I though our draft was a very good one last night.
We had three picks and we used them all.
Before we begin, we did have a discussion on moving up in the draft. The price was our 6th pick; our 18th pick; AND our first round pick for next season. That was simply too high of an ask and was counter to our plan of hording and using many picks to stock pile young players. I believe in setting a strategy and sticking with it. We didn’t believe going off strategy was the right course of action last night to move up a few spots in the draft.
We were also approached about selling one of our picks for cash but we felt we needed more players and talent and we declined. We also thought about buying another pick in the first round. We were prepared to do it but there were no sellers.
So we picked 6th, 18th and 34th.
We were not surprised that the draft went pretty much as our scouts and staff had outlined except for one change before us so we went the route that most experts had predicted and our staff had prepared for and picked Jan Vesely. Why? He is a legitimate 6 foot 11 inches. He can run; he can jump; he has tons of energy; and he is hyper competitive. He has played in professional leagues before and he will fit the system that our staff wants to implement in the future built around John Wall. The pick was a consensus between our coaches, our staff and our GM. They were excited so I am excited!
And then we got lucky at pick 18 and picked Chris Singleton. Why? Toughness. Maturity. Defensive excellence; a high energy player; plays with a chip on his shoulder; will knock folks down; and practices hard. He is in great shape and had a great workout for us. He played in a tough conference and has that intangible of work ethic that we value now very highly. I think our fans will love this young man. He and Trevor Booker will team at times to be dynamos on the boards and playing tough shut down defense. We had Chris ranked much higher than 18 in our mock drafts and we are very happy he will be a Washington Wizard.
And at 34 we picked a guard who is a winner and a steady and polished player from a great program at Butler. Shelvin Mack will serve as another young guard and back up to John Wall. He is a strong fundamentally sound player with a high basketball IQ. He can shoot; can play point; and is a hard worker.
All three players are high energy players.
They have sound basketball IQ; exhibit good fundamentals; and have high character. And all were excited about being drafted by us and playing in front of our great and growing fan base.
Thank you to the thousands of you that came to our draft party last night. THAT was very nice of you.
In 12 months time we have added seven young players to our roster: John Wall, Kevin Seraphin, Trevor Booker, Jordon Crawford, Jan Vesely, Chris Singleton and Shelvin Mack. That is quite the haul of young new talent into our team. I am happy we have stayed on strategy.
Now to develop these young men via coaching and off season regimes of excellence. Thank you for believing in the plan. It is an exciting time for all of us.
