The RealGM Wizards Board Draft Thread 2008/2009

[nate33]

I know Chicago really has there eye on the 2010 free agent class. How about Mike James, and Critter for Hinrich? It helps them save a ton of cash for 2010 and maybe Critters recent 1st round pick still has some appeal?

There's no chance this happens. We can't afford Hinrich's $9M salary in 2010 if we still have Stevenson and Songaila on the roster. It would push us over the luxtax even before we factored the cost of resigning Haywood and DMac.

Bottom line: any Hinrich deal has to involve us sending out both Stevenson and Songaila (or sending out Jamison).

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Blake Griffin has no issues that bug me. None. I don't trade him for anybody other than guys who one the gold medal last summer. I've posted it before that I see that drive in him. He wants to be great. That type of guy will become a better defender with a good coach.

Blair will be a good pro. To many instincts. I watch him and I see Charles Barkley when he got to his 30's. Everything from his body to his applied physics remind me of Barkley. I have never thought that about anybody but he carries a certain attitude that is very impressive to me. Rodman and Barkley were great rebounders at their height because of those intangibles. I would love for the Wizards to pick him up anywhere as long as its after Griffin. Blair is exactly what the Wizards need.

I'm still not sure Blair isn't the better player.

Griffin is a rebounding beast who can run like a deer and who can really get up in the air. Like Boozer meets Barkley (strange to use Barkley in a Griffin comparison, but the kid has explosive hops like a young Charles Barkley). Offensively speaking, there's nobody close to as dominating as Griffin. He's the most talented player and the obvious top selection in this draft.

OTOH DeJuan Blari is like older Barkely meets Oakley, with a little Ron Artest thrown into the mix. Blair does a lot of things below the rim that gives opposing players a lot of grief. Depending on how the game is officiated, he can punish opponents all game long. He's the type of player who can play PF next to any of the Wizards bigs: Haywood, McGee, or Blatche and make their lives easy. Blair also has a habit of being on teams that win a ton of games.

Wizards would not go wong with Blair as their pick IMO. (Possibly even at #1, as preposterous as that sounds). My concerns about Blair are weight and fouls. But if he does like Barkley and manages his weight, at 19 his ceiling is very high, too. He's crazy strong right now, but going to get stronger. Blair is the superior defender by a lot over Griffin. On a Wizard team full of offensive players, Blair would be extremely effective getting boards and easy putbacks and his tough mindset on defense would be right there with Brendan's.

I would be very happy with Blair after Griffin. And if I were Wizards GM I'd be happy to get Blair and trade one of my PF/Cs.

[yungal07]

Griffin just seems like a taller, more athletic version of Blair.

I can't front though...Blair is a beast. He's still not a guy I'd draft with a #1 or #2 pick, but a late lotto team is going to get a steal if they pick him up.

[nate33]

I worry about Blair's conditioning. He's also got pretty poor mobility and will have a lot of trouble defending the pick and roll.

He's definitely a great value if he goes somewhere in the teens, but I can't think of one good reason to state that he might be better than Griffin. Griffin can do everything Blair can do, and a whole lot more.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=847551&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=720

We compared Griffin to Blair back on page 49.

Defensively, Blair's better. Offensively, Grffin's better.

I still say Blair's very underrated. No way on earth he shouldn't be a top-5 pick.

[closg00]

WOW CCJ Blair a top-5 pick I believe that Blair is a COLLEGE beast that would be a risky pick for the reasons Nate stated. Blair's a 19 y/o kid with a body-type that he can move up and down the court now, but he's at-risk for going soft. He's Jason Maxiel with 30 extra pounds and half the athleticism. What's Blair gonna do in the high-tempo NBA?

Having said that, I would love to have Blair with a lower pick, he IS the type of bench-player you would love to have when you are grinding through a play-off series; to bang around in the middle. We are soon to have zero of those-type players once Etan is gone.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

closq00, I've been enamored with undersized PFs for years. I remember looking at the games and stats of Love, Boozer, Millsap, less so Maxiel, but also many others.

What stands out about Blair is that he is the best rebounder of them all. Better than Love, who's already the best ORB guy in the NBA. Better than Millsap, who led the NCAA in rebounds three years in a row at LA Tech. Better than Boozer. Better than Brand. Blair is the best rebounder out of all of them.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/DeJuan-Blair-5049/

As far as his professional aspirations are concerned, he will certainly have to do a better job of defending the pick and roll in order to be a success. Scouts will love the hustle that he brings to this end of the floor, if nothing else. And you can’t ignore the results he gets at the collegiate level, being the anchor of arguably the best defensive team in the NCAA. Blair’s intensity level and toughness are a great foundation to build off of—now it’s time to improve his technique and fundamentals.

