The Washington Wizards split their first pair of hometown appearances when the season commenced last week, though it was hard not to embrace the optimism that about the squad exuded before departing for a lengthy road trip. They'd convincingly handled a less-talented Milwaukee Bucks squad before falling short against the Toronto Raptors, a game that revealed just how far the Wizards were from contending with the Eastern Conference's more experienced challengers.

It helped matters that they'd yet to even activate AJ Dybantsa. After the summer's top prospect went down in the preseason finale, he had to wait a week before appearing on the court alongside his regular season-ready teammates. Here was the perfect answer to whatever worries continued nagging the group's attempts at breaking through back to an even record; sure, the rebounding was a problem, and the offense looked a mess at times, making a blue-chip energizer shrouded in a veil of hype seem that much more important to whatever they were planning.

And deliver Dybantsa did. He helped lead the Wizards to a 95-79 rematch over the Charlotte Hornets to tip off NBA Cup action, already off to a cool 18 point per game average through two games. A 3-3 record ties the overachieving Hornets behind 20-point scorers Anthony Davis and Trae Young, as well as the raucous D.C. fan base with the shimmering court of the cup reflected in their collective eyes.

AJ's Energy Was, In Fact, Needed

17 points on five buckets doesn't look quite as sparkly as the rookie's excellent 19-point debut, but the Wizards needed someone from their wing corps to step up following their recent Charlotte-hosted defeat.

Enter the No. 1 pick from this most recent draft. Dybantsa was key as a pace-pusher, helping Washington get to where it needed to be in unlocking the transition game. Faster trips down the court helped the Wizards score easy points behind finishes at the rim whenever leakout options didn't draw fouls, a necessary source of offense before more threes really started falling in the game's difference-making third quarter.

AJ Dybantsa showcasing his SKILLS 🔥

Motors across the court.
Goes behind-the-back.
Finishes with the left. pic.twitter.com/wWVXg5qBjh

— NBA (@NBA) October 31, 2026

Eight rebounds coming off certainly helped the Wizards almost win the battle on the boards, as opposed to getting completely dominated by Moussa Diabate for the second time this week.

After getting his putback dunk overturned on a basket interference call, Dybantsa got the crowd right back in his pocket with an acrobatic finish through contact with a mean mug thrown in for good measure. He scored only two fewer points than Brandon Miller on the heels of his midweek Wizards slaying-29-point bomb, reverting all the way back to the mean with an unsightly 7/24 shooting line.

The Wizards' Shooting Needs Tre Johnson

The Wizards won despite putting up a mere 30 3-point attempts to Charlotte's final count of 57, a common theme that's followed them through wins and losses alike. Their position near the bottom of the league in behind-the-arc hoists per game can be largely-attributed to Davis' love for isolation buckets and the sheer amount of frontcourt and wing options vying for minutes, as Young's generally been alone in chucking threes every night.

I asked Wizards HC Brian Keefe about the team’s low 3-point attempt rate, especially after Charlotte nearly doubling them up in attempts, 56-30. He shouted out timely makes while also outlined WAS’ interior strengths, including finishing around the rim and drawing free throws. pic.twitter.com/3TMp4gbnPO

— All Wizards Talk (@AllWizardsTalk) October 31, 2026

The obvious answer to this critique sounds simple: just look out for Tre Johnson, one of the most creative scorers of the bunch with a limitless-looking jumper. But through a week and a half of the regular season, his long-range hit rate of 33.3% hasn't exactly wowed the masses.

Head coach Brian Keefe certainly thought so, holding him to sub-13 minutes in this win. Outside of his second appearance vs. the Toronto Raptors, a 4/8 outing from long-range in which he notched his sole 20-point performance, he's only hit on three of his 16 tries on the season with a handful of his usual tough looks thrown in with the makeable misses.

The fast break pulls don't excite audiences quite as much when nothing's falling, and even though a shooter of his caliber is due to eventually break through, the offense won't be any easier to watch with the reserve guard shooting below his standard. For now, while the staff sorts out the spacing ramifications of the double-big look, they'll have to hope for Kyshawn George heat checks like the one they got on the Cup court.

Early Cup Implications

The Wizards didn't have to wait nearly as long as they had to last year in searching for their first Cup victory, let alone the two seasons that preceded it that lacked any seeding success to speak of. They're still a team awaiting their first appearance in the tournament's knockout round, and this revenge game against the Hornets doubles as their first advantage in the in-season race.

It's fortunate for the Wizards that they made their crimson-shaded excursion count, as they aren't scheduled to host another Play-In outing until Nov. 24, their final stakes-filled matchup against the Boston Celtics. They're the clear-favorite among members of East Group C, having already made easy work of fellow group-members in the Chicago Bulls up in Boston.

On it's own, this does little to guarantee anything resembling Cup glory, but it does set the wheels in motion for Washington's first competitive bid toward advancing in the tourney in any way, an opportunity they had to pass up on meaningfully-contending for during the doldrums of the rebuilding years. Such will be the case of the Dybantsa era, a period that's set to include more on-court winning and potential than anything frustrated fans have seen in awhile.