Washington Wizards

History

Team creation

The Wizards began playing as the Chicago Packers in 1961, as the NBA's first expansion team, an expansion prompted by Abe Saperstein's American Basketball League. Rookie Walt Bellamy was the team's star, averaging 31.6 points per game, 19.0 rebounds per game, and leading the NBA in field goal percentage. During the All-Star Game, Bellamy represented the team while scoring 23 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Bellamy was named the league Rookie of the Year, but the team finished with the NBA's worst record at 18–62.

The team's original name was a reference to Chicago's meatpacking industry; their home arena, the International Amphitheater, was next door to the Union Stock Yards. However, it was extremely unpopular since it was the same name used by the NFL's Green Bay Packers, bitter rivals of the Chicago Bears. After only one year, the organization changed its name to the Chicago Zephyrs and played its home games at the Chicago Coliseum (Saperstein's ABL Majors prevented the team from playing in the larger Chicago Stadium). In their only season as the Zephyrs, former Purdue star Terry Dischinger was on the roster, and went on to win Rookie of the Year honors. In 1963 the franchise moved to Baltimore, and became the Baltimore Bullets, taking their name from a 1940s–1950s Baltimore Bullets BAA/NBA franchise and playing their home games at the Baltimore Civic Center. The NBA returned to Chicago in 1966 when the Chicago Bulls began play. In their first year in Baltimore, the Bullets finished fourth in a five–team Western Division.

Before the 1964–65 season, the Bullets pulled off a blockbuster trade, sending Dischinger, Rod Thorn and Don Kojis to the Detroit Pistons for Bailey Howell, Don Ohl, Bob Ferry and Wali Jones. The trade worked out well; Howell proved to be a hustler and a fundamentally sound player. He helped the Bullets reach the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In the 1965 NBA playoffs, the Bullets stunned the St. Louis Hawks 3–1, and advanced to the Western Conference finals. In the finals, Baltimore managed to split the first four games with the Los Angeles Lakers before losing the series 4–2.

Within the first two months of that season, the Bullets were purchased from original franchise managing partner Dave Trager by Abe Pollin, Earl Foreman and real estate investor and former NBA referee Arnold Heft for $1.1 million, on November 23, 1964.

1967–1981: The Wes Unseld era

In the late 1960s, the Bullets drafted two future Hall of Fame members: Earl Monroe, in the 1967 draft, number two overall, and Wes Unseld, in the following year's draft, also number two overall. The team improved dramatically, from 36 wins the previous season to 57 in the 1968–69 season, and Unseld received both the rookie of the year and MVP awards. The Bullets hosted the 1969 NBA All-Star Game and reached the playoffs with high expectations, but they were eliminated by the New York Knicks in the first round. The next season the two teams met again in the first round, and although this one went to seven games, the Knicks emerged victorious again.

In the 1970–71 season, the 42–40 Bullets again met the Knicks, this time though in the Eastern Conference finals. With the Knicks team captain Willis Reed injured in the finals, the injury-free Bullets took advantage of his absence, and in game seven, at New York's Madison Square Garden, the Bullets' Gus Johnson made a critical basket late in the game to lift the Bullets over the Knicks 93–91 and advance to their first NBA Finals. They were swept in four games by the powerful Milwaukee Bucks led by future Hall of Fame members Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (known in 1971 as Lew Alcindor) and Oscar Robertson.

Even after the trades of Earl Monroe (to the Knicks) and Gus Johnson (to the Suns), the Bullets remained a playoff contender throughout the 1970s. After a less-than-spectacular 1971–72 season, Baltimore acquired Elvin Hayes from the Houston Rockets and drafted Kevin Porter in the third round of the 1972 NBA draft, out of St. Francis.

After a slow start in 1972–73, Baltimore made their charge in December, posting a 10–4 record on the way to capturing the Central Division title for the third straight year. The Bullets again faced the Knicks in the 1973 NBA playoffs, losing for the fourth time in five series against New York.

In February 1973, the team announced its pending move 30 miles (50 km) southwest to the Capital Centre in Landover, a Washington, D.C. suburb, and became the Capital Bullets. After that 1973–74 season, they changed their geographic identifier name to the Washington Bullets. The Bullets would return to Baltimore to play a few home games per season during the late 1980s and 1990s.

