01/10/2026, 11:55 PM

Won't suit up Sunday

Young is still dealing with a right quadriceps contusion and is without a timetable for a return. The star point guard should be considered doubtful to make his Wizards debut against the Clippers on Wednesday. In the meantime, Bub Carrington, Malaki Branham and AJ Johnson are candidates for increased playing time.

01/10/2026, 7:35 PM

Enters rotation, swats five shots

When both Alex Sarr and Marvin Bagley have been available for games this season, Vukcevic has typically been outside of the rotation, with most of his appearances in those contests coming in garbage time late in blowouts. That changed Friday, however, with head coach Brian Keefe chose to deploy Vukcevic ahead of Bagley as Sarr's top backup. The 22-year-old capitalized on the opportunity, generating an excellent line that was highlighted by a career-high five rejections. Vukcevic is on a two-way pact and is eligible to appear in 14 more games before he would need to be upgraded to a standard contract, but that won't necessarily deter the rebuilding Wizards from continuing to prioritize him ahead of Bagley, who is four years older and on an expiring deal. Even in a limited role behind Sarr, Vukcevic could still make for an intriguing option in deeper fantasy leagues. In 73 games over his three NBA seasons, Vukcevic holds career per-36-minute averages of 22.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.1 three-pointers, 1.8 blocks and 0.8 steals.

01/10/2026, 7:24 PM

Cut out of rotation Friday

After missing a Dec. 21 game against the Kings due to a calf injury, Bagley had served as the top backup to starting center Alex Sarr in each of the ensuing nine contests while averaging 10.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.6 steals in 19.0 minutes per contest. The Wizards provided no indication that Bagley was nursing any sort of injury heading into Friday, so the 26-year-old's lack of playing time simply looks to be the result of head coach Brian Keefe wanting to get a look at two-way player Tristan Vukcevic as the team's second-unit center. Vukcevic came through with an excellent line -- 15 points, five blocks, four rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes -- and fits better with the rebuilding Wizards' timeline than Bagley, a well-traveled veteran on an expiring deal. As a result, it wouldn't be surprising if Bagley remains out of the rotation moving forward to allow the Wizards to give Vukcevic an extended evaluation.