Wizards opened their season at home in Capital One Arena, with Sarr starting at center, Bilal Coulibaly and Kyle Kuzma in the front court, and Jordan Poole and Carrington bringing up the rear. Despite a strong performance from Poole that night, the team lost as no one else made any 3 Point Shots (except one from Patrick Baldwin Jr.) and did not get as many free throw attempts. Despite the sluggish start, the Wizards finished the month with back-to-back wins against the Atlanta Hawks, and ended October at 2–2.

The Wizards did not win a single game in this month, including a match against the Miami Heat in Mexico City to start November out and rematch against the Hawks on November 15 that ended with a 117–129 loss. They were the only NBA team to have not won a game in the mid-season tournament ever since the event was created the previous season. After back-to-back drubbings at the hands of the Pistons and Knicks in the following two games, Keefe publicly called out himself and his players for poor efforts.^[2] Though the team appeared to play with more effort after that, they still did not win a single game, ending the month on a 14-game losing streak and a 2–16 overall record after a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on November 30.

The Wizards continued their losing streak from the previous month, matching their record from the last season of 16 losses and finishing winless in the NBA Cup mid-season tournament, before ending it with a win against the Denver Nuggets on December 7. Though the Wizards continued struggling throughout the month, they pulled off two wins against the Charlotte Hornets, and took the Knicks into their first overtime game of the season (though ended up losing 132-136). Justin Champagnie got a career-high and (for the night) team-high 31 points in that game. By the end of the month, the Wizards finished the month 3–9, and a 5–25 record overall.

Entering 2025, the Wizards started the year with a 125–107 win over the Chicago Bulls on January 1. However, following that victory to start the year on a positive note, the Wizards would follow it up with a second losing streak of 16 straight games from January 3 through the end of the month, recording only 1 win in January and sitting on a 6-41 overall record.

The Wizards snapped their second 16-game losing streak at the start of February, replacing it with a 3-game win streak, going undefeated on their roadtrip that took them through Minnesota, Charlotte, and Brooklyn, with the win against Minnesota their first road win of the season since the October 28th match in Atlanta. Around the time of the Nets game, the Wizards' Front Office made multiple trades to continue their rebuild: Despite having just acquired him earlier in the year, Valančiūnas was sent to the Kings. The following day, Kuzma and Baldwin Jr. were sent to the Bucks, while Marvin Bagley III and 2022 lottery pick Johnny Davis were shipped off to the Grizzlies. In return, the Wizards ended up with AJ Johnson, Khris Middleton, Colby Jones, Marcus Smart, and multiple future draft picks. While the team waited for the new players to arrive and become match-fit, the players still on the roster returned to Washington and proceeded to lose four straight games at home, including two where Poole scored over 40 points: 45 against the Cavaliers on February 7, and 42 against the Pacers in a close match on February 12 that the team eventually lost in OT.

At the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, three Wizards young players appeared in the Rising Stars Challenge, with Sarr on Team Tim, and Carrington and Coulibaly on Team Mitch, though neither team advanced to the finals in the challenge. Sarr also participated in the Skills Challenge alongside fellow Frenchman and #1 Overall Pick Zaccharie Risacher as "Team Rooks," though the duo didn't win the challenge.

Following the All-Star Break, the Wizards returned to action at Capital One Arena, where Middleton and Kuzma were set to face each other as members of the club opposite from where they started the year. Despite leading the entire first half and part of the third quarter, the Wizards defense collapsed while George and Poole's poor shooting performance spoiled the Wizards return, losing 104-101 against the Bucks. The Wizards would only notch one more win on their belt, a 107-99 performance against the Nets and the first time all season they held an opponent below 100 points. The Wizards would finish the month 4-7; with a 10-48 overall record, the team finally achieving a double-digit number of wins, avoiding all-time infamy below the previous Charlotte Bobcats or Philadelphia 76ers teams' performances that were initially projected from them at the time.

On March 3, the Wizards decided to sign Champagnie to a full contract, upgrading him from his initial two-way deal. After making room on the roster, the team then filled the empty two-way spot by claiming JT Thor off waivers from the Cavaliers. On the court, the Wizards managed to complete a seasonal sweep of both the Hornets and Nuggets during this month, winning every match they faced against those teams. In the final match against the Nuggets, a 126-123 win on March 15, Sarr achieved a career-high 34 points, and became the first rookie in Washington's history to have at least 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in the same game.

Despite this being the most successful month the team had compared to others in the season, this month also saw Coulibaly and Kispert both shut down due to season-ending injuries. Also, the team was officially eliminated from playoff contention for the 4th year in a row, on March 21, after a 120-105 loss to the Magic. However, the team finished March with a 6-11 record in the month, a 16-59 overall record, surpassing their nadir from last season.

On April 3, despite the team losing to the Magic, Carrington set several highs similar to Sarr the previous month, with a performance that included 32 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists. In addition, Carrington's seven made 3-pointers broke a franchise record for most 3-point shots made by a rookie in one game since Bradley Beal's rookie season, where he hit six, twice, in 2013. Carrington also made a game-winning shot to end the month in the team's final match of the season against Miami, a game in which 2023 second-round pick Tristan Vukčević was otherwise the star of the show, achieving his first double-double on a career-high 28 point, 11 rebound performance.

The Wizards ended April with a 2-5 record for the month, finishing with an overall 18-64 record. Though a slight improvement from the team's 15-win season last year, it was still the worst in the Eastern Conference and the second-worst in the NBA, as the Utah Jazz "won" the race to the bottom with an overall 17-65 record.

The Wizards entered the draft holding two first-round picks and one second-round pick.^[3][4] The Wizards would not swap their top pick with either the Memphis Grizzlies or the Phoenix Suns this year following their Bradley Beal trade from last season since their pick remained the best out of three possible selections this year.

With the #2 Overall selection, the Wizards drafted the French prospect Alex Sarr from the Perth Wildcats in Australia. Shortly before the start of the draft, the Wizards traded Deni Avdija to the Portland Trail Blazers and got their #14 pick as part of the return, which they used on Bub Carrington from Pittsburgh. During the first draft night, the Wizards then struck a trade with the New York Knicks to move up two spots, giving their last two picks of this year's draft (#26 and #51) to acquire the rights to the Knicks' #24 pick, which became Kyshawn George.

The groups were revealed during the tournament announcement on July 12, 2024.^[5][6]