1979–1988: Playoff disappointments

In August 1979, the Bullets became the first NBA team to visit China, where they defeated the Bayi Rockets and the Shanghai Sharks.

Age and injuries finally caught up with the Bullets. In the 1979–80 season, they barely made the playoffs as they captured the sixth and final playoff spot via a tiebreaker despite posting a 39–43 record. In the playoffs, they were swept by the Philadelphia 76ers in a two-game playoff series. The following year the Bullets failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. Wes Unseld retired and Elvin Hayes was traded back to the Houston Rockets the following season.

In 1981–82, Washington played strong under the coaching of Gene Shue and Don Moran, finishing the regular season with a 43–39 record, and although they advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals in the playoffs, they had clearly lost the power of the late 1970s. The 1983 Bullets continued to play with the same talent they had in the previous year. They finished with a winning record, but in a highly competitive Atlantic Division they finished last and missed the playoffs.

The next two years saw the Bullets continue to play mediocre basketball as they finished with losing records but they made the playoffs in the new expanded NBA playoffs format that involved the 16 best teams to make the playoffs; the Bullets were eliminated in both years in the first round.

In 1985, the Bullets acquired Manute Bol in the 1985 NBA draft, whose specialty was blocking shots. That year, he blocked 397 shots (a Bullets record), part of a team that blocked 716 shots (a Bullets team record). However, the Bullets finished with a disappointing 39–43 record, and were eliminated by the 76ers in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The Bullets acquired center Moses Malone from the Philadelphia 76ers for center Jeff Ruland the following season for hope of improvement. Malone would lead the team in scoring with a 24.1 points per game as he would be joined by Jeff Malone who averaged 22.0 points per game. The Bullets' 42–40 record would be their last winning season until 1996–97. Washington was eliminated by the Detroit Pistons in three games in the playoffs.

Twelfth overall in the 1987 NBA draft, the Bullets selected Muggsy Bogues, who at 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm) is the shortest player in NBA history. The Bullets would get off to a slow start as coach Kevin Loughery was fired 27 games into the season with the Bullets holding an 8–19 record. To replace Loughery, the Bullets hired former MVP Wes Unseld. Under Unseld, the Bullets improved as they were able to reach the playoffs again with a record of 38–44. After losing the first two games on the road in the first round of the 1988 NBA playoffs to the Detroit Pistons, the Bullets fought back and forced a fifth game with two home wins. They would lose game 5 by 21 points. It would be nine seasons before Washington would return to the NBA Playoffs.

1989–1997: End of the Bullets

The Bullets got off to a 5–1 start in 1988–89, but they lost 16 of 18 games from mid-December to mid-January. On January 6, 1989, the Bullets franchise played its first regular season game in Baltimore since 1973; this would be the first of 35 regular season "home" games the Bullets played in Baltimore from 1989 to 1997. They finished with a 31–51 record despite stellar seasons by Jeff Malone and Bernard King, who averaged 24.3 and 22.3 points per game respectively to lead the team.

The lone highlight of the Bullets' 30-win 1990–91 season was the successful comeback effort by Bernard King as he recovered from knee surgery he suffered while playing for the Knicks in the 1984–85 season to finish third in the NBA in scoring with a 28.4 points per game. In 1990, the team named Susan O'Malley as its president, the first female president of a franchise in the history of the NBA, who is the daughter of Peter O'Malley, the prominent lawyer from Maryland and former president of the Washington Capitals.

The Bullets continued to struggle due to injuries and inconsistent play. They posted a 25–57 record in the 1991–92 season. Pervis Ellison was named 1992 Most Improved Player of The Year, averaging 20.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game. Undrafted rookie Larry Stewart became the first undrafted player in NBA history to make an All-Rookie Team, being selected to the All-Rookie Second Team. The Bullets drafted Tom Gugliotta with their sixth overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. They finished the 1992–93 season with a 22–60 record. After the season, the Bullets traded Harvey Grant to the Portland Trail Blazers for former All-Star center Kevin Duckworth. In 1993, the Bullets did a rap music video of their version of Naughty by Nature's rap single "Hip Hop Hooray", featuring the rap trio themselves.

Injuries continued as key players Rex Chapman and Calbert Cheaney (the club's first-round draft pick) missed significant stretches, and Ellison missed almost the entire season. The result was a 24–58 record for the 1993–94 season. Don MacLean was named 1994 Most Improved Player of the season, leading the Bullets with 18.2 points per game (tied with Chapman).

