Sports https://www.notus.org/sports Sports en-US Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:10:00 GMT Stick and Pick? Shop Around? The Wizards Have Options at No. 1 https://www.notus.org/metro/washington-wizards-first-pick-options Scott Allen After getting lucky in the lottery, Washington has a franchise-altering decision to make. Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:10:00 GMT https://www.notus.org/metro/washington-wizards-first-pick-options AJ Dybantsa AP - 26070062398264
BYU forward AJ Dybantsa is the prospect most likely to be chosen No. 1. Will the Wizards make that pick? Jon Robichaud/AP
Toward the end of their third straight season with fewer than 20 wins, the Washington Wizards issued a public apology for an April Fools’ Day halftime skit in which a “fan” was tricked into believing he made a half-court shot while blindfolded to win $10,000.

Facing backlash on social media from those unaware the skit was scripted and that the fan was in on the joke, the team conceded the prank “missed the mark.”

The episode was, in the online parlance of the franchise’s long-suffering fans, #SoWizards. Two months later, with the team making headlines for much better reasons and season-ticket sales reportedly up, all is forgiven.

The Wizards own the No. 1 pick in the June 23 NBA draft for the first time since 2010. And in another indication that the franchise’s days as a laughingstock may be behind it, Washington has been mentioned as a potential trade suitor for one of the league’s biggest stars (more on that later).

Most of the talk is about what the architects of the Wizards’ rebuild — team president Michael Winger and General Manager Will Dawkins — will do on draft day. Owning the No. 1 pick guarantees nothing (see: Brown, Kwame), but Washington at least possesses the luxury of choice.

What are their options? We asked NBA experts for their take.

Stick and Pick A.J. Dybantsa

BYU forward AJ Dybantsa and Kansas guard Darryn Peterson are widely considered the top talents in this year’s draft, and while neither is the same caliber of prospect as Victor Wembanyama when he went No. 1 in 2023 to the San Antonio Spurs, both have star potential.

The Wizards have a solid young core of recent first-round picks in Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson and Will Riley. They acquired accomplished veterans in four-time all-star guard Trae Young and 10-time all-star center Anthony Davis before last year’s trade deadline. Now they have a chance to add a franchise cornerstone.

Dybantsa led the nation in scoring at 25.5 points per game. The 6-foot-9 wing is an explosive playmaker with the ability to create off the dribble, hit tough shots and guard multiple positions. At the NBA draft combine, Dybantsa posted a 3.14-second three-quarter court sprint time, which matched John Wall’s mark from 2010, and a 42-inch vertical leap.

“It’s very hard to see a world in which he is not a very good NBA player,” ESPN senior NBA writer Tim Bontemps said in a phone interview.

“When evaluating players this young, it’s always about balancing risk and reward,” NBA draft analyst Matt Babcock wrote in an email. “To me, and I think to most evaluators, the highest level of confidence is in Dybantsa’s long-term outlook.

The Athletic’s David Aldridge and Josh Robbins surveyed 13 NBA executives, scouts and front-office officials about Washington’s options, and of the 10 who were willing to name the player they thought the Wizards should pick, seven voted for Dybantsa.

“Don’t complicate it,” one of those voters told The Athletic.

Most mock drafters, including ESPN’s Jeremy Woo, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish, The Ringer’s J. Kyle Mann and Yahoo’s Kevin O’Connor, have Dybantsa going No. 1.

Darryn Peterson AP - 26063127643467 (3598x2399, AR: 1.50)

Move Back for Darryn Peterson

One intriguing dynamic in this year’s draft is that the leadership of the Utah Jazz, who own the No. 2 overall pick, have long been enamored with Dybantsa. A Massachusetts native, Dybantsa has spent the last two seasons in Utah after transferring to Utah Prep for his senior year of high school and then starring at BYU. Jazz owner Ryan Smith is also a prominent BYU booster.

That has led many to connect the dots for a possible trade between Utah and Washington — allowing the Jazz to select Dybantsa first overall and the Wizards to receive additional trade compensation to move back one spot and select Peterson.

The 6-foot-6 Peterson was the favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the fall. An elite shooter with the ability to play either guard position, Peterson averaged 20.2 points per game while making 38.2% of his three-point attempts during his freshman season at Kansas. But he missed 11 games and was limited in others due to mysterious full-body cramping. Peterson recently told ESPN the condition was caused by high doses of creatine. (Several medical professionals interviewed by the Deseret News suggested that explanation raises more questions than answers.)

