The NBA draft is a blur with lots of deals, lots of money being passed back and forth, and lots of picks moving around.
When the smoke settles, I hope we will have added two guards, a tough and mature forward, a promising fast-developing big man, and a really big defensively-minded center. Five new players added to the roster.
We will have received money back to offset some of the expense.
And most importantly, we will have stayed on strategy.
We added an additional first round pick — moving up in the draft so we could have ended the night with four draft picks pending approvals.
We may have added a vet player as a mentor — a great influence on the team in the locker room – and of course the number 1 pick in the draft, John Wall.
That was a lot to do in one night!
Stay tuned. Lots to get approved and lots of work left to do.
Thanks to all of the fans who attended our draft party last night.
It was so great to meet you all.
I’ve always been an Ernie Grunfeld supporter, and I’m glad you’ve kept him on board for at least the next season. However, at the same time, if things don’t work out as planned this year, I hope you give Kevin Pritchard a real hard look. His resume lines up perfectly with everything you have said and hope to achieve.
On a similar note, I’m thrilled with your vision for this franchise. It has been too long since we developed our own talent and resisted throwing money at average free agents. You know just as well as I do that overpaying for veteran free agents (often free agents because their team didn’t want them or because they walked out on their team for the possibility of more money) gets us nowhere except perhaps a worse draft pick. While I’m not condoning tanking by any means, there is no sense in adding veterans to help us get closer to the 8th seed unless they are a part of our long term plans.
I am curious however, as to the decision making process behind the 30th + 35th picks for the 23rd pick trade. Obviously we felt that Trevor Booker was a good, NBA ready player that we wanted on our team. However, many fans have perceived his selection at the 23rd pick as a stretch. I have to believe that we had credible information that he would no longer be around at our 30th pick, right? And additionally that we liked Booker so much more than whoever would have been left come pick 30 that we needed to make the deal, right? I won’t comment on the quality of the player because I will always exercise post-draft faith in our front office when they take a player that was publicly expected to be drafted much later. Obviously our scouting department has put in much more work in this draft and are much more knowledgeable than I am or any other Wizards fan is, so if they say he’s the best player available, then I’m on board until I see it with my own eyes that he wasn’t.
Also, now that the draft is over, is there any way you could comment on what other prospects we had our eyes on outside of the lottery? I’d be curious to see who we would have selected had we kept the 30th and 35th picks and the rest of the draft remained exactly the same (not completely realistic, but should be fairly close to what would have happened).
Thanks for everything so far, Ted. You have truly been a breath of fresh air, and I am ecstatic about the future of this franchise. I couldn’t even begin to express how glad I am that you seem to have the one quality DC sports has been lacking for my entire lifetime: patience.
I am confused as to why the Wizards took on 17 million for the 17th when a day earlier Oklahoma City got the 18th for Daequan Cook’s 2 million expiring.
The Wizards have the weaker general (manager) leading them into battle. Seems like Grunfeld makes panic moves are inferior imitations of moves the elite GMs made before him (Booker a lesser Blair–passed over by Wizards in 2009 in exchange for cash; overpaying for the 17th after OKC took the 18th from under our noses). There is a lot to celebrate today. The Wizards have drafted perhaps the most talented player to ever wear their uniform. However, the Wizards do not have a GM who can assemble a championship team. Ernie Grunfeld is a day late and a dollar short.
It is highly doubtful Minny (Kevin Love) or ATL would have taken Booker which would have allowed the Wizards to take him with the 25th pick (which Memphis wanted to and did sell). We could have taken Booker and retained the 30th (assuming we had used the 35th to pull off a deal with MIA).