Wizards Pick Will Riley At No. 21
After trading down from No. 18 to No. 21, the Wizards have made Illinois guard/forward Will Riley their second pick of the night. Washington drafted Tre Johnson at No. 6.
The Big Ten’s Sixth Man of the Year as a freshman in 2024/25, Riley scored 12.6 points per game on .432/.326/.724 shooting while also contributing 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 25.7 minutes per contest.
Riley, a native of Kitchener, Ontario in Canada, has a relatively thin frame and “lacks a degree of burst and physicality,” writes Jonathan Givony of ESPN. However, he has good height (6’8″) for a wing and has shown legitimate potential as a scorer and play-maker.
Riley was selected one spot after his former Fighting Illini teammate Kasparas Jakucionis, who went to Miami at No. 20.
Washington was able to get assets in the deal with Utah and still land a player who is high on their draft board. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line hears there was “plenty of buzz” about the Wizards taking Riley at No. 18 if they had stayed there (Twitter link).
Washington is parting with small forward Saddiq Bey in a trade with New Orleans, and Khris Middleton isn’t guaranteed to stay on the roster after exercising his player option, which gives him a $33.3MM expiring contract. There could be a chance for Riley to earn regular minutes right away.
With two first-round picks tonight, plus three last year and a mid-season trade for AJ Johnson, Washington has put together a roster that’s very heavy on first- and second-year players. Although they were disappointed to fall to sixth in the lottery after an 18-64 season, the Wizards still wound up with a decent draft haul.
Wizards Trade No. 18 Pick Walter Clayton Jr. To Jazz
11:46 pm: The trade is official, according to a press release from the Jazz.
9:17 pm: After drafting Ace Bailey fifth overall earlier in the evening, the Jazz have traded up to No. 18 and used their second first-round pick of the night on Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Washington is acquiring the Nos. 21 and 43 picks in the 2025 draft and a pair of future second-rounders in the deal, tweets Jake Fischer of The Stein Line. Those future second-rounders are picks in 2031 and 2032, per Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The Wizards used the 21st pick to select Illinois wing Will Riley.
Clayton, a 6’3″ guard, is coming off a memorable senior season. He was a consensus first-team All-American, earned a spot on the All-SEC first team, and led the Gators to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and then a national title.
Clayton had a handful of big games in the NCAA tournament, racking up 30 points against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight and 34 against Auburn in the Final Four. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after registering 11 points, seven assists, and five rebounds in the championship game against Houston.
A Florida native, Clayton averaged 18.3 points, 4.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game on the season, with a strong .448/.386/.875 shooting line.
This will be the third consecutive year in which the Jazz have used a first-round pick on a guard. Clayton will join a backcourt that features 2023’s 16th overall pick Keyonte George and 2024’s 29th overall pick Isaiah Collier, along with veterans Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson, though there’s no guarantee all of those players will still be on the roster by the time the season begins this October.
Wizards Select Tre Johnson At No. 6
The Wizards have used the sixth overall pick in the draft to add Texas guard Tre Johnson.
A 6’6″ shooting guard with a 6’10” wingspan, Johnson averaged 19.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists on .427/.397/.871 shooting in 33 games (34.7 MPG) for the Longhorns in 2024/25 as a freshman.
Johnson was named the SEC Freshman of the Year and made the All-SEC second team in his lone college season. While there have been some questions about his inconsistent engagement level on defense, per Jonathan Givony of ESPN, the Dallas native is one of the best shooters and scorers in this year’s draft class.
Johnson will bring more scoring punch to a team that just added CJ McCollum in a trade with New Orleans. Washington, which often struggled to score consistently this season, will welcome a dynamic offensive force in Johnson, who showed an ability to create his own shots in college.
Washington also invested heavily in young guards in last year’s draft, selecting Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George in the first round. Johnson will arrive with a stronger pedigree than either of them and figures to have a featured role in his rookie season.
The Wizards have remade their backcourt over the past 12 months, adding point guard AJ Johnson as well in a February trade with Milwaukee. They seem likely to focus on adding more size when they pick again at No. 18.