“There’s a lot of things that go into this, outside of the bounds of what we know, and I think that’s particularly the case this year with some of the medical stuff for Darryn Peterson,” Bontemps said.

Bontemps said the “highest upside play would probably be to take Peterson,” and pointed to the duo’s head-to-head matchup in January. Peterson outplayed Dybantsa in the first half of Kansas’s 90-82 win before exiting the game shortly after halftime.

“When Peterson is right, he is just a special three-level scorer,” Bontemps said. “I think there’s a higher ceiling with him.”

NBA draft analyst Jonathan Givony, who has watched Dybantsa and Peterson play on the same floor several times dating back to their high school days, said on “The Zach Lowe Show” that Peterson is “on another level talent-wise” and should be the pick.

Turn Heads With Another Option

Duke forward Cam Boozer and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson are widely considered the third- and fourth-best prospects available, and not everyone is convinced it’s a two-horse race for No. 1.

The Athletic’s John Hollinger has Boozer atop his ranking of the draft’s top prospects and described the national player of the year as “basically ‘college basketball Nikola Jokić’’’ last season.

“The Wizards are a young, developing team with a versatile young core, so I think an argument could be made for any of the four,” Babcock wrote.
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Trade for a Star

Beyond the prospect debate, veteran NBA reporter Marc J. Spears recently suggested that Washington would “explore their options” ahead of the draft, including a potential trade for Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Notably, Spears didn’t report that the Wizards had expressed interest in acquiring Antetokounmpo, or that the “Greek Freak,” who will turn 32 this year, would want to play in Washington.

Neither Robbins nor Monumental Sports Network’s Chase Hughes see a blockbuster deal for Antetokounmpo as likely, and Hughes added he doesn’t see any scenario in which Washington would include this year’s No. 1 pick in a trade package to acquire the superstar. Still, the fact that the Wizards have amassed enough young talent and draft capital to put together an attractive offer is a sign that they’re headed in the right direction.

Robbins, a DMV native, has also noticed an uptick in excitement about the team he has covered for The Athletic since 2021.

“I’ve always believed that the Wizards have been sitting atop a powder keg of interest — albeit a powder keg that was dampened by 45-some years of false starts” since the franchise’s last NBA Finals appearance in 1979, he wrote in an email. “That interest needed a spark, and it appears that winning the lottery is that spark.”

The largest year-over-year improvement in Wizards franchise history came in 1968-69, when rookie center Wes Unseld, the No. 2 overall pick in the draft behind Elvin Hayes, led the Baltimore Bullets to 57 wins on the heels of a 36-win campaign. In a deep Eastern Conference, it will likely take a similar jump for Washington, which won 17 games last season, to end its five-year playoff drought.

“It would be a huge step forward just to make the play-in [tournament],” Hughes said. “But they now have the talent to do it.”
]]> Why Trinity Rodman Chose to Stay in D.C. https://www.notus.org/metro/trinity-rodman-washington-spirit-dc Thomas Floyd After long and complicated contract negotiations, the Washington Spirit star opted to return to a city that feels like home. Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:25:00 GMT https://www.notus.org/metro/trinity-rodman-washington-spirit-dc Trinity Rodman
In April, Trinity Rodman became the youngests NWSL player to celebrate her 100th regular season appearance. Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire/AP
Trinity Rodman’s California roots run deep. The Washington Spirit forward was born and raised in the Los Angeles area and broke through as a buzzy prospect for the SoCal Blues soccer club. She split her high school days between Newport Beach and San Juan Capistrano. Until Rodman was 18, she only knew sunshine, freeways and the Pacific coastline.

But Rodman, who turned 24 last month, has now been based in the D.C. area for a quarter of her life. The personal growth, the core memories, the foundational relationships — so many of the experiences that shaped her into a global star have come during her time in the District.This past winter, a protracted contract saga ended with Rodman inking a deal to remain with the Spirit for another three years.

From time to time, she will ask her mother: “Is it bad to say that D.C. feels like my hometown and not California?’”

“She’s like, ‘Don’t say that!’” Rodman laughed. “But this is my home, and every single time I drive to the games, I’m super excited. It feels like I’m going to hang out at my best friend’s house.”