The other thing about Blair is like Millsap, he's a good defender.

Absolute best rebound and good defender in my mind SHOULD BE a top-5 pick.

I know the draft always favors offensive players and tall players based on POTENTIAL. I also know I've been right a whole lot more about guys like Millsap than Jon Givony and the tape measure guys who stress technique and appearance over performance over time. Blair's performance in NCAA games in terms of efficiency, win score, rebounds per-40 and his team being a #1 seed should speak volumes.

Young's a stud player and Fields is a great leader but Pittsburg is just another okay team without Blair.

Blair will be a very good pro unless he goes Sweetney and blows up.

[WashWiz54]

Toronto seems pretty excited about Rubio. And they have cap room. If we end up with the #2 pick in the draft, I think a tradedown scenario with Toronto makes a lot of sense. Dump Stevenson (and hopefully Songaila too) while trading down to #7.

With the #7 pick, there are any number of quality SG prospects who could challenge Young/DMac for the starting spot: Henderson, Turner, DeRozan, Willie Warren, Harden, Jennings, Curry and Buddinger, to name a few. All but one or two should still be on the board at #7. We'll have to hope that EG can determine the best prospect among them.

nate, you kill me. Every time I think I have a fresh idea with some legs, you posted the same thing a page or two before me.

Anyways, this idea makes a ton of sense and helps with what we need. First, we dump a bad contract (or two), and we get a SG prospect without reaching. Everyone who is projected to be picked between two and seven I have no interest in unless Jordan Hill comes out. So we wouldn't be missing much until the number eight pick came up where we could get a SG (although, I still believe in Nick.) Toronto gets their run and gun PG of the future without having to take on anything too heavy.

If I had to choose today, I'd be all over Gerald Henderson. Good teammate, good defender, high IQ, and what seems to be a willingness to put in work to improve his game. He might not be the best stat guy out of the draft but I think he'll do things for his team to make them just win, baby.

Of course, the dream scenario is get the number one overall, draft Blake Griffin, and be done with it.

As for our second round pick, I'm loving Dionte Christmas. Four year player out of Temple, high IQ, sweet shot, and good defender. I think he has potential somewhere between Cat Mobley and Raja Bell. Will he necessarily reach it? No, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Dionte-Christmas-1234/

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/dionte-christmas

DX has him fighting to be drafted while .net has him as an early second rounder.

[Induveca]

CCJ, I completely agree on Blair. My two top guys outside of Griffin in the draft are Blair and Henderson. Both of those guys will be very very productive NBA players.

And for people who harp on Blair's endurance/height...........not sure you've watched enough guys over the years to appreciate the maturity and instinct Blair possesses already. He does indeed play a lot like Charles Barkley (on the glass at least). He knows exactly how to use his body to grab boards/create space. He's nowhere near the athlete on the offensive end, but I could see him averaging 14 boards a game as a starter in the NBA. He just MOVES people, big or small and creates the angles to grab the boards instinctually.

I wanted to draft Millsap for the same reason a few years ago, and was summarily bashed by many on RealGM. He's EXACTLY what the Wizards needed then, and Blair is EXACTLY what the Wizards need now. A tough, hard-nosed, intimidating guy who is all about banging in the paint and rebounding.

Henderson to me is Grant Hill part 2.........Hill was so similar to him at Duke it frightens me sometimes. Hill didn't have an outside shot, but had AMAZING athleticism and an obvious ability to improve his mid range jumper.

If we get the #2 or #3 pick, it would be amazing to trade down 2 or 3 slots and pick up another top 12 pick to get both of these guys. That would really be building for the future. No more projects, Europeans, high-schoolers......both of these guys could contribute next year.

[nate33]

The problem with Blair is that he doesn't really have a position in the pro's. He's a PF who can't space the floor and doesn't have much of a post up game. Guys like that wreak havoc on your offensive floor spacing unless you have a center with versatile offensive skills. Blair would be great alongside a guy like Duncan or maybe Yao or Z, but not so good next to Haywood.

I love his college game and I think he'd be solid in the pros as a guy who comes off the bench and cracks a few skulls; but I just don't think he can be a full time starter unless the team was really constructed to accommodate his weaknesses.

Now if Blair can develop a money 17-foot jumper a la Kurt Thomas, then that would change everything.

[WizarDynasty]

only one guy who solves wizards longterm problems. a true s/f that can guard both p/fs and s/gs and who has the potential to be two way player. We all know who that player is in the draft.

[Ruzious]

only one guy who solves wizards longterm problems. a true s/f that can guard both p/fs and s/gs and who has the potential to be two way player. We all know who that player is in the draft.

If you watched any of the post-season, you know Aminu doesn't have the perimeter skills to play the 3 - even at the college level.

