Three Storylines to Monitor Entering Wizards' Season-Opening Bucks Matchup

The Washington Wizards know what the rebuilding stage of team development looks like. It was the step that ownership once dreaded before leaning all the way into the teardown process, when they opted to punt three years worth of game-to-game regular season success in favor of long-term strategizing. Seven first round picks over four NBA Drafts after first pulling the plug on the middling corps of the early-2020s, and the new-look Wizards stand mere hours away from debuting as a meaningfully-competitive operation in their home opener.

And as if they couldn't recognize the indicators of a team-wide re-boot from having themselves lived it, they'll be staring a rudimentary version of themselves down on the hardwood in just a few hours. The Milwaukee Bucks are making the trip to D.C. for the Wizards' season opener, giving the hometown team a lower-leverage opponent to test their diverse firepower against.

A few specific matchup quirks aside, the Wizards will have no shortage of narratives to sort out in debuting their first cracks at a consistent lineup and rotation. The most notable storylines go as follows:

Storyline No. 1: Who'll Start in Place of AJ Dybantsa?

The reigning draft's leading pick will be, without question, among the most notable absences from the day on which most squads open their respective seasons. He ate big minutes over the preseason before rolling his ankle in the New Orleans-based finale, forcing fans to wait a few more days to see his athletic play-finishing in person.

Luckily for Washington's coaching staff, they'll have no shortage of interesting pieces to experiment with in Dybantsa's brief absence.

Two prospects, Tre Johnson and Bilal Coulibaly, stand above the rest with wildly-different archetypal contributions to offer. Johnson's already proven to elevate the offense with a blisteringly-effective jumpshot and some already-strong chemistry with Trae Young, though his introduction into the starting five does demand some enhanced defensive attention. That's where Coulibaly, a rangy disruptor with the best non-Dybantsa hops, can plead his case to seize the spot-start.

Storyline No. 2: How Many Reserves Will Sniff Meaningful Rotational Opportunities?

One of those two usual bench hands will spare the crowded slew of second-stringers from a little less competition, but there are still no shortage of hungry contributors who'll be eager to check into the home opener.

It seems fair to assume, based on preseason evidence, that Deandre Ayton and Bub Carrington will be similarly-deployed as members of the second unit, a third big and another shooter to aid the company as offensive weapons. And judging by training camp buzz, Khris Middleton, too, will be leaned upon as a veteran scorer.

Beyond that, who knows? Justin Champagnie will certainly hear shoutouts from fans appreciative of his unrelenting effort on defense and the boards, while Will Riley's PR soared over this ongoing calendar year as a rapidly-growing 6'9 playmaker.

Going 11 or 12 deep won't be the norm, meaning that head coach Brian Keefe will be in for some tough deployment decisions early-on.

Storyline No. 3: Old Friend Check-In with Kyle Kuzma

Kuzma may as well be the darkest modern Wizards years incarnate to most fans. Not only was he among the lead shot-attempters among the latter days of the Bradley Beal-led experience, but he surged into an impossible-to-miss presence during the rebuild's most primitive years.

Eventually, his frustration playing in a Washington's far-from-contending situation, coupled with his unwillingness to defer touches to the prospects, resulted in his getting traded to Milwaukee a year and a half ago.

His swap for Middleton and fellow eventual-Anthony Davis trade returnee AJ Johnson clearly benefitted one team more than the other, with Milwaukee's vision for Kuzma as Giannis Antetokounmpo's much-needed supplementary scorer quickly going up in smoke with the shoot-first forward's decline as a reliable option.

He's still a member of the Bucks on the final year of a contract that no one's dying to pay, and his 13.5 nightly scoring average with Milwaukee has dropped to 11.6 over five matchups against his most recently-departed team. He failed to notch more than five points on two of those last three outings, but with Antetokounmpo having moved on to the Miami Heat this past summer, Kuzma has the chance to step right back into a starting position he hasn't consistently held since his time in Washington.

Across from him will stand Anthony Davis, the Buck's 2020 NBA Championship winning-teammate from their shared experience on the Los Angeles Lakers, as well as recent draftees like Coulibaly, Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George who witnessed the days of first-option Kuzma. He isn't alone on the Wizards' scouting report, as he's now joined by a few other experienced scorers in Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and another former Wizard in Ryan Rollins, but he'll certainly draw the most attention from Washington fans lining Capital One Arena's stands.

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