Image via WikipediaPicks Owned: 1st, 30th, 35thAreas Of Need
The Wizards good fortune of winning a lottery comes in a year where there is a truly transcendent player, but he unfortunately plays the same position as the unmovable Gilbert Arenas. Considering how difficult it will be to move Arenas, the Wizards will have an expensive logjam at point guard if the experiment of moving Arenas to shooting guard does not work.
Playing the let's suppose game, if the Wizards would have won the lottery after a season that did not include the gun incident, do the Wizards still keep the pick and select Wall, or do they trade down for DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors or Evan Turner since those four prospects play positions of need for Washington.
Draft Targets
John Wall is the one and only target at number one and a detailed analysis of his abilities can be read here. His combination of athleticism, instinct and vision is unlike anything we have seen since LeBron James was in the 2003 Draft. He will become both the face and heart of this franchise for the next decade.
Looking at Washington's other two picks, more interestingly, the Wizards will be able to add two additional players at an extremely small cost as they head into a summer of cap space. Both players will presumably be amongst the top 25 players on their draft board.
Assuming they are available, I like Solomon Alabi, Stalnley Robinson, Tibor Pleiss and Kevin Seraphin as targets in that area of the draft.
The Wizards should also consider parlaying the 30th and 35th, along with potentially another asset, to move up in the draft where someone like James Anderson or Luke Babbitt would become available, both of whom would do well in their offense to stretch the floor.
Draft History
- 2009: 5th overall pick who became Ricky Rubio traded
- 2008: JaVale McGee, 18th
- 2007: Nick Young, 16th
- 2006: Oleskiy Pecherov, 18th
- 2005: Andray Blatche, 49th
- 2004: 5th overall pick who became Devin Harris traded
- 2003: Jarvis Hayes, 10th / Steve Blake, 38th
- 2002: Jared Jeffries, 11th / Juan Dixon, 17th / Juan Carlos Navarro, 39th
- 2001: Kwame Brown, 1st
- 2000: No first round pick
*Only notable second round picks listed
Because the Wizards have been a middle of the pack team for most of the past decade, the draft has hardly been an area where core players have been acquired.
Gilbert Arenas was signed in free agency, while Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler were acquired in trades.
Looking at this list, Blatche in the second round of 2005 has been their best pick.
The 2007 class was fairly weak behind Nick Young, though both Wilson Chandler and Rudy Fernandez would have been better wing options for the Wizards.
Other than Serge Ibaka, the 2008 pick of McGee still looks promising.
Trading the number five overall pick in 2009 to essentially rent Randy Foye and Mike Miller already is a disastrous decision. If they keep the pick, perhaps they would selected Rubio and they would be more motivated to trade out of the first slot, which would be a mistake given the vastly superior game of Wall.
History of the 1st Overall Pick
- 2009: Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers, NA
- 2008: Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls, 17.3
- 2007: Greg Oden, Portland Trail Blazers, 19.5
- 2006: Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors, 13.7
- 2005: Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks, 17.1
- 2004: Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic, 21.7
- 2003: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers, 26.9
- 2002: Yao Ming, Houston Rockets, 23.0
- 2001: Kwame Brown, Washington Wizards, 12.5
- 2000: Kenyon Martin, New Jersey Nets, 15.5
Average career PER: 18.6
I do believe the Wizards will improve their first overall pick record to a two-for-two, with Wall being much closer to Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy than Kwame.
http://wizards.realgm.com/articles/293/20100609/washington_wizards_draft_preview/
No comments:
Post a Comment