If you’ve spent any time lately looking at the Washington Wizards' roster, you know it’s basically a construction site. There are a few shiny new pillars like Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington, but the rest of the house is still being framed. To build the thing, Michael Winger and Will Dawkins need tools. In the NBA, those tools are draft picks.
Honestly, trying to track washington wizards future draft picks can feel like doing your taxes while riding a rollercoaster. Between the convoluted protections on the pick they owe New York and the pick swaps they got back in the Bradley Beal trade, it’s a lot. But if you want to know when this team might actually be good again, you have to follow the trail of these assets.
The New York Debt: Will the Wizards Keep Their Pick?
The biggest cloud hanging over the District is the protected first-round pick owed to the New York Knicks. This is the "zombie pick" from the John Wall-Russell Westbrook trade years ago that just won't go away.
Here is how the 2026 protection works. It is top-8 protected. Basically, if the Wizards are terrible and land a pick between 1 and 8, they keep it. If they somehow get "too good" (or just lucky in the lottery) and the pick falls at 9 or later, it goes straight to Madison Square Garden.
Most experts, like those at The Lead or Tankathon, expect Washington to stay in the basement through 2026. If the pick doesn't convey by then, the debt finally dies and turns into two second-rounders. Given the 2026 class features monsters like AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer, keeping that pick is the difference between a superstar and a footnote.
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The Phoenix Swaps: Turning Beal Into Hope
When Washington shipped Bradley Beal to the Suns, they didn't get a traditional "pile of picks." Instead, they got something a bit more psychological: pick swaps.
In 2026, 2028, and 2030, the Wizards have the right to trade places with the Suns in the draft order.
Right now, that swap looks kinda "meh" because Phoenix is trying to win. But look at the timeline. By 2028 or 2030, Kevin Durant will be retired or very old. Bradley Beal’s contract will be a memory. If the Suns' "all-in" move results in a total collapse, the Wizards could be a decent team and still walk away with a top-3 pick just because Phoenix had a bad year. It’s a bet on the Suns' downfall.
What the First-Round Chest Looks Like
Beyond their own picks, the front office has been busy collecting "extra" chances. It’s not just about their own failure; it’s about other teams' mistakes too.
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- 2026 First Round: They have their own (top-8 protected). They also acquired a conditional pick from the 76ers that originally belonged to OKC, Houston, or the Clippers. Long story short, they’ll likely get the least favorable of those three. It’ll be a late first-rounder, but it's another bite at the apple.
- 2027 First Round: They own their pick outright. No weird protections here.
- 2028 First Round: This is the year of the "Swap-O-Rama." They can swap with the Suns, and they also have some complicated rights involving the Brooklyn Nets and 76ers depending on how other trades settle.
- 2029 First Round: They own their own pick, plus a very interesting addition. They get the second-most favorable pick among Boston, Milwaukee, and Portland. If the Bucks or Celtics finally age out of their prime by 2029, that could be a goldmine.
- 2030 First Round: They have their own pick and a potential swap with Phoenix. They also have a top-20 protected pick from Golden State (the Jordan Poole/Chris Paul trade remnant).
The Second-Round Strategy
Wizards GM Will Dawkins came from the Oklahoma City Thunder school of thought. That means he treats second-round picks like lottery tickets. You want as many as possible because most will be losers, but one might be a rotation player.
The Wizards have an absurd amount of these. In 2026 alone, they could have up to four or five second-round picks coming from teams like Chicago, Phoenix, and New Orleans. By 2027 and 2028, they have swaps and incoming picks from the Lakers, Warriors, and Nets.
It's easy to dismiss these, but look at what happened with Tristan Vukčević or even how other teams found gems like Nikola Jokić. You don’t need all of them to hit. You just need one guy who can play 15 minutes a night without getting blown by on defense.
Why 2026 Is the Real "D-Day"
If you're a fan, circle the 2026 draft on your calendar. This is likely the last year the Wizards will actively try to be one of the worst teams in the league.
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The 2026 class is considered significantly deeper than the 2024 class that produced Alex Sarr. If Washington keeps its top-8 protected pick and adds a high-ceiling talent like Darryn Peterson or Koa Peat, they suddenly have a young core of four or five guys under 22.
At that point, the "future draft picks" stop being the main attraction and start being trade bait. Once you have your core, you use those extra 2028 and 2029 picks to trade for a disgruntled All-Star who wants out of a small market.
Actionable Takeaways for the Rebuild
Monitoring the washington wizards future draft picks isn't just for cap enthusiasts. It tells you exactly when the team plans to stop losing.
- Watch the Knicks protection: If the Wizards stay in the bottom 8 of the standings in 2026, they keep their most valuable asset and the debt to New York essentially vanishes into second-rounders.
- Root against the Suns: The 2028 and 2030 pick swaps are only valuable if Phoenix is worse than Washington. Every Suns loss is a win for the Wizards' long-term rebuild.
- The 2029 "Middle" Pick: Keep an eye on the Milwaukee Bucks. The Wizards getting the "second most favorable" pick from the Celtics/Bucks/Blazers trio in 2029 is a sneaky high-value asset if the Giannis era ends by then.
The strategy here is clear. The front office is hoarding quantity to eventually find quality. It’s a slow, often painful process that involves watching a lot of 20-point losses, but the cupboard is finally starting to look full.
To track these picks as they move, you should regularly check the updated "Stepien Rule" status on sites like RealGM or Pro Sports Transactions. Draft protections change the moment a team finishes their season, so the value of these picks is constantly in flux until the lottery ping-pong balls actually drop.