The Bullets selected Juwan Howard in the 1994 NBA draft and traded Gugliotta along with three first-round draft picks to the Golden State Warriors for the rights to Chris Webber. While the season started out with promise, a shoulder injury to Chris Webber (ironically against the Warriors) caused him to miss 19 games, and the Bullets struggled through the rest of the season finishing a then franchise-worst (percentage-wise) 21–61. Webber averaged 20.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, but declined surgery for his dislocated shoulder. This would prove costly for the next season. The Bullets released a holiday video, "You da Man, You da Man, that's the reason I'm a Bullets Fan!" in 1994, which featured all 12 Bullets dancing in front of the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.

1997–2001: Rebranded as the Wizards

The renamed Wizards began the 1997–98 season playing five home games at the Capital Centre before moving to the new MCI Center on December 2, 1997. The Wizards finished the season with a 42–40 record including four straight victories to end the season but just missed the playoffs. Highlights of the season included Chris Webber leading the team in scoring (21.9 ppg) and rebounding (9.5 rpg). Strickland led the league in assists (10.5 apg) before suffering an injury near the end of the season. He was also named on the All-NBA Second Team. Tracy Murray averaged 15.1 ppg off the bench including a 50-point game against Golden State. Off-court distractions led to the trade of Webber to the Sacramento Kings for Mitch Richmond and Otis Thorpe in May 1998.

The Wizards finished the lockout-shortened season of 1998–99 with a record of 18–32. Mitch Richmond led the team in scoring with a 19.7 ppg average. In the 1999–2000 season, the Wizards finished with a 29–53 record. Mitch Richmond led the team with 17.4 ppg. In the 2000–01 season, under newly hired coach Leonard Hamilton, 1999 NBA draft pick Richard Hamilton led the team in scoring with 18.1 ppg, but the team finished with a 19–63 record, the most losses the team had ever suffered in one season.

On February 23, 2001, the Wizards were involved in a blockbuster trade days before the trading deadline. The team sent Juwan Howard, Obinna Ekezie and Calvin Booth to the Dallas Mavericks. In return, Washington received Hubert Davis, Courtney Alexander, Christian Laettner, Loy Vaught and Etan Thomas along with $3 million.

2001–2003: The Michael Jordan era

After retiring from the Chicago Bulls in early 1999, Michael Jordan became the Washington Wizards' president of basketball operations as well as a minority owner in January 2000. In September 2001, Jordan came out of retirement at age 38 to play for Washington. Jordan stated that he was returning "for the love of the game". Because of NBA rules, he had to divest himself of any ownership of the team. Before the All-Star break, Jordan was one of only two players to average more than 25 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds as he led the Wizards to a 26–21 record. After the All-Star break, Jordan's knee could not handle the workload of a full-season as he ended the season on the injured list, and the Wizards concluded the season with a 37–45 record but could not make the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Jordan announced he would return for the 2002–03 season, and this time he was determined to be equipped with reinforcements, as he traded for All-Star Jerry Stackhouse and signed budding star Larry Hughes. Jordan even accepted a sixth-man role on the bench in order for his knee to survive the rigors of an 82-game season. A combination of numerous team injuries and uninspired play led to Jordan's return to the starting lineup, where he tried to rebound the franchise from its early-season struggles. By the end of the season, the Wizards finished with a 37–45 record once again. Jordan ended the season as the only Wizard to play in all 82 games, as he averaged 20.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals in 37.0 minutes per game. Jordan retired from playing for a third and final time after the season.

After the season, majority owner Pollin fired Jordan as team president, much to the shock of players, associates, and the public. Jordan felt betrayed, thinking that he would get his ownership back after his playing days ended, but Pollin justified Jordan's dismissal by noting that Jordan had detrimental effects on the team, such as benching Hughes for Tyronn Lue, making poor trades, and using the team's first-round draft pick on high schooler Kwame Brown. The Wizards replaced Jordan's managerial role with general manager Ernie Grunfeld.

2003–2010: The Gilbert Arenas era

Without Jordan in the fold, the Washington Wizards were not expected to win in the 2003–04 season, and they did not. The team signed future All-Star point guard Gilbert Arenas, a move enabled by Jordan's previous cap-clearing maneuvers as a team executive, but stumbled to a 25–57 record.