It’s not hard to see why the Audi Field faithful worship Rodman. In her debut season in 2021, Rodman claimed NWSL rookie of the year honors and steered the Spirit to its first league championship. By the time the World Cup arrived in 2023, she was a starter for the U.S. national team. A year later, Rodman teamed up with Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson to form the “Triple Espresso” front line that spearheaded the Americans’ run to an Olympic gold medal in Paris.

So, even after an injury-plagued 2025 campaign, Rodman’s first foray into free agency dominated women’s soccer headlines. Could the Spirit afford to retain her under the NWSL’s salary cap? Or would she follow U.S. teammates Naomi Girma, Alyssa Thompson and Emily Fox in leaving the league to accept a big-money offer from a European team?

Trinity Rodman (6644x4429, AR: 1.50)
Amid negotiations, the NWSL introduced the “high-impact player rule” that allowed clubs to exceed the salary cap to secure certain stars. Before long, it was informally dubbed the “Rodman rule.” A month later, Rodman re-signed with the Spirit in a reported three-year, $6 million deal that made her the highest-paid player in women’s soccer history.

“They didn’t want me to go,” Rodman said of the NWSL and the Spirit. “They were being selfish about it, which I think speaks to what I’ve been trying to achieve here and within the entire league. It just makes me very happy, outside of all the other things that came with [the contract], just knowing that fans wanted me to succeed — but didn’t want me to succeed somewhere else.”

With a 2-1 win against the Seattle Reign on May 30 at Audi Field, the Spirit entered the NWSL’s monthlong midseason break at 6-2-3 — good for fourth in the 16-team league.

Now, she has joined the national team for two international friendlies against 2027 World Cup host Brazil. After making just one appearance for the U.S. in 2025, Rodman has gotten back in a groove wearing the red, white and blue, logging eight matches and scoring two goals this year.

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“She’s settled. She’s happy,” U.S. coach Emma Hayes said. “I think knowing her future is a big weight off her shoulders.”

Star Qualities

When Rodman celebrated her 100th regular-season appearance for the Spirit with a 4-0 win over the Kansas City Current on April 24, she became the youngest NWSL player to hit that milestone. Her elite statistics — more than 30 goals and 20 assists in her career — are matched by her marketing influence: Her No. 2 jersey is the NWSL’s bestseller, and she has more than 750,000 followers on Instagram.

“Seeing how young she is getting 100 games, it’s kind of insane,” Adrián González, the Spirit’s coach, said. “So I call her a veteran. … She wants to help the team, and she wants to fight and she wants to compete.”

Rodman marked that 100th match with her first goal and first assist of the season after a five-match drought. She found the net in the next two matches and added two more assists as the Spirit surged up the standings.

“I’m happy with where I’m at,” Rodman said. “But at the same time, I wish I could score and assist every game.”

Rodman maintains staggering standards, even after physical struggles in recent years. A lingering back injury limited the winger during Washington’s run to the 2024 NWSL final, then led her to step away from the club for more than three months last season as she sought treatment abroad. She was later sidelined by a knee injury, returning for just two cameos off the bench in the playoffs as the Spirit’s season ended with another championship game defeat.

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When healthy, Rodman is a menace. Propulsive on the ball, with the pace to blow past defenders and the footwork to confound them, she creates all kinds of mismatches in wide spaces. Closer to goal, her attacking instincts and finishing touch make her as lethal as they come.

“Her acceleration, her change of direction, her technical ability are all really world class,” said Haley Carter, the Spirit’s president of soccer operations. “But I think what makes her truly special is her decision-making at speed and her creativity. She processes and sees the game at a really, really elite level, recognizing when to take defenders on, when to combine with their teammates, when to exploit space in behind.”

Rodman’s teammates are also quick to emphasize her value in the locker room, where she is a chatty and endearing presence. Postgame interviews are often brimming with introspection and self-aware shtick, her infectious personality off the field matching her entertainment value on it.

“She’s so bubbly, always smiling, laughing, dancing, just bringing a lot of energy to the group,” Spirit defender Esme Morgan said. “She kind of brings that vibe and just carries a lot of excitement from herself to the rest of us.”

‘The Rodman Rule’

After her new contract was announced in January, Rodman explained her decision in simple terms: She wasn’t done in Washington.

“I wouldn’t be the player I am today without Audi [Field], and without this experience here,” she said last week. “That has shaped me to be who I am today, on and off the field. That connection within D.C. has just stuck with me, and it feels like my home.”

