Dybantsa, the No. 1 overall pick, came down awkwardly on a midrange jumper and left with 12 points in 15 minutes. Brian Keefe called it a mild ankle sprain and said pulling him was precautionary, and he's listed day-to-day. Tipoff is 7:00 PM ET, so there are 4 days for that ankle to calm down. Whether the 19-year-old is on the floor shapes this whole night, both for Washington's ceiling and for the crowd at Capital One Arena that bought tickets to see him.
Washington's supporting cast isn't the usual rebuild filler either. Anthony Davis and Trae Young came over in separate trades last season. Young played only 5 games for the Wizards and Davis never suited up, and Khris Middleton is back after being part of the Davis package. So the Bucks get a former Buck in Middleton and a Wizards team that has 3 accomplished veterans and almost no time playing together. Dybantsa isn't hiding from it: "We're trying to make it to the playoffs. We're not selling ourselves short." This is a team that hasn't had a winning record since 2018.
Depth is where Washington is already thin. Tristan Vukcevic (hip) won't be re-evaluated for 4 weeks, and Jamir Watkins is out after ACL surgery. Milwaukee's question marks are smaller: Jericho Sims and Nate Ament (ankle) both sat the Pacers game and are day-to-day. Ware is the bigger piece in the Bucks' frontcourt anyway, so losing Sims doesn't change much.
What to watch: Herro trying to run a team that doesn't have Giannis to cover for its mistakes, Young and Davis finding out whether they can actually play together, and a rookie whose ankle decides how much of an event this is. 2 teams with new identities, and neither has a regular-season minute on tape yet.