In the off-season, the team traded Stackhouse, Christian Laettner, and the draft rights to Devin Harris to the Dallas Mavericks for Antawn Jamison. During the regular season, Arenas, Jamison and Hughes were the highest-scoring trio in the NBA and earned the nickname of "The Big Three". Hughes led the NBA in steals with 2.89 per game. Arenas and Jamison were named to the 2005 Eastern Conference All-Star team, the first time Washington had two players in the All-Star game since Jeff Malone and Moses Malone represented the Bullets in the 1987 All-Star Game.

The 2004–05 season saw the team (now in the new Southeast Division) post its best regular season record in 26 years (45–37) and make the playoffs for the first time as the Wizards. With a 93–82 win over the Chicago Bulls on April 13, 2005, the Wizards clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 1996–97. Long-suffering fans celebrated by buying over 16,000 playoff tickets in two and a half hours the day tickets went on sale. In game three of the first round against the Bulls, the Wizards won their first playoff game since 1988. Adding to the "long-overdue" feeling was that game three was the first NBA playoff game to be held within Washington, D.C. city limits. In the Wizards' game five victory in Chicago, Arenas hit a buzzer-beater to win the game and the Wizards took their first lead in a playoff series since 1986. In game six, at the MCI Center, Jared Jeffries picked up a loose ball and went in for an uncontested tie-breaking dunk with 32 seconds left, giving the Wizards a 94–91 win and the team's first playoff series win in 23 years. They were only the 12th team in NBA history to win a playoff series after being down 0–2. This playoff series victory ended the second longest streak with no postseason series wins in NBA history.

In the conference semifinals, the Wizards were swept by the Miami Heat, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The 2005–06 season was filled with ups and downs. During the off-season, Washington acquired Caron Butler and Antonio Daniels. During the regular season, the Wizards again had the best scoring trio in the NBA, this time consisting of Arenas, Jamison and Butler as the "Big Three". The Wizards started the 2005–06 season at 5–1, but went on an 8–17 funk to go to 13–18 through 31 games. Then, they went 13–5 in the next eighteen games. On April 5, 2006, the team was 39–35 and looking to close in on the 45-win mark achieved the previous year, until Butler suffered a thumb sprain and the Wizards lost all five games without him. Butler returned and the team pulled out their final three games, against the Pistons, Cavaliers and Bucks, all playoff-bound teams, to finish the year at 42–40 and clinch the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. They averaged 101.7 points a game, third in the NBA and best in the East and clinched a playoff berth for the second consecutive season for the first time since 1987.

2010–2019: The John Wall era

Leonsis completed his takeover of the Wizards and Verizon Center in June through his newly-formed holding company, Monumental Sports & Entertainment. He had previously purchased the Washington Capitals and Mystics from the Pollin family. Leonsis took a fan-centric approach to running the franchise, by listening and responding to the concerns of Wizards supporters through his email and personal website. He wrote a manifesto of 101 changes he hoped to implement during his ownership, including changing the team's colors back to the red, white and blue of the Bullets era, and possibly changing the team nickname back to "Bullets" as well. Team president Ernie Grunfeld later confirmed that the franchise's colors would revert to red, white and blue from the 2011–12 season onwards. The team also adopted new uniforms that were very similar to the ones they wore from 1974 to 1987. Although the Wizards did not change their name to the Bullets again, they adopted a variation of the 1969–1987 Bullets logo with "wizards" spelled in all lowercase letters like the "bullets" logo was printed.

Despite having only the fifth-best odds of obtaining the No. 1 pick (10.3%), the Wizards won the 2010 NBA draft lottery and selected All-American Kentucky point guard John Wall with the first overall pick. Later in the off-season, the team acquired the Chicago Bulls' all-time leader in three-point field goals, Kirk Hinrich and the draft rights to forward Kevin Seraphin in exchange for the draft rights to Vladimir Veremeenko.

In a blockbuster trade, the Wizards sent Gilbert Arenas to the Orlando Magic in return for Rashard Lewis on December 18. Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong were traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Jordan Crawford, Maurice Evans, Mike Bibby, and a 2011 first-round pick that became Chris Singleton, although Mike Bibby bought out his contract after playing two games and eventually signed with the Miami Heat. The Wizards finished with a 30–52 record, once again occupying the bottom of the Southeast Division.