Finalizing that arrangement, however, was no easy task.

Accommodating Rodman’s salary was tricky for a Spirit squad that also features such stars as Italian striker Sofia Cantore, Colombian playmaker Leicy Santos and reigning NWSL defender of the year Tara Rudd. An initial bargain struck between Washington and Rodman was vetoed by NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman for purportedly circumventing the salary cap. When the league introduced the high-impact player rule, the players union filed a still-unresolved grievance and advocated for raising the salary cap.

Y. Michele Kang (5190x3460, AR: 1.50)
“I’m thankful that the league pushed through a solution that enabled us to keep Trin here in D.C. and to keep Trin within the league,” said Carter, who was tasked with negotiating the deal for Washington. “That’s important for the NWSL, and important for the women’s game here in the U.S. I do think it’s unfortunate that we have to come up with such creative mechanisms to be able to pay players what they’re worth.”

The negotiations marked an inflection point for the NWSL, a 14-year-old circuit increasingly threatened by Europe’s top leagues. Rodman hopes that her deal not only sets the stage for her U.S. teammates to stay put but also shows younger players they can achieve their career goals Stateside.

“I always looked at the national team and the players that I looked up to as, like, untouchable, unfathomable idols,” Rodman said. “Now, being in this position where I do have the ability and the power to find that connection and to show [young girls] that it’s possible, and that it’s not a Rodman rule or a one-player thing, is very important to me.”

Spirit owner Y. Michele Kang shared that sentiment.

“Trin’s contract is certainly benefiting from [the rule], but it was not just for Trin,” Kang said upon announcing the deal. “It’s much bigger. It’s for the league-wide effort.”

But Carter has been careful not to heap too much responsibility on Rodman for shaking up the women’s soccer landscape.

“You’ve got to remind her that there’s a burden that comes along with being the first to do something and kind of remind her not to let that burden weigh too heavy on her,” Carter said.

Trinity Rodman (8256x5504, AR: 1.50)
If Rodman is feeling that pressure, she isn’t showing it. She has started posting more vlogs to her YouTube page, documenting her day-to-day. By sharing these small moments — playing Fortnite, spoiling her rescue dog, furnishing her new Northern Virginia home, hanging out with her niece and nephew — Rodman finds she’s both connecting with fans and centering herself.

“To just watch it back, it’s wholesome for me,” she said. “I don’t get a moment to really process my life.”

Rodman hopes to do more of that during the NWSL break, which she plans to spend tagging along with boyfriend Ben Shelton — the world’s No. 5-ranked men’s tennis player — as he prepares for Wimbledon. The NWSL campaign will resume July 3, and Rodman will once again focus on bringing a trophy back to her new hometown.

“From my teenage years to now, I feel like I’ve grown with D.C. and with Audi and with this team and organization,” Rodman said. “I just don’t feel like I’ve finished everything yet.”
]]> Three Ways the Commanders Can Get Jayden Daniels Back on Track https://www.notus.org/metro/jayden-daniels-commanders-quarterback-bounce-back Dan Pizzuta After a rocky sophomore season, Washington’s star quarterback needs to make some quick fixes. Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:20:00 GMT https://www.notus.org/metro/jayden-daniels-commanders-quarterback-bounce-back Jayden Daniels.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels is entering a pivotal third season in Washington. Nick Wass/AP
Two seasons ago, Jayden Daniels ran away with the offensive rookie of the year award and led an imperfect Washington Commanders team to the NFC championship game. In his second season, injuries limited him to seven games, and Washington sputtered to a 5-12 record.

Daniels’ health is the primary concern for most Commanders fans. But even when the quarterback was on the field in 2025, his performance didn’t come close to that of his rookie season. In 2024, Daniels ranked seventh among all quarterbacks in expected points added per play — a good measure of a QB’s impact on his team’s chances of winning. He fell all the way to 27th last season, per TruMedia.

That shift has set up a pivotal third campaign for Daniels, one that will feature a new offense under first-time coordinator David Blough (replacing Kliff Kingsbury, who was shown the door following the team’s offensive struggles). We don’t yet know how the 30-year-old Blough will design Washington’s offense. But it seems likely he will draw on systems he played in, including those of Bears coach Ben Johnson and Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell — two of the most respected offensive minds in the league.