Fischer’s Latest: Sixers, Bailey, Edgecombe, Fears, Maluach, More
The Sixers are expected to make one last attempt to trade up to No. 2 for the chance to draft Dylan Harper, but it’s not likely to be successful, writes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). Fischer believes the Spurs have decided they want Harper to be part of their future and haven’t given serious consideration to parting with the pick.
Fischer adds that the most likely scenario is for the Sixers to stay at No. 3 unless there’s a sharp improvement in the offers from other teams. He also suggests that Ace Bailey remains in contention to be selected, even though he canceled a workout in Philadelphia and has sent out signals that he would rather be selected by a team that could offer guaranteed playing time and a larger role in the offense. Fischer still considers Bailey to be a strong fit alongside Joel Embiid and Paul George because of his shooting skills, but he acknowledges that V.J. Edgecombe is the “likely top contender” to go to Philadelphia.
If Bailey does get bypassed by the Sixers, Fischer doesn’t expect him to fall farther that the Wizards at No. 6. League sources tell him that Bailey declined a chance to work out for the Jazz, and it’s believed that he didn’t have an official visit with any of the lottery teams. Fischer points out that Washington meets Bailey’s requirements as a team that could offer “a healthy shot profile and on-ball creation opportunities.”
Fischer shares more inside information as the draft draws closer:
- The Nets are likely to pounce on point guard Jeremiah Fears if he’s still on the board at No. 8, Fischer states, noting that rumors of his preference for Brooklyn date back to the Draft Combine. Fears made visits to Utah and New Orleans, and Fischer believes his range appears to start with the fifth pick. Fischer also raises the possibility that the Nets could package some of the five first-rounders they have tonight to move up if they believe another team might select Fears.
- Fischer calls Khaman Maluach “the most consequential domino of the first round” apart from Bailey. He’s considered the top available big man, and Fischer notes that he helped himself with strong performances during the interview process. League sources tell Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports that the Pelicans are expected to try to trade up to land Bailey. If they’re unsuccessful, then Maluach could be their pick at No. 7 if he’s still on the board. O’Connor hears that some lottery teams have Maluach ranked in their top two or three and he’s considered “one of the most popular trade-up targets.”
- Fischer believes the Pelicans mark the start of Derik Queen‘s range if someone else takes Maluach, but he adds that the Spurs may try to trade up from No. 14 for the Duke center, while the Raptors at No. 9 also have him highly rated.
- Cedric Coward has been improving his status throughout the pre-draft process, and Fischer doesn’t expect him to fall past the teens. Sources tell Fischer that Coward has interest from the Trail Blazers at No. 11 and he has worked out multiple times for the Thunder, who hold the 15th pick. Fischer hears that the Nets are hoping to land Coward at No. 19, but they may need to trade up to have a chance.
- NCAA Tournament star Walter Clayton Jr. has “multiple suitors” in the early 20s, according to Fischer. He cites league insiders who believe Clayton and Jase Richardson could be targets for the Kings if they’re able to trade for a pick in that range.
- There’s an expectation that this will be an active trading night, possibly starting with the Sixers at No. 3 and the Hornets at No. 4. “There’s gonna be at least four or five (trades),” a Western Conference team strategist told Fischer.
Trade Rumors: Brown, White, Holiday, Hawks, NAW, Collins
After having agreed to trades that send out Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics have moved below the second tax apron. However, they may not be done dealing yet. Appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Tuesday night (YouTube link), Shams Charania reported that Boston is fielding calls from teams with interest in Jaylen Brown and/or Derrick White.
According to Charania, the Celtics’ preference is still to hang onto Brown and White, and they’ve set “high price thresholds” for both players. But they’re also not entirely shutting down inquiries on those guys, so it remains possible that there will be a team willing to meet Boston’s high asking price.
“At minimum,” Charania says, the Celtics are still a strong candidate to make additional deals involving role players who are a little less valuable than Brown and White. Charania specifically identifies Sam Hauser and Anfernee Simons as players who might fit that bill.
Simons technically isn’t even a Celtic yet, so the agreed-upon deal involving him and Jrue Holiday could be expanded to include more pieces and send Simons to a third team before it’s officially finalized. Even if that trade is completed as currently constructed, Simons could be flipped to another team immediately — his salary simply couldn’t be aggregated with another player’s salary for two months after he’s traded.
Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:
- According to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian (Twitter link), he has heard from two sources who refuted the report claiming that Holiday is unhappy about being traded to the Trail Blazers. We passed along that rumor on Tuesday, but suggested taking it with a grain of salt.
- As the Hawks continue to mull various scenarios for how they could use the $25MM+ traded player exception they generated in last summer’s Dejounte Murray deal, one possible target to watch is Nickeil Alexander-Walker, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). The Hawks are expected to show interest in Alexander-Walker, who will be a free agent this summer, and could potentially use that TPE to acquire him via sign-and-trade. The Timberwolves have expressed a desire to retain the three-and-D guard, but will also have Julius Randle‘s and Naz Reid‘s contract situations to resolve.
- Although John Collins is considered a potential offseason trade candidate, his market is still taking shape, so a deal seems more likely to happen after the draft than before or during it, per Stein and Fischer. Collins also must exercise his $26.6MM player option before he officially becomes trade-eligible. His decision is due on Thursday.
- Heat forward Andrew Wiggins, Raptors forward RJ Barrett and guard Immanuel Quickley, Jazz guards Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson, Wizards guard Marcus Smart, and Bucks wing Pat Connaughton are among the other players viewed as candidates to be on the move this summer, according to Stein and Fischer.
Draft Notes: Bailey, Johnson, Maluach, Jazz, Raptors
Ace Bailey may be the most polarizing player at the top half of the lottery. Bailey, once projected to go off the board with the No. 2 or 3 pick, could drop a few notches after his unconventional pre-draft approach.
The Wizards, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey, are hoping that’s the case. Sources tell Pompey that the Wizards want to select the Rutgers freshman with the sixth pick. Washington hopes that Bailey’s refusal to work out for teams during the pre-draft process will cause to him to fall out of the top five.
Bailey canceled his pre-draft workout with the Sixers after they wouldn’t commit to selecting him third overall.
Here’s more draft-related info:
- Tre Johnson, a top-10 prospect, has worked out for the Hornets, Jazz, Wizards and Nets, Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweets. Johnson, a one-and-done who averaged 19.9 points for Texas in his lone college season, is ranked No. 5 on ESPN’s Best Available list.
- In their latest mock draft, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have moved Duke center Khaman Maluach into the No. 7 slot, where the Pelicans sit. New Orleans agreed to trade Kelly Olynyk to the Wizards and are in need of more size. The Suns, who acquired the No. 10 pick from the Rockets, are now projected to select Arizona forward Carter Bryant.
- The Jazz currently have four picks in the draft, including the No. 5 selection. Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune gives his preferred selections at each spot in a subscriber-only story. He’s hoping Baylor’s V.J. Edgecombe slips to that spot but believes it’s more likely the Jazz will wind up with Johnson.
- Multiple league sources confirmed to TSN’s Josh Lewenberg that the No. 9 pick held by the Raptors is available. Toronto is looking to upgrade its roster with established players who are ready to contribute to a playoff push.
Pelicans Trading McCollum, Olynyk To Wizards For Poole, Bey
The Pelicans and Wizards have agreed to a four-player trade, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that guard CJ McCollum, forward/center Kelly Olynyk, and a future second-round pick are headed to Washington in exchange for guard Jordan Poole, forward Saddiq Bey, and the No. 40 overall pick in this year’s draft.
Both McCollum ($30.7MM) and Olynyk ($13.4MM) will be on expiring contracts in 2025/26, so this move will significantly increase the Wizards’ projected 2026 cap room. They were already going to have a lot of money coming off their books next summer, with Khris Middleton ($33.3MM), Marcus Smart ($21.6MM), and potentially Richaun Holmes ($13.3MM; mostly non-guaranteed) also on expiring deals.
Corey Kispert‘s $14MM is now the only fully guaranteed salary on Washington’s cap for 2026/27, though a handful of players on rookie scale contracts will join him once the Wizards officially pick up their ’26/27 options later this year. The team currently projects to have more than $80MM in cap room next summer, per Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Twitter link), and possibly up to $100MM, according to Charania.
