Wizards Guard Bub Carrington Admits Team Was 'Held Back' Last Season to Land AJ Dybantsa

Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington told WUSA9 reporter Marshall Kramsky this week that the team deliberately underperformed last season to improve its draft lottery odds. Asked what it would take for the Wizards to build winning habits this year, Carrington didn't dodge.

"We've all, in a way, been held back just because, like you said, we were trying to get AJ Dybantsa," Carrington said. "That's no secret."

He added that the team now has no "handcuffs" and is "shackles-free" heading into the 2026-27 season.

The numbers support the claim. Washington finished 17-65 last season, the worst record in the NBA, going 3-26 after the All-Star break, according to the Washington Sun. That record gave the Wizards a 14.0 percent shot at the No. 1 pick and a 40.1 percent chance at a top-three selection, per the NY Post.

They won the lottery and took BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, who averaged 25.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game last season, with the first overall pick.

Midseason, Washington traded for two injured All-Stars, Anthony Davis and Trae Young. Combined, they played five games for the Wizards last season, all by Young, according to the NY Post. Davis never suited up for Washington at all.

Trae Young was asked the same day as Carrington's interview whether he'd change his conditioning given how little he played last season. His answer didn't exactly clear things up.

"I'm not really changing too much up in terms of what I do in terms of taking care of my body," Young told reporters, according to the Washington Sun. "I feel like last year was one of those years. I'm actually very grateful for what happened last year because if we didn't, we don't necessarily have AJ Dybantsa."

Young tied his limited availability directly to the payoff of landing Dybantsa. He didn't say the injury reports were false, but he didn't exactly deny it either.

The NBA fined the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers last season for alleged tanking violations, a crackdown Commissioner Adam Silver pushed after years of teams gaming the lottery. Silver's office has also floated fines of more than $10 million for intentionally losing games, according to Fade Away World.

Despite Carrington's on-camera admission, The Athletic's Sam Amick and Josh Robbins reported the league office is not expected to penalize Carrington or the Wizards, a finding confirmed across the NY Post, Larry Brown Sports, and the Washington Sun. No investigation has been announced. No charges, fines, or formal findings exist against the organization.

Fade Away World framed this differently, asserting there is "clear evidence of wrongdoing warranting a probe" and that "all eyes are now on" Silver to act. The Athletic's sourcing indicates the opposite is expected to happen.

Wizards general manager Will Dawkins offered a more sanitized account at his preseason media availability. He said the team's rebuilding timeline simply happened to line up with the NBA's new anti-tanking rules.

"I think we were fortunate when we first got here," Dawkins said, according to the Washington Sun. "We wanted to establish our foundation, kind of lay a plan to build... the rules just kind of fell in our favor."

That's a notably different story than his own player's. Carrington described a team that was told not to be its best self. Dawkins described a front office that was already planning to get better and got lucky with timing.

The Wizards aren't the first team accused of tanking for a generational prospect. BroBible pointed to the San Antonio Spurs' widely assumed tank job that landed Victor Wembanyama, and nothing came of it. If the NBA fined Utah and Indiana last season but takes no action against a player who said on camera his team held guys back, that's a real inconsistency for Silver's anti-tanking push to answer for.

The unresolved question is simple: what does a team actually have to do, or say, before the league treats an admission like Carrington's as more than a sound bite?