The Washington Wizards have been one of the toughest teams to judge through the first week of the NBA's return. They're unquestionably talented, peppered with proven stars and ascending prospects, and their bevy of closers has already helped secure two wins in four games with AJ Dybantsa preparing to make his long-awaited debut against the Cleveland Cavaliers after four games on the shelf.

Their in-game habits, meanwhile, are raising as much concern as can be reasonably extracted from such a limited and raw sample size. The still-developing rotation hasn't shot or hit 3-pointers with much of any volume, and their already-hampered rebounding attack will have to trek on against the Cavs without their secret weapon in Justin Champagnie.

Justin Champagnie suffered a “right foot injury” and is OUT for Wednesday’s game vs. the Cavaliers, per the Wizards’ injury report.

Champagnie injured his foot in the first quarter of Monday’s loss. pic.twitter.com/WETIH0Vm9u

— Greg Finberg (@GregFinberg) October 27, 2026

Count last season's Eastern Conference champion runners-up as one of the more telling litmus tests that the identity-searching Wizards have the chance to measure up against. The visitors already have a few recent games, both against the hosting Clevelanders and the field, to study in their attempt to seize back a winning record.

Storyline No. 1: Welcome to the Bigs, AJ

Remember- all of those early shortcomings occurred without the most hyped contributor of the bunch. Dybantsa, this past NBA Draft's top pick, begins his journey to clinching face-of-the-franchise status tonight in finally joining the ready-made batch of scorers and role players awaiting him in Cleveland.

No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa will make his NBA debut for the Washington Wizards tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/attABMbRIn

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 28, 2026

Anthony Davis, who seemed to supremely enjoy his time as the go-to first option on offense, will still get no shortage of touches, though Dybantsa can't simply be stuffed in the corner with hopes that maybe that ball will swing his way from time to time. This is someone who'll immediately challenge the scoring hierarchy, joining a series of ball-handling guards and wings with a fresh breath of athleticism and dynamic play-finishing.

Variety is a great antitode for the stangant ball they've been playing on some of Davis' isolation attempts, with four other talented bucketeers regularly standing and watching the big man go to work 20+ feet from the basket. Dybantsa may not get the longest leash after finally getting activated from his rolled ankle, but how he approaches his first-ever regular season appearance will demand eyes from basketball fans across the country, let alone Washingtonians dying to see him in their threads.

Storyline No. 2: Playing Up to Competition

Washington's sole 2026-27 outing against a potential contender arrived last week against the Toronto Raptors, who firmly humbled the Wizards in a 112-102 defensive clinic in D.C. That final score suggests that the Wizards were just a few possessions away from making things interesting, but the Raptors overcame plenty offensive questions of their own to zap the Wizards of any momentum they entered with.

The Cavaliers, much like the Wizards, possess a middle-of-the-road defensive rating through a week of action, and they've already ran into a few high-powered offenses in the Philadelphia 76ers and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

And even if we look past their recent playoff successes, they're just the veteran team with the shared experience to pick the Wizards and their two timeline-balancing act apart. Even if James Harden hasn't been a Cavalier for as long as Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen, they and veteran coach Kenny Atkinson have more-or-less mastered the regular season formula for churning out wins with ball-movement behind their All-Star scorers, offensive orchestrators and, most intriguingly, their big two-man game.

Mitchell turns on the jets, eurostep to the wraparound, extra rotation drive kick Mobley big-big pass to Allen, cut by Wade to Mitchell drive no look to the corner WHEW. pic.twitter.com/MnUoBRygPX

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) October 28, 2024

Fans should monitor how Mobley and Allen play off one another, cutting into space and doling assists out to one another on live-ball reads at the rim. It's a positional connection that the Wizards have tapped into a bit between Davis and Alex Sarr, but they can take a page out of Cleveland's book in leaning more into their supersized playmaking duo to keep the floor spaced for Dybantsa.

Storyline No. 3: The Champagnie Matchup Dilemma

The Wizards fell apart against the Charlotte Hornets earlier this week without their hungrily-rebounding wing, seemingly the only member of the squad who was consistently boxing out his opponent and vying for crashing opportunities.

Having been already ruled out vs. the Cavs, Washington's staff has more holes to fill outside of the obvious effort-dependent necessities. He'd have been handy in helping to stop Mitchell and Harden, though the Wizards have other wing stoppers worthy of stepping up to the plate.

Kyshawn George and Bilal Coulibaly, who's likely to hit the bench while Dybantsa steps forward, have some experience to lean on here. On Feb. 11, the last time the Wizards lined up against the Cavaliers (not counting their short-staffed, tank-tastic season finale), Coulibaly used his disruptive arms to notch a team-high 3:35 minutes on the point guard, while the sturdier George spent 2:30 guarding Mitchell.

Unfortunately for Washington, both Champagnie and Jamir Watkins will have to watch this one from the sidelines after spending considerable time trying to slow the star guards down, leaving a number of sub-par defenders to consolidate what they'd have given if they were healthy. Trae Young, Bub Carrington, Tre Johnson and whatever's left of Khris Middleton will need to be sound rotating off-ball and sturdy whenever they're singled out on an island, a destiny that's bound to find a few of those names.

If nothing else, consider this an instant splash of water in the face for Dybantsa as he looks what it means to be the versatile defender that Washington's management has already challenged him to be.