In addition to generating future cap flexibility, the Wizards will add a pair of respected veterans who are still playing pretty good basketball.
While McCollum is an undersized shooting guard who isn’t a great defender, he put up 21.1 points and 4.1 assists per game this past season on .444/.373/.717 shooting in 56 contests (all starts). Olynyk, who was traded from Toronto to New Orleans in February, battled injuries that limited him to 44 appearances, but posted respectable averages of 8.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 2.9 APG in 20.3 MPG and made 41.8% of his three-point tries.
Although neither player has substantial trade value, both should be movable later this offseason or during the season if the Wizards aren’t committed to keeping them for the entire 2025/26 campaign.
According to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link), the second-round pick going to Washington in the deal is Chicago’s 2027 second-rounder. The Wizards were actually already going to receive that pick if it were to land in the top 50, but now they’ll get it no matter where it ends up, rather than the Pelicans receiving it if it’s between 51 and 60.
As for the Pelicans, they’re sacrificing some 2026 cap flexibility in the trade, but will move a little further below next season’s luxury tax line and get younger by acquiring Poole and Bey.
Poole, who turned 26 last Thursday, had a strong bounce-back year in D.C. in 2024/25 after a shaky first season with the Wizards. He averaged 20.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 29.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .432/.378/.883.
Like McCollum, Poole isn’t exactly a lock-down defender, but the former Warrior been pretty effective with the ball in his hands and should help New Orleans replace some of the play-making the team lost when Dejounte Murray tore his Achilles midway through the ’24/25 season — Murray’s recovery process is expected to extend into next season.
Poole is owed roughly $65.9MM over the next two years, with $4.25MM in annual incentives ($8.5MM in total) that count toward the tax apron, but not the cap. Bey has two seasons and $12.6MM left on his contract, with $333K in unlikely incentives each year.
Acquiring the duo in exchange for McCollum and Olynyk will reduce New Orleans’ team salary by about $6MM for cap/tax purposes, giving the club some extra breathing room to make additional moves.
Bey showed some real promise as a three-and-D wing in Detroit and Atlanta earlier in his career, but struggled with his outside shot for the Hawks in 2023/24 and tore his ACL near the end of that season, which cost him the entire ’24/25 campaign. He’ll be looking to make his comeback to the court this fall at age 26.
The trade is the second one the Pelicans have made within the last week to add 2025 draft capital. The club previously acquired a first-round pick from the Pacers in exchange for a 2026 first-rounder and now has the seventh, 23rd, and 40th overall picks entering this week’s draft.
The deal won’t become official until July due to Washington’s position relative to the first tax apron, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). That means there’s still a possibility it could expand to include more teams and pieces before it’s finalized.
If it’s completed as currently constructed, the Wizards would be hard-capped at the first apron for the 2025/26 season as a result of taking back more salary than they send out.
Draft Notes: Latest Mocks, Murray-Boyles, Jakucionis, NIL Impact, Seniors, Team Needs
The latest ESPN mock draft has plenty of guards going in the lottery. Their experts, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo, believe that eight guards and/or wings will come off the board within the first 13 picks.
After Cooper Flagg (Mavericks) and Dylan Harper (Spurs), ESPN’s latest mock has guards V.J. Edgecombe (Sixers), Kon Knueppel (Hornets) and Jeremiah Fears (Jazz) rounding out the top five. Ace Bailey, formerly considered a top three pick, slips to the Wizards at No. 6. The Suns, who are acquiring the No. 10 pick from the Rockets, are projected to take South Carolina big man Collin Murray-Boyles.
Here’s more draft-related info:
- In his latest mock draft, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie says he thinks the Sixers trading down from the No. 3 slot remains a real possibility. The Hornets have also had discussions moving both up and down the board from the No. 4 spot, while Texas wing Tre Johnson could be a surprise selection in the top five, Vecenie writes, adding that Johnson could go as high as No. 3.
- Speaking of Murray-Boyles, he worked out for the Trail Blazers over the weekend, as did Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian tweets. ESPN ranks Murray-Boyles at No. 13 overall with Jakucionis at No. 10. Portland owns the No. 11 pick.
