WASHINGTON — Your eyes just can’t stop following Victor Wembanyama.

Even in Year 2, even after what he did during his spectacular rookie campaign, he’s still a marvel to watch in person anytime he appears on an NBA court near you. Such as Monday night, when he was standing behind the Washington Wizards’ Kyshawn George after a San Antonio Spurs teammate put up a shot. George might stand 6-foot-8, but his glorious curly mop top pushes him past 7 feet, and he was doing the fundamentally correct thing by placing his backside on the thin 7-3 center, attempting to box him out. Still, Wembanyama simply went over George’s head, tapping the ball to himself with his left hand.

George had position, but Wemby had the reach.

There were other moments, from the silly (the time Wembanyama nearly destroyed one of the rims at Capital One Arena but instead missed converting a lob dunk) to the sublime (the time he played Pop-A-Shot on the other rim, hitting three straight three-pointers). And every one demanded the attention of the 17,446 people in the stands, plenty of those paying customers wearing variations of Spurs jerseys that featured the No. 1 and Wembanyama’s name on the back.

The Wizards fans inside the downtown D.C. arena — who watched Wembanyama finish with 31 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks while leading the Spurs to a 131-121 victory — might have seen a young superstar who dominated and delighted while in a rival jersey. But they also could have envisioned Washington’s future — if the future is named Cooper Flagg.

Not too long ago, the Spurs were rebuilding. Then they got lucky, receiving the No. 1 draft pick at the same time that a generational talent was preparing to enter the NBA. That player spent his rookie season captivating the league. His jersey ascended to the top five in sales. By his second season, networks scheduled his small-market team for 21 nationally televised games. By this month’s trade deadline, his team entered as a buyer.

The Luka Doncic trade shocked the NBA, but the deal sending former All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox, still just 27 years old, from the Sacramento Kings to the Spurs also came as a surprise. The Spurs, 23-28 and sitting in 12th place in the Western Conference, have signaled their willingness to chase a play-in tournament spot — this season. What once seemed like a nebulous timeline for rebuilding has come into focus as a compete-now window. All because of Wemby.

Can’t you envision Flagg doing the same here?

Right now, the Wizards are rebuilding — although nothing like the Spurs from 2019 to 2023. This is like a bulldozer coming in to raze everything to the ground. One-hundred-million-dollar signee Kyle Kuzma? Gone. Veteran big man Jonas Valanciunas? Gone. The pursuit of future first-round picks and last place in the league? Present!

What the Wizards need is the appearance of competitiveness — and the team climbing out of an 18-point hole against the Spurs on Monday night provided that — but the losses are a down payment for the future. The Wizards need to lose. And, as previously written, they need luck.

If the Wizards get fortunate by landing the top pick in the 2025 draft, just as Flagg is preparing to be Duke’s next one-and-done phenom, the way forward out of this basketball blight will become clearer.

The 6-9 Flagg is a completely different player from Wembanyama. His appeal and impact, however, could be just as significant for his new NBA home. While LeBron James and Stephen Curry still rule as the league’s most popular players, when they retire, the NBA will need a homegrown superstar among its top tier, joining foreign-born Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Doncic and Wembanyama. And, as superficial as it might seem, Flagg’s race also factors into the attention he draws, perhaps opening up more promotional opportunities for his first NBA stop.

Yet and still, his game more than shows that he belongs. Last month, Flagg set an ACC freshman record by pouring in 42 points in a win over Notre Dame. He’s the second-leading scorer in the conference. The 18-year-old has shown moments of weakness — in Duke’s recent loss to Clemson, he slipped and committed a travel late in the game. In all three Duke losses, in fact, Flagg committed a critical turnover. But any lottery-bound NBA team would be foolish not to have him atop its draft board. He’s a player capable of attracting national attention, luring fans to buy his jersey and, potentially, resetting a franchise and its timeline for playoff contention.

For now, the Wizards (9-44) have good reasons to remain at the bottom of the standings, at least for another full season. As part of the John Wall trade, the team’s 2025 first-round pick owed to the New York Knicks is top-10 protected. By the 2026 draft, that protection shrinks to the top eight picks. If the Wizards have not given a first-round pick to the Knicks by 2026, then that potential first-round pick converts to second-rounders in future drafts.

So say the Wizards get the No. 1 pick this summer, or even fall to No. 2 or No. 3 and can grab Ace Bailey or Dylan Harper, the freshman standouts from Rutgers. The team still needs to spend 2025-26 in bulldozer mode. That would be its top pick’s rookie season. By Year 2, however, open your eyes.

If Washington gets its foundational star in Flagg, you just might see the beginning of the end of this grueling rebuild. And crowds in Capital One Arena and everywhere else might fill seats wearing the jersey of the Wizards’ — and the league’s — next rising star.