NBA Draft Discussion: Wizards #1

[theAlaskanBear]

The lottery just ended tonight, and the Wizards wound up with the number one pick! The 76ers grabbed number two. Both teams moved up significantly in the draft.

The New Jersey Nets, with 25% chance to win the number one, dropped to number three.

This has to be a glimmer of hope and some positive Karma for the Wizards fans who endured this dismal last season. And another bonus, Jordan wont be able to select the next Kwame Brown! The ghost of Abe Polin strikes back!

Here is the list of the lottery portion of the draft:
1. Washington Wizards
2. Philadelphia 76ers
3. New Jersey Nets
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
5. Sacramento Kings
6. Golden State Warriors
7. Detroit Pistons
8. Los Angeles Clippers
9. Utah Jazz
10. Indiana Pacers
11. New Orleans Hornets
12. Memphis Grizzlies
13. Toronto Raptors
14. Houston Rockets

[cspan37421]

all the talk is that Wall is back to being the #1 pick. Seems to me that in the tourney many were saying Turner had eclipsed him. What has happened since then to change this?

Many familiar faces in that first 14.

Does anyone think that LeBron hurt his attractiveness through his play in his last 3 games? Will it just be attributed to injury? Is there something missing - leadership? Drive?

[Huh?]

Will Wall and Arenas play together?

[Newton_14]

Will Wall and Arenas play together?

Nope. Which is why Agent 1 just left the building. He has played his last game as a Wizard imo. This is the perfect excuse for them to send him on his way.

[studdlee10]

Nope. Which is why Agent 1 just left the building. He has played his last game as a Wizard imo. This is the perfect excuse for them to send him on his way.

The Wiz have to get rid of Arenas and start over with Wall. The Nationals were in the same position last year with Strasburg. They HAVE to take the best player and potential PG savior instead of letting Arenas hold them hostage. If they don't, they risk losing their fan base.

[D.C. Devil]

Nope. Which is why Agent 1 just left the building. He has played his last game as a Wizard imo. This is the perfect excuse for them to send him on his way.

To where? They declined to void his contract and so he's virtually untradeable.

[hurleyfor3]

Wow, what a lottery for the I-95 corridor.

[greybeard]

Arenas will not be a shadow of his former self, not close to a shadow. He will probably be in DC, however, which means that if I were running LeBulletz, and let's hope it ain't Ernie when the time to chose comes, I move the number one to the Nets, and take either the kid from Georga Tech or Cousins, perhaps even the big out of Kansas.

I would not take Wall. I cannot say this enough but I definitely, absolutely, would not take Wall--I trade down, definitely, and assuming I want to sign a rookie for salary reasons, not to mention to have him around awhile, I take one of the bigs available. The Nets would have to give up much more than the 3 to get the one-pick. I am not sure what that would be, perhaps a one next year and a protected one the year after. Why the heavy price? With Wall and a coach they might be in the running for LeBron.

Wall, especially if he plays in DC, will in my opinion get creamed and go down with an injury, how serious, anybody's guess. But, given how little they have, he would be the proverbial duck in the barrell and in my opinion Leonsis ain't gonna sign him to put on no carnival.

[Newton_14]

Arenas will not be a shadow of his former self, not close to a shadow. He will probably be in DC, however, which means that if I were running LeBulletz, and let's hope it ain't Ernie when the time to chose comes, I move the number one to the Nets, and take either the kid from Georga Tech or Cousins, perhaps even the big out of Kansas.

I would not take Wall. I cannot say this enough but I definitely, absolutely, would not take Wall--I trade down, definitely, and assuming I want to sign a rookie for salary reasons, not to mention to have him around awhile, I take one of the bigs available. The Nets would have to give up much more than the 3 to get the one-pick. I am not sure what that would be, perhaps a one next year and a protected one the year after. Why the heavy price? With Wall and a coach they might be in the running for LeBron.

Wall, especially if he plays in DC, will in my opinion get creamed and go down with an injury, how serious, anybody's guess. But, given how little they have, he would be the proverbial duck in the barrell and in my opinion Leonsis ain't gonna sign him to put on no carnival.

Just out of curiousity, would you not take Wall because Arenas can't be moved? Because your argument for trade makes a lot of sense there. But if you would not take Wall no matter which team went first, I can't go with you on that one.

Wall is the real deal. I have no doubt about that. I don't worry about the injury part. He is a tough kid. He will learn when he can venture into the lane and when not too. But I do think he is a star in the making. If he ever gets a consistent jumper he will be close to unguardable.

[theAlaskanBear]

I actually don't think that the Nets are that hurt by this draft. They have the opportunity to draft Favors or Cousins to form a formidable front-court with Brook Lopez! Also, the 76ers are guard heavy, so if there is a chance they wont take Turner...giving the Nets a shot at him at the #3. I mean, they already have a good point guard...is Wall going to be better than Harris? In the long run, certainly, but for the next 2-3 years its probably a scratch.

Also, don't be surprised if we see some European players start to sign with the Nets. The new owner talked about building a global brand.

[moonpie23]

cousins might be the better pick...

