The 2025-26 NBA regular season tipped off last night with a doubleheader, but the real fun begins on Wednesday with 12 games on the schedule. At 8 p.m. EST, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks take on the rebuilding Washington Wizards, who continue to test young talent and debut a lottery pick tonight.
Here’s a Wizards vs. Bucks prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for tonight’s season opener.
Wizards vs. Bucks prediction, preview
These teams aren’t nearly in the same stratosphere, but that’s okay — the goal for Milwaukee is to win every night whereas Washington likely aims to just play competitive games this season. After all, matchups like these set up opportunities for young rosters to learn against some of the game’s best while a contending team like the Bucks can work to knock off the rust of the offseason without truly getting pushed like a top opponent would likely do.
Plenty of drama surrounds the relationship between Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, but after an offseason of rumors, he still remains on the roster for the moment. As one of the three best basketball players in the world, the multi-time MVP anchors a lineup which saw some changes over the summer after a playoff flameout. Brook Lopez is out at center and Myles Turner is in, a move clearly geared toward getting a little bit younger while maintaining a similar skill set. Trade deadline acquisition Kyle Kuzma is back at the three, while sharpshooter Gary Trent Jr. now slots in at shooting guard alongside Kevin Porter Jr. as the lead guard. It’s a strange lineup severely lacking in backcourt playmaking and defense, but the Bucks also added Cole Anthony and extended AJ Green as well. Overall though, it’s a bit of a strange roster that’s tough to envision as a true title threat barring some major changes. However, the focus is on one game at a time.
For the Wizards, well, the rebuild continues on. The starting lineup likely includes a handful of veterans like CJ McCollum na Khris Middleton, who will serve as stabilizers both on the court and in the locker room. However, the young guys are the future here. Washington drafted Tre Johnson sixth overall back in June and will hope the scoring guard can provide some additional punch as he develops into a potential franchise cornerstone alongside starting point guard Bub Carrington, who showed plenty of potential last season. Center Alex Sarr will have high expectations for growth in his second year, while Kyshawn George will as well after showing some flashes in 2024-25. Those talents round out most of the young core, though Bilal Coulibaly will miss tonight’s game with a thumb issue. One more name to watch is Cam Whitmore, a high-upside flyer acquired via trade this offseason who showed moments of stardom with the Rockets when he saw enough playing time over the last two years.
Wizards vs. Bucks pick, best bet
The Bucks enter tonight’s contest as strong -10.5 favorites with -440 odds on the Moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Wizards are listed at +340 odds on the Moneyline with a game total of 227.5 points.
To be clear, this should end in a victory for the Bucks barring an utter catastrophe. However, there’s a solid chance that the Wizards actually may be able to keep this competitive, if not cover outright. These teams met three times last season with Milwaukee winning all three matchups, but none were utter blowouts — those contests were decided by three, 11, and 10 points apiece. Granted, Antetokounmpo did miss part of one of those games, but still… the Wizards were surprisingly feisty against tonight’s opponent in that sample.
This Bucks roster also isn’t nearly as good as the one which deployed Damian Lillard last season (though he missed two of those games against Washington). On the flip side, the Wizards have more veteran talent and growth can be expected from the younger players on the roster as well. Despite missing Coulibaly tonight, there are far worse bets out there than picking the home team to cover in the season opener.