After a poor start to the 2011–12 season, head coach Flip Saunders was fired and replaced by assistant Randy Wittman. On March 15, the Wizards were involved in a three-way trade that sent JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf to the Nuggets and Nick Young to the Clippers in exchange for Nenê and Brian Cook. After ending the season on a six-game win streak, the Wizards finished with a record of 20–46 (season was shortened due to the 2011 NBA Lockout) and the second-worst record in the NBA, comfortably ahead of the 7–59 Charlotte Bobcats who set an NBA record for the lowest win percentage in a season with .106. On June 20, the Wizards sent Lewis and a pick to the Hornets for Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza.

2019–2023: The Bradley Beal era

In December 2020, the Wizards traded John Wall and a first-round draft pick to the Houston Rockets for Russell Westbrook.

In the 2020 NBA draft, the Wizards drafted Deni Avdija and Vít Krejčí; Krejčí's draft rights were later traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the rights to Cassius Winston. Avdija fractured his ankle in April 2021, effectively ending his season. Bradley Beal had a career season, making All-NBA Third Team for the first time of his career. Russell Westbrook averaged a triple double for the fourth time in his career, despite not making the All-Star team.

The Wizards returned to the playoffs this season, but were defeated by the Philadelphia 76ers in five games.

On June 16, 2021, Brooks and the Wizards agreed to part ways after not being able to agree to a new contract.

On August 6, 2021, Washington Wizards traded Russell Westbrook, 2024 second-round pick and 2028 second-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell.

After a hot start to the season, the Wizards record slowly slipped. Notable losses include a 35-point lead blown to the Clippers and a loss to the 76ers which started a fight between Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell. The Wizard's woes continued as a wrist injury that required surgery kept the team's scoring leader, Beal, out for the remainder of the season.

The trade deadline of the 2021–22 season saw a major roster change. The Wizards acquired All-Star Kristaps Porziņģis in a trade for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans, a sharpshooter whose 5-year, $80 million contract yielded lackluster results during his time in Washington.

On April 19, 2023, after a consecutive season of 35-47 and missing the playoffs, the Wizards fired GM Tommy Sheppard.

2023–present: Rebuild

During the off-season of the 2023–24 season, the Wizards started a rebuild, trading their franchise player Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns for a 12-time All Star Chris Paul and traded Porziņģis to the Celtics in a three-team trade for Tyus Jones, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala and draft picks. Chris Paul was then traded to the Warriors for Patrick Baldwin Jr., Jordan Poole, draft picks and cash considerations.

On January 26, 2024, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. was fired and replaced by assistant coach Brian Keefe for the rest of the season. During February, the Wizards became just the 15th team in NBA history to go winless for a month. The Wizards finished with a record of 15–67, led in scoring by Kyle Kuzma with 22.2 points per game, his career high, in 70 games.

On June 26, 2024, the Wizards drafted Alex Sarr from France in the NBA draft with the second overall pick. They also acquired the fourteenth pick in the draft, Carlton Carrington as well as 2023 Sixth Man of The Year Malcolm Brogdon and future first-round picks for Deni Avdija. Brian Keefe was also promoted from interim coach to full-time head coach. The Wizards would lose 60 games for a second consecutive season, going 18–64, second worst in the league.

On January 7, 2026, the Wizards traded CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert for all-star guard Trae Young. Just one month later, on February 5, 2026, they acquired Anthony Davis from the Mavericks for Khris Middleton and two first-round picks. However, Young and Davis would not immediately suit up while recovering from injuries. The Wizards finished the season with a 17–65 record, the second worst in franchise history and the worst one throughout the entire season. After being awarded the 1st pick in the 2026 draft, the Wizards selected AJ Dybansta.

Season-by-season record

List of the last five seasons completed by the Wizards. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Washington Wizards seasons.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, W–L% = Winning percentage

Team name, logos and uniforms

After moving from Chicago in 1963, the Baltimore Bullets originally went with a blue and orange scheme, which matched the city's Orioles baseball team (orange) and Colts football team (blue). The Bullets initially wore blue and white uniforms with orange trim, but in the early 1970s, orange supplanted blue as the primary color. During this era, the Bullets also wore unconventional uniforms, featuring three thick stripes which ran from the right leg up to the left side of the jersey. Beginning with the 1973–74 season, coinciding with the team's move to Landover, Maryland, to become the Capital Bullets, they changed their colors to red, white and blue to match the American flag. Those uniforms also featured large horizontal stripes on the chest of the jerseys, and three stars on the side panels of the shorts. The uniforms were kept when they changed their location identifier a year later to the Washington Bullets.

