The Wizards expect to have Alex Sarr available on opening night against the Milwaukee Bucks, as the former No. 2 overall pick is recovering from having fractured his right foot in an offseason workout in June.
General manager Will Dawkins said Thursday in his annual preseason news conference that Sarr will be a “partial participant” in training camp, but should be healthy by Oct. 21 when the team opens the season at home. Sarr improved in his second year of the NBA, averaging 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
The injury news isn’t as good for Jamir Watkins, who tore his ACL in the team’s summer league opener. Dawkins said that Watkins is still recovering, and there’s no timetable for his return. Watkins was one of the Wizards’ best perimeter defenders as a rookie and was expected to compete for minutes this season before getting hurt.
“He’ll be out a good amount of time,” Dawkins said of Watkins.
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Here are more takeaways from Dawkins’ session with reporters:
Anthony Davis is “motivated.”
Dawkins declined to discuss Davis’ contract situation, after both sides decided to postpone extension talks over the summer and wait until after a quarter of the regular season has gone by before resuming. Davis will make $58 million this season and has a $62 million player option for next season.
Since August, he’s been eligible for a four-year, $275 million extension that averages nearly $69 million per year. But Davis, 33, has played in just 71 games combined the past two seasons due to injuries. He didn’t play for the Wizards at all last season after being traded by the Mavericks in February because of an injured hand.
“[Davis] is in a great frame of mind,” Dawkins said. “He’s focused and ready to start the season. He’s very much a motivated player right now. And I expect AD to remind the basketball world who he really is.”
Dawkins is bullish on Trae Young.
Young hasn’t played much more than Davis and appeared in just five games for the Wizards last season after being traded by the Hawks. Despite that brief tenure, Dawkins gave Young a four-year, $212.8 million contract that raised some eyebrows across the NBA.
“Bringing back Trae Young was very, very important to us,” Dawkins said.
Dawkins said Young “really liked the young talent around him” and expects his starting point guard to embrace the challenge.
“I think he’s read a lot of things that were said about him,” Dawkins said. “He probably didn’t like how last season went in terms of injury and health, and he’s here to prove that he’s healthy and he hasn’t changed who he is as a player and can have an impact in making others better at a high level.”
The Wizards expect AJ Dybantsa to help right away.
The 19-year-old No. 1 overall draft pick steps into a unique situation where he isn’t expected to be the focal point of the team right away, given the presence of Young, Davis and Washington’s other young contributors.
Dawkins said Dybantsa’s work ethic has impressed him so far, but tempered expectations for how much the 6-foot-9 forward is going to impact winning as a rookie.
“He’s definitely going to help us now,” Dawkins said. “But more so in the future.”
On the whole, Dawkins, who is entering his fourth season running the front office, told reporters that the team believes it “is starting to construct something that is going to be sustainable” and is expecting to “increase the moments of competitive basketball we play in.”
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