[ElSid]

The wizards have a ton of depth at guard. Including four point guards?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/roster?team=was

Still, I think they gotta take Wall.

[TheBrianZoubekExperience]

The wizards have a ton of depth at guard. Including four point guards?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/roster?team=was

Still, I think they gotta take Wall.

Well, I don't really think they have much depth there. Looking at that roster:

Boykins is 33, 5'5 and pretty much a career backup anyway. Livingston has had major problems since his knee injury. Arenas has obviously had his problems. And Crittendon might not be in the NBA next year. But yeah, I agree that they probably take Wall.

[studdlee10]

cousins might be the better pick...

IMO, Cousins is the riskiest pick in this draft. He dominated in college because he was bigger than everybody else. That won't be the case in the NBA. Favors, while not dominant in ACC play, at least has upper level athleticism. Cousins doesn't. Plus, the kid is already a bit pudgy at 19. What's he going to look like at 24-26 after a couple million dollar contracts? I'd stay away from Demarcus Cousins.

There are no indispensable players on the Wizards. Because of that, you draft Wall, the best player with the most potential in the draft.

[jsw12]

I think they can play together. I would hope Arenas would come in a little humbled by the last 10 months and would be willing to play off the ball. Wall is 6-4 with a long wingspan, enough to guard the 2 in the NBA. He can also create on offense, thus taking a lot of pressure off of Arenas to dominate the ball.

This may mean that Arenas role will shift a little more to jump shooting. But with his knee, that may be where he is most useful anyway.

As a Wizard fan, this good news is very welcome amidst a dreary season (nba only). Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic, but this seems like it could work.

[hedevil]

The word on the street was that if the Nets got pick #1 they would have a legitimate chance at landing Wall and convincing Lebron to go to NJ. (Maybe and maybe not). There's no chance at that now it looks like. As a Bulls fan, I hope the Knicks can give James an offer he can't refuse.

For anyone who doesn't know already, I don't like Lebron, as mentioned in another thread. I don't wish to further that discussion please, so bottom line, this is not welcomed news for me.

As for Washington, congratulations!

[Rudy]

I think they can play together. I would hope Arenas would come in a little humbled by the last 10 months and would be willing to play off the ball. Wall is 6-4 with a long wingspan, enough to guard the 2 in the NBA. He can also create on offense, thus taking a lot of pressure off of Arenas to dominate the ball.

This may mean that Arenas role will shift a little more to jump shooting. But with his knee, that may be where he is most useful anyway.

As a Wizard fan, this good news is very welcome amidst a dreary season (nba only). Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic, but this seems like it could work.

As a Bullets (aka Wizards) fan, I hope you're right. Arenas was never much interested in playing defense, so a move to SG for him would be a defensive liability unless Wall can take the opponent's SG.

BTW, Jamison was never much interested in defense either, as continued to be evidenced by his play in Cleveland. Back in the heady days of peak performance of Arenas/Jamison/Butler (about a half season, I think) they had enough offensive firepower to win without defense.

[UrinalCake]

I wonder if LeBron has enough pull to convince the Nets to trade up and get Wall as a contingency for signing with them. Maybe the offer the #3 pick and Brook Lopez to the Wizards for the #1. Then the Nets would have LeBron and Wall, and the Wizards would have a pretty good core with Arenas, Lopez, and someone like Cousins.

[greybeard]

I wonder if LeBron has enough pull to convince the Nets to trade up and get Wall as a contingency for signing with them. Maybe the offer the #3 pick and Brook Lopez to the Wizards for the #1. Then the Nets would have LeBron and Wall, and the Wizards would have a pretty good core with Arenas, Lopez, and someone like Cousins.

Works for me. As I said, I don't think that the Wizards have the personnel to support and make really good use of Wall. I think that they need precisely the type of strength inside that you are talking about.

The only way if I am Ted that I take Wall is if I am going out and signing one of the bigs on the free agent market, which would be Mr. Bosh. While Bosh does not play big, big, he and Wall would mesh together in a running game and in two-man play. I don't see another player on the free agent market that would make Wall a logical pick were I Ted. Of course, I'm not, so we'll have to see. Please get rid of Ernie!

[David]

Also interesting to see the 76ers get the 2nd pick in the draft. I have followed Elton's pro career - he and the 76ers played below their talent last year. The 76ers have some good players including Jrue Holliday (pt guard of the future), Andre Iguodala, Elton, and Thaddeus Young (former Ga Tech player). I think they should pick Evan Turner and move Iggy to small forward. Thus, starting lineup would be Jrue, Turner, Iggy, Elton and Sam Dalembert. They are not winning a championship next season but they could make the playoffs and they have a nice backcourt to build on for the future.

I saw Doug Gottleib this morning on sportscenter suggest the sixers should draft Wesley Johnson. I disagree - the 76ers do not need another athletic forward. I guess an argument could also be made to draft Derrick Favors on potential with the idea Dalembert isn't that good and he is in the last yr of his contract. Paul Hewitt's coaching and Ga Tech's guard play last year makes it particularly hard to figure out what Favors might bring at the next level.

One other Duke connection w/ the 76ers is that all signs point towards Doug Collins getting hired as their new head coach.