Duke Sizemore here, and Washington has my FULL attention today because the Wizards are staring at one of the biggest preseason resets on the board! Here’s what we’ve got: a six-spot ranking jump in D.C., Dallas and Phoenix gaining market ground, and New Orleans taking the biggest hit of the day.
Okay, okay, okay, Washington first! The Wizards finished last season 17-and-65, ranked 30th at a 1201 Elo, and that ending was ROUGH. Six straight listed losses, a 48.3-point downswing, including a 31-point loss to Chicago and a 23-point Elo hit in that game alone.
But now THIS is the number that jumps off the page: Washington’s preseason Elo is 1356.1. That puts the Wizards 24th — SIX places above where they finished last season. And there is major new roster context: Washington selected AJ Dybantsa NUMBER ONE overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. The model isn't calling Washington a contender; it is saying the baseline has changed, and I mean THAT is a preseason storyline worth tracking.
Now swing over to the market movers. Dallas jumps 14.2 rating points since August 19 to a 1339.9 market Elo, and the Mavericks are up 13.3 since August 16. The news backdrop includes Naji Marshall’s three-year, 52.2-million-dollar extension and that three-team trade headline sending Risacher to Dallas. Phoenix is moving too: plus 12 on the day to a 1475.2 market Elo.
And then there’s New Orleans. WHAM! The Pelicans drop 19.4 points in one day, the largest move supplied, landing at 1244 with a title probability of just 0.0008. Karlo Matkovic is listed day-to-day with a back issue, Bryce McGowens day-to-day with a toe issue. One important wrinkle: over the longer window since August 16, New Orleans is down only 2.7, so that monster one-day swing needs context.
No fake freshness around here: Summer League is stale with no new games in the feed, and the title-race data hasn’t meaningfully changed, so we’re moving on. The next confirmed game on the board is Miami at Toronto on October 3.
Keep those numbers hot and those eyes on D.C. This is COURT VISION: The Daily Brief. Duke Sizemore, out!