The Washington Wizards entered Thursday night looking to end their preseason on a high note against the Detroit Pistons.
Looking at the start to the offseason, Washington's young core looked to be hitting the ground running offering plenty of optimistic performances up to this point.
Between flashes of a potential leap from Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George, to the rookie flashes of Tre Johnson and Will Riley, the Wizards depth chart is quietly looking much deeper than anyone expected entering the season.
However, their matchup against the Pistons in the preseason finale fell short of offering great news.
Instead, Washington was forced to deal with some brutal news that not only the Wizards front office didn't hope to receive, but none of the fanbase hoped to hear either.
Bub Carrington exits preseason finale with injury
Bub Carrington started the game for Washington and four minutes in an awkward landing resulted in the second-year guard being helped to the locker room and being quickly ruled out with "knee soreness"
Here is one angle of the play. As Drew Gooden notes, the left leg gets trapped on an awkward landing. Bub needed help walking to the locker room. https://t.co/JSxmJXh81S pic.twitter.com/dTfjf6j12A
— Bijan Todd (@bijan_todd) October 16, 2025
Carrington's injury news is the last thing anyone wanted to hear, especially entering what many hoped could be a breakout season for the Pittsburgh product.
With no Jordan Poole in the mix, Carrington was expected to take over the backcourt responsibilities serving as the team's primary ball handler.
Considering the former lottery pick's offseason work and supposed strides as a downhill finisher, the hype entering his sophomore season was growing by the second.
The fanbase hope Carrington could be the point guard of the future and the Wizards front office believe he has the potential to be.
However, the recent development could put a wrinkle in the team's future plans.
While Carrington's injury news hasn't been announced as the worst-case scenario, the team will likely brace for the potential worst outcome.
With the guard unable to walk off the court under his own power and quickly being ruled out, early indications suggests the team should prepare for their starting point guard to miss some time.
How long is unknown, but until he's back on the court the Wizards will be forced to slot in another man in the starting lineup.
Until the team knows more about a potential recovery time for the Wizards, Washington will have to prepare for the next an to step up.
Perhaps Carrington will be back on the court in no time and the potential nightmare can prove to be best-case scenario.
Nonetheless, the injury comes as a blow the team hoped they wouldn't have to deal with.