Here are a few things the Commanders can do to get Daniels back on track:

Get Under Center

Both Blough and coach Dan Quinn have already alluded to this change. Over his two NFL seasons, Daniels has one of the lowest rates in the league in snaps under center — meaning he has operated out of the shotgun formation on the vast majority of plays.

It might sound counterintuitive, but having a quarterback operate from under center can actually create more opportunities to extend plays, find deep throwing lanes downfield and scramble for big gains — all things that rank among Daniels’ biggest strengths.

Running plays from under center offers several advantages. For starters, it allows for a running game that is much more diverse. The extended time from snap to handoff gives the running back more time to read the line of scrimmage or potentially find wider lanes on the outside.

But the biggest difference comes in the play-action passing game. Last season, there was a big efficiency boost on play-action passes under center league-wide, when compared to play-action from the shotgun.

Blough could take a page or two from former systems and coaches he’s played under, such as Johnson. Last year, the Bears had the highest EPA per rush on early-down running back carries from under center. Part of that was due to a powerful offensive line, but the attention to detail in blocking and execution made those runs work.

That success spread to the play-action game. Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams — who was drafted one pick ahead of Daniels in 2024, and similarly thrives on his ability to create big plays out of structure — went from 28.8% of his snaps under center as a rookie to 48.4% in his second season, while his play-action rate went from 16.5% to 31.9%. The under-center play-action game created space for Williams in the pocket. That allowed Williams to find more open throwing windows deeper in the middle of the field, and also left room for Williams to scramble if things broke down.
https://bsky.app/profile/danpizzuta.bsky.social/post/3mmx5yajnw22hPlaying more under center would be a transition for Daniels, but others have done it. Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson has increased his use of under-center plays nearly every year of his career, going from sub-10% rates over his first few seasons to 29% and 33% in the past two. He has become one of the league’s best quarterbacks on play-action plays from under center.
https://bsky.app/profile/danpizzuta.bsky.social/post/3mmrbb6d5vs2aAll of this can play into Daniels’s strengths, giving him more freedom to create on longer-developing plays and from deeper pockets.

Establish the Pocket

Daniels is always dangerous on the move, but a quarterback’s most reliable plays come from a clean pocket. Quarterbacks with 200 or more dropbacks in 2025 averaged 0.06 EPA per play with a 45.5% success rate. From a clean pocket, that same group averaged 0.23 EPA per play with a 51.5% success rate. That’s about equivalent to a jump from a middling quarterback (i.e. 2025 Baker Mayfield) to an MVP candidate (i.e. 2025 Drake Maye).

There were two problems with Daniels’ 2025 performance from the pocket. For one, less than half (49.6%) of his plays came from a clean pocket, which ranked 35th in the league. He ranked 32nd in EPA per play in those situations.

The blame for this should be spread around. His drop rate (the percentage of catchable passes that were dropped by receivers) more than doubled, from a league-average 4.1% in 2024 to a league-high 9.8% in 2025. Dropped passes can erode a quarterback’s trust in the offense and his receivers, causing him to try to make more plays on his own. Unsurprisingly, Daniels led the league in plays outside the pocket (31.4%) and scramble rate (15.7%) last season, both of which increased from 2024.

Setting up Daniels to play more from the pocket should create more opportunities for success within structure and allow him to be more deliberate about making plays with his legs, rather than running out of necessity.

Reconnect With Terry McLaurin

The Commanders’ struggles with dropped passes last fall underscores a bigger issue: They lack offensive firepower and desperately need star wide receiver Terry McLaurin to bounce back from a down season.

During the 2024 season, the Daniels-McLaurin connection was one of the most electric in the league. McLaurin was the rookie’s trusted target for big plays and the need-to-have-it downs. Daniels completed 67.3% of his passes to McLaurin, totaling 944 yards on 104 targets.
https://bsky.app/profile/danpizzuta.bsky.social/post/3lqb5dmpt622aBut in 2025, the pair played just 138 snaps together, as McLaurin (who missed a chunk of training camp due to a contract dispute) struggled through a quad injury and Daniels also missed time. Daniels completed 52.6% of his throws to McLaurin on 19 targets.

Blough has said he wants to build Washington’s offense around feeding McLaurin, with the goal of creating explosive plays. Washington needs the receiver to find something close to his 2024 form in order for Daniels to return to his perch as one of the league’s best quarterbacks.
]]> The Nats’ Past Doesn’t Matter to Paul Toboni. That’s a Good Thing. https://www.notus.org/metro/paul-toboni-nationals-rebuild Jesse Dougherty Washington’s new leader won’t let the team’s rebuilding woes — or early wins — speed up his plan. Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:37:00 GMT https://www.notus.org/metro/paul-toboni-nationals-rebuild Nationals President Paul Toboni press conference
Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni hopes to build a sustainable winner in Washington. Howard Fendrich/AP
In the eight months and seven days since Paul Toboni was hired to run the Washington Nationals, he has, in some loose order, moved his family, including four small children, from Boston to Georgetown; overhauled a front office; hired a whole new major league coaching staff; turned over an entire minor league operation; traded the team’s top pitcher; introduced words like alignment and synergy to the organization’s vocabulary; then watched the Nats, projected by Vegas to win around 65 games this year, enter June with a winning record and the most runs scored in Major League Baseball.

But because he’s just one 36-year-old man, Toboni, the Nationals’ president of baseball operations, hasn’t done everything he’s wanted to. Like, for example, he would love to travel with the team a bit more. Or, when he thinks about it, he hasn’t spent a ton of time imagining himself as a Nats fan in recent years. (Can you blame him? Would you inhabit that headspace if you had the choice?)

“So this is going to sound bad, but honestly I think to myself sometimes that I'm not sure I've empathized enough with what the fans have gone through,” Toboni told me at Nationals Park earlier this month. “Just because I am so focused, as we all are, on: ‘Hey, we're new to this and we just want to do it right. Forget about what happened in the past, we just want to do it right.’”

For the four years before Toboni arrived, the Nationals often used the future to deflect fans’ attention away from the present. Tired of losing? Here’s a player in Double-A hitting his stride. Sick of watching your favorite players suit up for division rivals? Maybe we can interest you in the technology we’ve reluctantly added in the bullpens. This is a preferred mental trick of wayward franchises: The future is whatever you need it to be.

But Toboni doesn’t dodge the tension between then, now and later while trying to build a sustainable winner. And by not understanding the pain of the post-World Series years in D.C., he seems suited to cure it in a meaningful way, seeing as he’s much more interested in that outcome than slapping a Band-Aid on your wounds.

“What I always think about is when I was a fan of the San Francisco Giants growing up, if we were in this spot and we went out and signed a couple big free agents and they were popular names and whatever, but we weren't really ready for it, and then we lost in two, three, four years and we were in the same spot we had been in, I would be pretty upset,” Toboni said. “Far more upset as a fan than if I was led to be just a little bit more patient and thoughtful about how we do this right.”
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With these early asks for patience, Toboni has two things going for him: The first is that, again, he’s new and has brought in dozens of new faces, including 33-year-old manager Blake Butera, to remake the Nationals’ culture. And the second is that, through more than a third of the season, the Nationals (33-33) are within spitting distance of a playoff spot, which can be fun and refreshing no matter the sample size or whether it proves to be predictive. It was the first time since 2021 that the team entered June with a record above .500.

There is still some dissonance here, though, in that a process that’s new to Toboni is certainly not new to Nationals fans, who are rightfully sick of seasons that end with way more losses than wins. Toboni rejects the popular sports narrative that laying a foundation has to come with baseball that's miserable to watch. So when he talks about doing things right, one element of that is continuing player development in the big leagues, which is clearly influencing results.

Keibert Ruiz, once one of the worst defensive catchers in the league, has turned into an above-average receiver with the new coaching staff. By focusing on pulling the ball in the air more, center fielder Jacob Young has already smacked eight homers, three more than his career total (in 1,006 plate appearances) before this season. After struggling down the stretch last season, James Wood, the team’s star outfielder, is the National League’s leader in walks and runs scored, to say nothing of his 17 home runs, which are tied for second, and .936 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, which ranks third behind Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber. Shortstop CJ Abrams is tracking toward a career year, right behind Wood with a .914 OPS.

Plus, in the minors, the team’s internal data says it ranks among the top systems for overall offensive production and pitching velocity.

This doesn’t mean the Nats are full-on contenders quite yet, even if May was their best month in years. (For reference, from 2020 to 2025, only the Colorado Rockies lost more games.) It does, however, mean they have a flammable offense that will have to hit — and hit, and hit — to keep propping up a pitching staff that’s allowed the second most runs in the league. That offense scored 14 runs and crushed five homers Friday night. It’s still the most productive in the sport. And so it may not surprise you, given how this is going so far, and given Toboni’s general disinterest in looking backward, that he’s made a conscious effort to not use the word “rebuild.”

He is stubborn about this, too, same as he’s stubborn about sticking to his vision, to the idea of steady growth, unless the Nationals were to win at an even higher rate and force the front office to adjust. Of course, eventually, parts of trying to compete for championships will be out of Toboni’s control. The Lerner family will decide whether to spend more on the roster. Even the most promising players can fail to reach their full potential for a variety of reasons, with injuries high on that list. But for one of his first core philosophies as the guy in charge, Toboni has decided to not saddle the Nationals with the losing that happened before he arrived. And it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change.]]> The Mystics' Shakira Austin Is Now the Adult in the Room https://www.notus.org/metro/washington-mystics-shakira-austin-wnba-veteran Dave Sheinin With one of the youngest rosters in WNBA history, Washington is relying on the local product for veteran leadership. Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:35:00 GMT https://www.notus.org/metro/washington-mystics-shakira-austin-wnba-veteran Mystics Shakira Austin
Shakira Austin posted “forever my cityyyyyyy,” after accepting an offer from the Washington Mystics. Daniel Kucin Jr./AP
When her iPhone rang at 5 a.m. in Shanxi, China, Shakira Austin knew who was on the other end. She had switched her call settings to “Do Not Disturb” the night before, with one important exception. It was April 14, the morning of Game 1 of the finals of the Chinese women’s basketball league, and when Austin picked up the phone, she heard the familiar voice of her agent.

The deal was done, Fabio Jardine said. You’re staying in Washington.

Austin, 25, hadn’t slept much the previous two nights as she waited to hear whether the Washington Mystics would match the three-year, $3.57 million offer sheet with which the expansion Toronto Tempo had tried to pry her away. And now that she had confirmation in the affirmative, she posted quickly on her socials to the fans back in D.C. – “forever my cityyyyyyy,” she wrote – and crashed out into a deep and blissful sleep.

It had already been a transformative WNBA offseason for Austin, marked by a return to full health some two years after hip surgery and by dominant performances in international play and in the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league. The Mystics’ investment in her – keeping her in the region where she was born and raised (Fredericksburg, Virginia) and where she made her mark as a high schooler (Riverdale Baptist in Upper Marlboro, Maryland) and collegian (two years at the University of Maryland) – felt like the final piece falling into place for what had the potential to be a monster 2026 season.

Back in Washington now, Austin has spent the early part of this WNBA season providing answers to anyone who might have wondered: How great could Austin be if she ever put it all together – full health, full peace of mind and a full grasp of what it means to be a leader? The numbers tell part of the story, with season averages of 16 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game – all career highs by significant margins.

She may not be the best player in the WNBA, but at 6-foot-5, with the playmaking ability to score from nearly anywhere on the floor – a “unicorn,” as her college coach once called her – this much can be said about Austin: No one in the W who’s bigger than her is more skilled, and no one who’s more skilled has as much size and strength.

“She’s arriving. She’s blossoming,” Mystics coach Sydney Johnson said of Austin. “There’s a phrase: ‘Bloom where you are planted.’ I think that’s what you’re seeing. The game is slowing down for her. She’s playing at an incredibly high level, and she’s bringing her teammates along. It gives me chills.”

Womens National Basketball Association - Chicago Sky v Washi (3575x2383, AR: 1.50)
What is less measurable is the leadership Austin has brought to the 2026 Mystics. With a roster averaging 24 years of age, the Mystics are the youngest team in the WNBA this season and one of the youngest in league history. An astonishing eight rookies have made their WNBA debuts for the Mystics this season, the most in the league in more than a quarter-century. Given that reality, the Mystics’ 4-5 record – featuring road wins at Indiana and Seattle, both playoff teams in 2025 – is more impressive than it looks on paper.

Once a young, fiery protégé to stars like Elena Delle Donne and Natasha Cloud in D.C., Austin now finds herself the stabilizing, veteran presence on a roster full of young stars such as Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen and Lauren Betts, all of them 22 years old. And she has made the transition without softening the edge that has always defined her on-court presence – from her distinctive neon-red hair to her animated gestures and smack talk. In the past, that edge was something that threatened to derail her at any moment. Now, in her fifth season, it’s just another tool in her seemingly endless toolbox.

“I think I’ve just figured out how to bring the team along, how to get the best out of all of us,” Austin said. “Someone has to continue to be the standard, and I want that for myself and also for the [rest of the] girls.”

According to Citron, the Mystics’ top scorer so far this season at 17.8 points per game, the difference between the Austin of 2025 and of 2026 is vast and obvious.

“When we need to be pushed, she’ll be that person that’s on our ass,” Citron said. “But also, when we need to settle down, she’s that calming voice, too – which is different.”

Shakira Austin (5070x3380, AR: 1.50)
Whether she needed it or not, Austin received a harsh lesson on leadership while playing in China this spring. She signed with Shanxi – a team based in the province of the same name in the country’s north, some 7,500 miles from Washington – just in time for the playoffs, putting up 15 points and 21 rebounds in her first game, and 36 and 15 in her second.

But then the team fired its interpreter, Austin said, forcing players to use translation apps on their phones to communicate. Later, following a team shootaround the morning of Game 3 of the finals, the team fired its head coach, leaving Austin, by far the most talented and accomplished player on the roster, to effectively act as a player-coach on the floor. It didn’t go well: Shanxi was eliminated in five games by Sichuan, though Austin put up 18 and 15 in the final loss.

“The patience and grace I learned to give out there, I didn’t think it would directly translate here [in the WNBA], but it’s clear that it helped me in a way, not only with my leadership, but communicating with Coach,” she said. “It’s definitely helped my game and my [basketball] IQ a lot.”

And in the middle of that whole chaotic, transcontinental, language-barriered, sleep-deprived ordeal, there was at least one welcome moment of peace and satisfaction – the 5 a.m. call from her agent, with the news of her three-year contract with the Mystics, at a seven-figure maximum salary made possible by the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, and representing a more than sixfold increase over the 2025 max.

Asked if she did anything to celebrate, Austin said, “Celebrate?” She paused, as if trying to hold back the old, edgy, brash Shakira and instead say something anodyne and scripted. The grin that spread across her face was the first signal that wasn’t going to happen.

“Nah,” she said. “I’ll celebrate on the next one maybe. I think they got me for a good little discount.”]]> Trump Will Take Over a Central D.C. Golf Course Starting This Week https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/east-potomac-golf-course-takeover Reese Gorman Major renovations to the East Potomac Golf Links will start later, but the course will shut down after the final tee time on Sunday. Sat, 02 May 2026 00:19:10 GMT https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/east-potomac-golf-course-takeover AP 25210377243372
The East Potomac course will shut down after the final tee time on Sunday. (Press Association via AP Images) Alastair Grant/AP
The Trump administration will officially take over the East Potomac Golf Links on Sunday and will begin renovations, two sources familiar with the plans told NOTUS.

On Monday, landscaping, deferred maintenance and tree-clearing work in line with the National Park Service’s pre-approved plans will commence, the sources said. The major renovations at the course will start later, once a design is approved by the NPS and all legal compliance has been met. Golf course architect Tom Fazio is expected to lead the renovations, a source told NOTUS.

The National Links Trust, which previously had a lease and controlled the East Potomac, Langston and Rock Creek golf courses, is being offered a renewed lease for Rock Creek, a source told NOTUS. The offer would include a waiver of unpaid rent for the trust to use for course improvements. NLT told NOTUS that they have not been offered any renewed lease for Rock Creek Park Golf from the administration.

"This news was a complete surprise to us. We have also not received any offer of a lease at Rock Creek Park Golf. For the sake of our community and employees, we hope to have clarity as soon as possible," a spokesperson said. "We remain committed to our mission, our community, and working to protect the public golf courses in Washington, DC for the benefit of the entire community."

The Washington Post reported earlier on Friday that the Trump administration approached the Washington Commanders about taking over the Langston Golf Course. Trump has made reshaping and renovating many of Washington’s landmarks and public spaces a central focus of his second term.

“President Donald J. Trump is fulfilling his commitment to make D.C. Safe and Beautiful as shown by record low crime rates and renovations to fountains across the capital,” an Interior Department spokesperson said in a statement.

“DOI and NPS are committed to continuing the relationships we have built with the local golf communities to ensure these courses are safe, beautiful, open, affordable, enjoyable, accessible, and world-class for people living in and visiting the greatest capital city in the world,” the spokesperson added, pitching “affordability” as a key selling point of the project.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This story has been updated with a statement from the National Links Trust.]]>