Four predictions for the 2024-25 Washington Wizards

NBA season is right around the corner, with opening night set for Tuesday, Oct. 22. While the usual suspects will be vying for a chance to compete for the 2025 NBA championship, there are also those teams who'll have to fill the bottom of the standings, and one such team will likely be the Washington Wizards.

It's Year 2 of the Wizards' rebuild, and coming off of a season in which the team went 15-67, this figures to be another long one in D.C. It will still be intriguing to watch how Washington's young roster can develop, so here are four predictions for how the 2024-25 campaign might play out.

1. Jordan Poole is the team's leading scorer

After being traded to the Wizards before 2023-24, Poole got off to a rough start in D.C. He was inefficient while worse yet seemed to lack confidence, but once former head coach Wes Unseld Jr. was dismissed for interim Brian Keefe, he could get back on track. Poole finished the season with averages of 17.4 points, 4.4 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game on 41.3 percent shooting.

This season, he will pick up where he left off and emerge over Kyle Kuzma as the Wizards' top scoring option, which he was supposed to be last year. With Keefe now the full-time boss, Poole will continue to grow into his role as the Wizards' young core leader while restoring his stock around the league.

2. Kyle Kuzma gets traded

It feels like this has been predicted for about the past three years, but this is the one in which it will finally happen. Kuzma just isn't a great long-term fit in Washington right now. He's being forced to take on a leading role when his skillset is much better suited to being a supporting player. There was interest in him at the trade deadline last season, but no deal was able to come through.

That won't be the case this time around, and with Poole set to emerge as the team's leader, Kuzma will be more actively shopped. Expect Washington to additionally look to trade some of its other veterans, such as Jonas Valanciunas, Malcolm Brogdon and Richaun Holmes.

3. Bub Carrington is the team's best rookie

Much was made of the struggles of second-overall pick Alexandre Sarr in the NBA's Summer League, and he has not played during the preseason due to a calf injury. Carrington, meanwhile, was impressed over the summer and appeared in all four preseason games, averaging eight points, albeit on only 32.4 percent shooting.

Carrington should earn ample opportunities to crack the Wizards' rotation throughout the season and will be under much less pressure than Sarr to perform immediately. He could emerge as one of the surprises of the 2024-25 rookie class and contend for an All-Rookie team.

4. The Wizards will improve from last year

Sure, it's not a very high bar, given that the 2023-24 Wizards won 15 games. However, it can always get worse — ask the Detroit Pistons. Thankfully for Washington, that shouldn't be the case, mainly because the team was visibly more competitive last season once Keefe took over behind the bench.

That should translate into 2024-25. While the Wizards don't have the roster to win many games, they'll play hard enough to catch some teams sleeping. Expect them to earn somewhere between 20 and 25 wins.