- Just 32 non-international early entrants from colleges and other basketball teams or leagues and 14 international players remain in the draft, a dramatic drop-off from recent years. What’s the difference? NIL money has motivated most prospects to stay in college, unless they believe they’ll go in the first round, as Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports details. “If you are not a guaranteed first-round pick, top-20, top-30 guy—unless you really do not want to play college basketball anymore, we are recommending and most of them are staying in school as long as they possibly can,” Michael Raymond, president and founder of Raymond Representation, told Christovich.
- The draft is usually headed by one-and-dones and other underclassmen. However, there are more seasoned college players who will come off the board this year. HoopsHype’s Cyro Asseo de Choch takes a look at the cream of the senior crop.
- The Athletic’s Law Murray breaks down the biggest draft needs for each team, identifying the picks each of those clubs hold.
Wizards’ Khris Middleton Opts In For 2025/26
Wizards forward Khris Middleton has exercised his player option for the 2025/26 season, postponing his free agency until next summer, sources tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Middleton, who will turn 34 in August, was always expected to take this route, since his option will pay him $33,345,679 next season. That’s significantly more than he would’ve earned next season if he had opted for free agency, given his health issues in recent years.
A three-time All-Star between 2019 and 2022 and a key member of the Bucks team that won a title in 2021, Middleton has been slowed by wrist, knee, and ankle injuries over the past three seasons, having appeared in just 125 total regular season games since the fall of 2022. He has averaged 14.1 points, 4.8 assists, and 4.3 rebounds in 25.0 minutes per game with a .472/.356/.863 shooting line during that stretch.
Middleton showed during the 2023 and 2024 playoffs that he can still be dangerous when he’s at full health, having averaged 24.3 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 5.4 APG on .475/.381/.883 shooting in 11 games across those two brief postseason runs. However, his inability to stay healthy and perform at that level consistently – combined with his sizable contract – prompted the Bucks to trade him to Washington at the 2025 trade deadline in February.
While Middleton is a Wizard for now, the odds are probably against him spending the full 2025/26 season in D.C. with a rebuilding team. His big expiring contract could come in handy for salary-matching purposes in a trade, either this summer or during the season, if Washington hangs onto him into the fall in the hopes of rebuilding his value. If the forward has another down year and is still on the Wizards’ roster after the trade deadline, a buyout could be in play at that point.
Even with Middleton’s $33MM+ salary locked in, the Wizards project to operate comfortably below the luxury tax line this season.
Southeast Notes: Bane, Hornets, Brogdon, Magic
Priority number one for freshly acquired Magic shooting guard Desmond Bane is getting to work building chemistry with his new teammates, writes Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel.
Orlando managed to stay afloat through a barrage of injuries last season, thanks in large part to the chemistry they built, which Beede says starts with head coach Jamahl Mosley. Mosley is known as a players’ coach, giving his roster the freedom they need to be their best selves while finding balance in also holding them accountable.
Bane specifically wants to spend time with star Paolo Banchero this summer.
“I want to get to connect with him, whether he’s in Seattle or wherever he’s at, link up with him for a weekend, and we can get in the gym but low-key, put basketball to the side and get a chance to know him as a person,” Bane said.
We have more from the Southeast division:
- The Hornets almost have to take Ace Bailey if he falls to No. 4 in the 2025 draft, contends Roderick Boone for the Charlotte Observer. In his mailbag article, Boone suggests that the Hornets could pair Bailey with LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller or use him as another high-profile trade chip. Boone also writes that Mark Williams being on the roster when next season starts would be something of a surprise after last season’s failed trade with the Lakers.
- Unrestricted free agent point guard Malcolm Brogdon is not expected to return to the Wizards, reports RG’s Grant Afseth. Brogdon played 24 games for Washington last season, averaging 12.7 points and 4.1 assists in 23.5 minutes per night. Afseth writes that the Mavericks may be a suitor for Brogdon. Meanwhile, the Wizards will continue searching for a long-term answer at point guard.
- The Magic have released their preseason schedule, Beede writes. Fans will get to see their new-look team kick off on October 12 against the Heat. They will play two home preseason games, with the second coming on Thursday, October 16 at 7:00 pm against the Pelicans.