Grade the Wizards Draft

[pineappleheadindc]

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Please take a second to give EG your grade for how the Wizards did in this draft by voting with the radio buttons, above.

Then, in comments, please let us know who YOU would have drafted using only players available on the board at the time the Wizards were picking.

Example:

6: Vesley
18: Singleton
34: Mack

Go Wizards

[JWizmentality]

I'll never get the "grade the draft" nonsense. Why score a test that hasn't been taken?!?

Know what most people gave the Sixers for drafting Turner..an A+

Whatcha think now?

[pineappleheadindc]

I'll never get the "grade the draft" nonsense. Why score a test that hasn't been taken?!?

JWiz = F

[Rafael122]

I'll give them a C+. How about that? Right in the middle, not bad, not good...a solid draft. IF Vesely does pan out then obviously the grade will be higher, but I like the Singleton pick.

Mack probably won't stick around but that's just me.

[JWizmentality]

I'll never get the "grade the draft" nonsense. Why score a test that hasn't been taken?!?

JWiz = F

I'm the mentalist top brass!!
That aint no rash, just my cleat marks all over Pine's a$$!





yea....I'm slightly inebriated.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

C.

#6 Kemba
#18 Singleton
#34 J Williams

[TGW]

B-

They brought in guys who are going to stick in the NBA and compete defensively.

I would have preferred a guy who could score in the post...we literally do not have a guy with a reliable post move.

[Rafael122]

We need an outsider scorer as well. It's going to be hard to figure this team out IMO. It's kinda like we have a little bit of everything but no set identity.

[Ruzious]

I felt like - considering they had a lousy season and they are in rebuild mode, it was paramount that they get an outstanding player in this draft - even if it meant they had to trade up to do it or be creative in some other way - so I am grading hard. They failed to do that, so they earned a D from me.

[closg00]

These components combined with Flips offense, looks like another lottery trip for this org; no scoring and a continuation of the weak front court. Our games are going to be ugly to watch. Perhaps we sure-up the shooting via FA.

Vesely - D
Singleton - B
Mack - C+

Grade - D, who is going to be the closer for this team?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The Good

Vesely is a guy the Wizards reportedly liked last year before they knew they had Wall at #1. They might have selected him 5th or so last year. He's already 21 and has lots of international experience. Looking at guys like Ilyasova and Casspi, I think Vesely will put up decent numbers. NBA play isn't that much better if it is IMO.

Singleton is a guy a lot of folks loved, and he was projected to be around the 8th player in the draft. They got him at 18.

Mack is a guy that some thought would sneak into round one. Two final fours and pretty extreme strength. He managed to win in tournament play from a small school and comes with four years college.

The Bad

Instead of drafting Vesely, I think drafting and trading Knight would have opened LOTS of possibilities. I think improving the roster that way was the way to go. I would have preferred trading down with Knight and picking up Leonard would have been he way to go.

Singleton slipped for a reason: shooting. Having Vesely in the fold why pick similarly offensively-challenged Singleton? I think Tobias Harris would have been a more explosive scorer and a better shooter. Jordan Hamilton is a good offensive SF who can rebound. Faried would have brought an even better motor and MUCH better rebounding. Ken Faried was THE choice IMO. Guys like Brooks and Cole are really good players. Cole is a can't-miss NBA player and better than Mack IMO. Brooks would have made Nick expendable.

Can't really argue much against Mack at 34, but Williams is a strong rebounder. Had the Wizards already not drafted two SFs, they could have had Honeycutt at 34. Also on the board: Chandler Parsons, Trey Thompkins, Jon Leuer, Darius Morris, Charles Jenkins--a bunch of guys who if they had played on Butler would have been higher-rated than Mack.

MY OVERALL GRADE

Per usual, I think Ernie locked in on who he wanted and stuck with it. I think I'll give Ernie a C+.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

These components combined with Flips offense, looks like another lottery trip for this org; no scoring and a continuation of the weak front court. Our games are going to be ugly to watch. Perhaps we sure-up the shooting via FA.

Vesely - D
Singleton - B
Mack - C+

No inside game. No outside shooting.

The upside: In one year no Flip or EG.

[Black Eyed Sooz]

I felt like - considering they had a lousy season and they are in rebuild mode, it was paramount that they get an outstanding player in this draft - even if it meant they had to trade up to do it or be creative in some other way - so I am grading hard. They failed to do that, so they earned a D from me.

I pretty much agree with this- and they needed to get an outstanding player who is physical and can score inside like Kanter.

What makes this especially painful is a) Kanter really wanted to come play here, and b)there is no one in the draft next year with that kind of physical post presence.

Singleton is a good player, but for me he only brings the draft up from D to C.

Edited to add: Maybe Sullinger would be the one inside player in the 2012 draft, but I just can't get excited about him right now.

[verbal8]

These components combined with Flips offense, looks like another lottery trip for this org; no scoring and a continuation of the weak front court. Our games are going to be ugly to watch. Perhaps we sure-up the shooting via FA.

Vesely - D
Singleton - B
Mack - C+

No inside game. No outside shooting.

The upside: In one year no Flip or EG.

The Wizards offensive deficiencies may be a deliberate strategy.

The plan could go something like this:
Acquire elite player - hopefully Wall is the guy
Establish young, athletic team with defensive identity - seems to be the strategy with the past 2 drafts.
Add "hired guns" to fill scoring roles. I think it would relatively easy to add outside shooting, but not sure if you can really get a post scorer this way.

[dangermouse]

I gave a B but I really wanted a B- option... Maybe even a C+.

Utah took Kanter. So he was gone by #4 and the #6 and #18 deal was no longer a possibility. I think i would have taken B.Knight and looked to Utah for a deal. If not he would still come in handy in a deal. They always say draft the BPA even if youre set at their position. We definitely didnt do that. I think we drafted on need, and picked a guy in our weakest position who also had the highest potential but the highest bust potential as well.

Singleton, we got lucky. I dont think EG knew he would fall to us at #18. Thats ok, I dont think many predicted him to be there. And i dont think we would have taken Vesely if we knew Singleton would still be around. I'm happy with the pick so this raises the score. Not that im too unhappy about Vesely, i like his Kirilenko potential but time will tell. I just think if we had any idea we'd be able to take Singleton we wouldnt have gone the Vesely route.

Mack I like as well. Pretty sure this is a character selection over what he will bring to the court. Good to get a shooter though.

[wizards-fan]

I was happy with the draft, based on where they were at #6 and #18 and what happened before their pick. They only other guy I would have considered at 6 was Biyombo -- and I think he'll be good but with Booker and Seraphin being somewhat similar players, it would have been tough to develop all 3 at the same time. And for whatever reason the Wizards didn't want him and he didn't want to play in DC, so whatever.

I think all three picks are really consistent with the model of a hard-working, aggressive, smart team designed to defend and run with John Wall. With knuckleheads like Blatche, Young, and McGee you need to acquire dedicated guys with few question-marks about motivation and winning attitude, and I think they did that. The skill level as far as shooting goes leaves something to be desired, but it's been shown that is something you can improve. Motor, size, athleticism, and defense generally do not improve.

Vesely could very well come in and have a bigger impact than people think early in his career -- Euro stats are really tough to gauge but he seemed to be a bigger part of his championship team than the stats suggest. He may be one of the most NBA ready players in this entire draft, along with Derrick Williams.

Singleton is huge at 6-9, 230 and the best defender in the draft at four positions. Great pick at #18. And he seems like a really good character guy with nice upside. Mack will get <10 minutes per game as a backup PG or fourth/fifth guard -- his pick is about intangibles and the winning pedigree ... really his value is in the locker room and in practice. Great pick there -- I don't follow what some of you are saying about more rebounding, there is no room for another rebounding forward on this team with seven young big men on the roster now. They needed depth in the backcourt and somebody who would bring winning attitude and good habits and Mack is that. Schematically, Flips system calls for combo guards and Mack is that. Couple quotes from Wizards Insider 6/8/11 by Mack:

“When you come from a winning tradition, you know what it takes to win,” said Mack, who declared for the NBA draft following his junior season. “Like in the first quarter diving on loose balls, that adds up at the end of the game, gives you an extra possession. I think little things like that can add up at the end for you when you’re interviewing for the organization.”

"We had two great games here, game winners,” Mack said. “I love the atmosphere at the Verizon Center. It’s a great place to play.”

“They want guys that can compete hard every day in practice and in games,” Mack said. “It’s a long season. It’s a big adjustment from college to pro, so just showing them I’m in shape and I can compete every day.”

I gave them an A.

[MF23]

Good post wizards-fan. Mack and Singleton have really good heads on their shoulders and play above average defense. Those players make the cultural changes the Wizards need.

[Bickerstaff]

I give them an F. They should have drafted Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. FIRE EG!!!!

[Illuminaire]

I'm not a JV fan, but I had to give EG an A for this draft.

Culturally, he picked some of the most bad-ass competitors in the draft. Talent wise, I think he did about as well as possible. Utah decided they wanted Kanter and weren't moving for less than Williams.... then Cleveland and Toronto snapped up the two best bigs remaining.

I'm personally of the mind that Vesely will never be a starting quality player, but he had the best combination of potential and attitude left in the draft. There were other players we could have taken with more certain NBA skills, and EG could have settled for a single or double, but he took a swing at the guy who could be a home run. Considering the weakness of this draft, I'm fine with that.

Singleton was a fantastic pick, of course. Great value, great player.

Mack looks really good for a 2nd rounder. I know we all look more for upside in the second, but the fact is that only a handful of guys a decade go from the second round to starter or all-star status. A solid player with a winning mindset at a position of need? You can't expect to get more than that.

I only wish that we had bought another early second to stash Davis Bertrans.

[dlts20]

NBA TV & Jon Barry said we had the best draft if that makes you feel any better