[nate33]

only one guy who solves wizards longterm problems. a true s/f that can guard both p/fs and s/gs and who has the potential to be two way player. We all know who that player is in the draft.

If you watched any of the post-season, you know Aminu doesn't have the perimeter skills to play the 3 - even at the college level.

+1
Aminu is flat out terrible right now. He's a huge project who won't even get minutes in his rookie season. He's long and athletic, but he is by no means a basketball player. If anybody needs to go back to college, it's that guy.

[fishercob]

Don't forget his terrible character/background. He's a long shot to amount to much in the pros because of how much better he needs to get in so many different areas.

[dobrojim]

only one guy who solves wizards longterm problems. a true s/f that can guard [b]both p/fs and s/gs and who has the potential to be two way player. We all know who that player is in the draft[/b].

Terrance Williams?

[Ruzious]

CCJ, I completely agree on Blair. My two top guys outside of Griffin in the draft are Blair and Henderson. Both of those guys will be very very productive NBA players.

And for people who harp on Blair's endurance/height...........not sure you've watched enough guys over the years to appreciate the maturity and instinct Blair possesses already. He does indeed play a lot like Charles Barkley (on the glass at least). He knows exactly how to use his body to grab boards/create space. He's nowhere near the athlete on the offensive end, but I could see him averaging 14 boards a game as a starter in the NBA. He just MOVES people, big or small and creates the angles to grab the boards instinctually.

I wanted to draft Millsap for the same reason a few years ago, and was summarily bashed by many on RealGM. He's EXACTLY what the Wizards needed then, and Blair is EXACTLY what the Wizards need now. A tough, hard-nosed, intimidating guy who is all about banging in the paint and rebounding.

Henderson to me is Grant Hill part 2.........Hill was so similar to him at Duke it frightens me sometimes. Hill didn't have an outside shot, but had AMAZING athleticism and an obvious ability to improve his mid range jumper.

If we get the #2 or #3 pick, it would be amazing to trade down 2 or 3 slots and pick up another top 12 pick to get both of these guys. That would really be building for the future. No more projects, Europeans, high-schoolers......both of these guys could contribute next year.

There's gotta be a place for Blair. I still don't know what it is, but he's a player. So is Sam Young, btw. They're just players.

Grant Hill was sumpin special in college. Henderson is very good, but he's not Grant Hill. Hill was a great creator for his teammates at Duke - better than most point guards, and Henderson hasn't shown that ability. Also, Hill was like 6'8, and Henderson is 6'5. I'd be fine with Henderson. But value-wise (which needs to be harped on, imo) I'd be finer getting the better defender and better 3 point shooter - Green - on the 2nd round.

[fishercob]

You could make the case that Henderson has as much -- if not more -- in common with Chris Carrawell than with Grant Hill. Carrawell was a role player when he started at Duke, got better and better and won ACC POY as a senior. He was a second round pick and never played in the league.

I like a lot of what I see in Henderson, but he's no star. He's not going to score prolifically at the NBA level. That doesn't mean he's not a good fit for the Wiz, but he's no Grant HIll.

[Induveca]

You could make the case that Henderson has as much -- if not more -- in common with Chris Carrawell than with Grant Hill. Carrawell was a role player when he started at Duke, got better and better and won ACC POY as a senior. He was a second round pick and never played in the league.

I like a lot of what I see in Henderson, but he's no star. He's not going to score prolifically at the NBA level. That doesn't mean he's not a good fit for the Wiz, but he's no Grant HIll.

Looking at Henderson's stats at Duke:

Freshman: 6.8 ppg
Sophomore: 12.7 ppg
Junior: 16.8 ppg

All of that on 46% shooting at the SG position. Pretty damn impressive to me. I know many here are biased UMD fans, which I understand. But you don't find much better combination of proven production and huge potential outside of Griffin in this draft.

[miller31time]

^^^ And as I've said before, he started out slow this year. After the half-way point, he has been averaging close to 20ppg on better efficiency.

I'm telling you all now, if we can trade down, dump a few bad contracts and take Henderson at the 5-8 pick, it will be a happy draft day for Miller.

(And, once again, this is coming from a native Marylander and huge UMD fan)

[yungal07]

You could make the case that Henderson has as much -- if not more -- in common with Chris Carrawell than with Grant Hill. Carrawell was a role player when he started at Duke, got better and better and won ACC POY as a senior. He was a second round pick and never played in the league.

I like a lot of what I see in Henderson, but he's no star. He's not going to score prolifically at the NBA level. That doesn't mean he's not a good fit for the Wiz, but he's no Grant HIll.

Henderson = Derek Anderson. A good but not great player. He's probably not an ideal player you want with a lotto pick, that's for sure.