The Bullets kept the "Stars and Stripes" uniform until 1987, although they made a minor adjustment before the 1985–86 season with additional thin stripes, the "Bullets" logo on the right leg, and thin shorts stripes replacing the three stars. In 1987, the Bullets changed their logo and uniforms, going with red uniforms on the road and white uniforms at home. With the exception of a switch to block lettering and numbers before the 1990–91 season (switching over from the Serpentine font used for both elements, with the player name on back rendered in lower case as well), the Bullets kept these uniforms until 1997.

In 1997, the team owner, Abe Pollin, decided to change the club's nickname from "Bullets" to "Wizards". The reasoning behind the name change was because Pollin did not want the team's name to continue to be associated with any violent connotations. The name change also included new logos, colors and uniforms, coinciding with the team's move to the new MCI Center (now Capital One Arena); though they would not play in the new arena until December 2, during which they played their first few home dates at the USAir Arena. The new team's colors were blue, bronze and black, the same colors used by the Capitals which they first unveiled two years earlier. The primary logo depicted a wizard conjuring a basketball with a quarter moon. In 2007, the Wizards made minor modifications on their team jerseys and logos. To accommodate the gold–black alternate jerseys they introduced the previous season along with the design change on the Verizon Center floor, they changed their secondary team colors from bronze to metallic gold, and the player's name on the back of the jersey was changed from white and blue with bronze trim to gold (blue on home uniforms) with a change in lettering; the road uniform name lettering changed back to white with gold trim before the 2010–11 season.

Home arenas

International Amphitheatre (1961–1962)

Chicago Coliseum (1962–1963)

Baltimore Civic Center (now CFG Bank Arena) (1963–1973, 35 games from 1989 to 1997)

Cole Field House (1973)

US Airways Arena (originally Capital Centre) (December 1973 – November 1997)

Capital One Arena (formerly MCI Center and Verizon Center) (December 1997–present)

In December 2023, Monumental Sports & Entertainment founder and team owner Ted Leonsis engaged in a non-binding partnership with Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin to move the Wizards and Washington Capitals to a planned arena in Potomac Yard in Alexandria, Virginia, by 2028. The structure would be part of an arts and entertainment district at the site, which would include a practice facility, restaurants, an esports venue, concert hall, and a new headquarters for Monumental. In March 2024, after officials in Alexandria announced that the $2 billion entertainment and sports complex plans were scrapped, Washington, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser announced she has signed a deal with both teams' majority owner, Ted Leonsis, to keep the Wizards and Capitals in the District "at least until 2050."

Personnel

Retained draft rights

The Wizards hold the draft rights to unsigned draft picks who have been playing outside the NBA. A drafted player, either an international draftee or a college draftee who is not signed by the team that drafted him, is allowed to sign with any non-NBA teams. In this case, the team retains the player's draft rights in the NBA until one year after the player's contract with the non-NBA team ends. This list includes draft rights that were acquired from trades with other teams.

Retired numbers

Notes:

1 All in Baltimore

2 1972–1973 in Baltimore

3 Also served as coach (1987–1994)

4 1968–1973 in Baltimore

5 Also served as Bullets/Wizards television color analyst (1984–2017)

6 1971–1973 in Baltimore

The NBA retired Bill Russell's No. 6 for all its member teams on August 11, 2022.

Basketball Hall of Fame members

Notes:

1 He also coached the team in 1987–1994

2 In total, Bellamy was inducted into the Hall of Fame twice – as player and as a member of the 1960 Olympic team

3 In total, Jordan was inducted into the Hall of Fame twice – as player and as a member of the 1992 Olympic team

4 He also played for the team from 1961 to 1963

5 Thorn was inducted as a contributor

FIBA Hall of Fame members

Notes:

1 In total, Jordan was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame twice – as player and as a member of the 1992 Olympic team

Individual records and awards

Franchise leaders

Bold denotes still active with team.

Italic denotes still active but not with team.

Points scored (regular season) (as of the end of the 2025–26 season)

Other statistics (regular season) (as of the end of the 2025–26 season)