Josh Robbins

Trae Young endears himself to teammates, fans by getting ejected from Wizards' bench

Trae Young merely got swept up in the moment. But on Monday night, he endeared himself to his new teammates and to fans in Washington by getting thrown out of a game that he wasn't even playing in. Story for @theathletic.com:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...

Houston's Tari Eason has been issued two technical fouls (one of them for shoving Jamir Watkins), resulting in Eason's ejection. Watkins received one technical foul.

Although he was not playing, Trae Young went onto the court to lobby referee Jacyn Goble for a foul call or a technical foul call against the Rockets. Because he left the bench, Young has been ejected from the game.

Julian Reese will make his NBA regular-season debut tonight — and he will start. (Anthony Gill is dealing with an illness and will not play.) The Wizards' starters will be:

Bub Carrington
Tre Johnson
Kyshawn George
Bilal Coulibaly
Julian Reese

Which one? Oh, you mean @albabycakes.bsky.social?

Here are the Houston Rockets' and Washington Wizards' injury reports for Monday night's game against each other, known colloquially as the Varun Shankar Bowl (@byvarunshankar.bsky.social):

Trivia Question: Please name the Olympic gold medal-winning men's basketball player who is on the court for tonight's Raptors-Wizards game.

The Wizards' starting lineup tonight against the Raptors:
Bub Carrington
Tre Johnson
Bilal Coulibaly
Kyshawn George
Tristan Vukcevic

Brian Keefe said Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson and Tristan Vukcevic will be on minutes restrictions tonight after they were listed on the injury report or, in Johnson's case, following Johnson's late-January ankle sprain.

The Wizards' expectation is that Julian Reese, whose two-way contract became official today, could be in uniform as early as Tuesday's game in Orlando, a team official said. Reese, a 6-foot-9 big, attended Baltimore's St. Frances Academy & the University of Maryland & is the brother of Angel Reese.

Here is the Wizards' injury report for Saturday night's game against the Raptors in Washington:

What scouts are saying about Anthony Davis, Trae Young and the 2026-27 Wizards

🆕 What do NBA scouts think of Anthony Davis, Trae Young and the 2026-27 Washington Wizards? I asked the scouts for their unfiltered opinions.

The story link below from @theathletic.com is unlocked, so it's free for everyone to read:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/707...

Final: Hawks 126, Wizards 96

That's a new career high for Corey Kispert. He's at 30 points with 7:57 remaining in the fourth quarter. His Hawks lead the Wizards 109-86.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Corey Kispert has 26 points in 19 minutes of playing time. His career-high point total is 29, set on April 2, 2023, in 34 minutes of playing time against New York.

Tre Johnson just threw down the most emphatic dunk of his pro career so far.

Not a typo: Corey Kispert has scored 19 points already in just seven minutes of playing time tonight against his former team.

When Corey Kispert was a rookie, he made sure to do his pregame work alongside Anthony Gill, partly because Kispert had been told that Gill was a fantastic worker who would set a great example. They became close friends. Just now, Kispert sank a 12-foot jumper over Gill.

It's safe to say that Trae Young has a good feel for the shooting background here in Atlanta, as this pregame video from a few minutes ago shows:

The Wizards' early pregame work is well underway here in Atlanta. Here's video of some of Justin Champagnie's shooting routine:

Speaking here in Atlanta before tonight's game, Wizards coach Brian Keefe said the hope is that Trae Young will participate in "more team activities" on the court after the team returns to Washington. Keefe said that Alex Sarr is "a little further behind" than Young in rejoining team activities.

Rookie Jamir Watkins’ new two-year contract calls for him to earn $1,131,970 for the rest of this season. His 2026-27 salary is a nonguaranteed team option worth $2,150,917, two league sources told @theathletic.com. The deadline for the Wizards to exercise their team option is June 29, 2026.

Tonight's Wizards game will be a free T-shirt game for all the fans in Atlanta's State Farm Arena, and I've got to say it's the nicest free T-shirt I've ever seen as a giveaway. It has long sleeves.

Trae Young emotional in Atlanta return: ‘Got so much love for this city’

Fueled by a thoughtful tribute video from the Hawks and a standing ovation from the fans, Trae Young's return to Atlanta has been emotional. Story in @theathletic.com:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/706...

Trae Young is doing part of his shooting routine here in Atlanta — on his former home court. Video:

Trae Young is about to take questions from the Atlanta-based press corps here at State Farm Arena:

Here's a look at some of rookie Will Riley's pregame shooting routine a few minutes ago in Atlanta:

Here's a look at Atlanta's State Farm Arena, where the Wizards will face the Hawks tonight at 7:30:

Justin Champagnie and Tristan Vukcevic have been upgraded from questionable to available to play in tonight's game here in Atlanta against the Hawks.

Here's the Wizards' injury report for their game Tuesday night in Atlanta: