After the Utah Jazz lost two consecutive vital tanking games against the New Orleans Pelicans, they have another key tanking matchup against the Washington Wizards on Thursday. Both teams are sure to do everything in their power to lose, but this upcoming matchup against the Wizards will feature the newly-acquired Trae Young.
ESPN's Shams Charania confirmed that Young will make his debut for the Wizards during their home game against the Jazz.
Washington Wizards star Trae Young will make his team debut on Thursday against the Utah Jazz at home.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 2, 2026
This is big news because this could be the boost Washington would need to beat Utah, even if that's not exactly what they would want. The Wizards are in a similar predicament as the Jazz are, as they owe a top-eight protected pick to the New York Knicks and arr doing everything they can to avoid conveying it.
The Jazz can certainly relate, as they owe the exact same thing to Oklahoma City. Both teams are on track to avoid the worst-case scenario, but they are not quite out of the woods. Hence, this should be a really interesting matchup between the two as is. Young's debut makes it a whole lot more interesting.
How much will Young play?
Just because Young is slated to play doesn't mean he'll play a full-minute load. He has been out with an injury for some time now, and playing him as much as possible could get in the way of what the Wizards want to do.
At the same time, Washington understandably wants to give their fanbase something to be excited about, as they've had a miserable stretch that has lasted even longer than Utah's. Young, as a name, isn't as exciting as it once was, but the talent is still palpable and undeniable, and they may want to give fans a sneak preview of what's to come next season.
Utah can relate to that because they pretty much did just that once they acquired Jaren Jackson Jr. they acquired him knowing that he was going to sit out, but they first wanted to let fans know how good the team will be once he's incorporated.
The Wizards should be wary, though, because if they bench Young for the fourth quarter, the league may punish them for doing the same thing the Jazz did last month.
The Wizards did the Jazz a massive favor last year
It's easy to forget now, but Washington did Utah a pretty big solid last year when they won their last game of the season - on a buzzer-beater no less - thus giving the Jazz the best odds at the No. 1 pick and ensuring their pick would fall no further than No. 5 in 2025.
The Jazz went through the worst-case scenario, but still wound up with a very exciting prospect with Ace Bailey. The Wizards may not want that to happen again, but it goes without saying that they may not have wanted that buzzer-beater to happen in the first place anyway, so who knows?
The Jazz and Wizards want to stay in their respective places. What happens on Thursday could factor into whether they get what they want. Young's presence undoubtedly impacts that.