Wizards' Draft

The NBA draft has come and once again I am not impressed with what the Wizards have done. With the 16th pick in the draft they selected Nick Young. He is a SG from USC, who I admit I don't know a lot about. Atleast he has put up good numbers throughout his college career and appears to have been highly rated. He is described as having the classic basketball body, tall and lean with long arms. However, from what I've read his motivation in college has been questioned. Cons about his game have dealt with his effort on defense and when he doesn't have the ball. That doesn't exactly sound like a ringing endorsement. This seems like the Wizards still feel that scoring 105 every night is the best way to make a winning team, even if they can't stop anybody on defense.

I also don't know much about Dominic McGuire. While his stats in college have improved as he went through school, they aren't that impressive. He had 3.7 TOs per game last season at Fresno State. He appears to rebound well and block shots, but his offensive game is described as underdeveloped. He is another guy who seems to be well rated because of his athleticism, but doesn't have the skills to match. He is also listed around 6-8 or 6-9, with a weight of 210-220. That doesn't sound like a bruiser to me. With the uninspiring play of the Haywood/Thomas tandem at center in 2006-2007, I would have thought the Wizards would have addressed that need better.

In addition to the flaws in each of these players games that I read about, I also just don't trust the Wizards because of their draft history. The last great draft pick they had was Rip Hamilton in 1999, and he was only given 3 years to play in DC.

Recently the Wiz have chosen...

2006 - Oleksiy Pecherov and Vladimir Veremeenko - Both have yet to play for the team...hell I don't know if either of them has even been in the country yet.

2005 - Andray Blatche - He was a prep schooler taken in the second round, so he is undeveloped and still has time to grow. Although he has only averaged 3.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in his first 2 seasons, without really cracking the rotation.

2004 - Devin Harris and Peter John Ramos - Devin Harris was a good pick, but he was essentially picked by Dallas in order for the trade for Antawn Jamison to go through. PJR scored a total of 11 points with the Wizards.

2003 - Jarvis Hayes and Steve Blake - Hayes has been a disappointment for a # 10 pick. He has averaged 8.9 points and 3.4 rebounds for his career, and simply has not gotten better from year to year. He is what he is, and its nothing special. Blake was a good second rounde choice. He is a good backup/part time starter at PG. His numbers aren't huge, but he was 7th in the NBA last year in assist to TO ratio. That certainly isn't a bad thing to have on your bench, but the Wizards didn't think Blake was worth keeping.

2002 - Jared Jeffries, Juan Dixon, Rod Grizzard, and Juan Navarro - Jared Jeffries looks like he will never average double figures in the NBA, and his rebounding isn't great for a big guy. He truly has been a disappointment for a lottery pick. Juan Dixon has better scoring numbers than more highly touted picks Hayes, Jeffries, and Brown. Atleast with Dixon you knew you were getting a guy who would bust his ass on the floor. He is a decent bench guy, but the Wizards and him went their separate ways. Grizzard was waived before playing in an NBA game, and has yet to do so. Navarro seems to be a great player, but apparently he has no wish to come to the US.

2001 - Kwame Brown and Bobby Simmons - Everybody knows about Kwame. His potential right now seems to be a 10 and 8 type of guy over the course of a season. His pick wouldn't be bad if he was chosen late in the 1st or in the 2nd, but for a number one overall guy he has been a huge disappointment. The 2-4 picks in that draft were Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, and Eddy Curry, who have all been better players so far then Kwame. Bobby Simmons actually averagd over 16 points one year for the Clippers, but he never averaged 4 ppg in his first two years for the Wizards. Not a bad 2nd round choice, but didn't show his talent in Washington.

That recent history has been abysmal. Only Jarvis Hayes started for the Wizards this past year, and he couldn't keep that status for most of the year. None of their early picks have been great, and their later picks have had a few misses just like everybody else. Only two of their draftees played for the Wizards this year, Hayes and Blatche, and their futures aren't exactly going to be stellar with Washington. While the Wizards have created a good team through free agency and trades, they certainly have not taken advantage of the draft. While I hope for the best for Nick Young and Dominic McGuire, something is telling me that these two guys will be like most of the rest. They will toil along with the Wizards for several years without truly making a mark.