The RealGM Wizards Board Draft Thread 2008/2009

[ZonkertheBrainless]

So... how does Curry compare to, oh, say, Juan Dixon?

[Severn Hoos]

Devin Ebanks who? His name doesn't even ring a bell - and I watched a few WVU games last year. Anderson - I have been following - and he does sound impressive.

Well, he is a Freshman, so you wouldn't have seen him last year...

Still pretty raw, but has been coming on of late. I'll be interested to see him in the Big East & NCAA tourneys - the pressure can be very revealing, for better or worse.

On Curry, I think mid-first/late teens is about right. For example - I'd have been happy taking Chalmers in the 18-22 range. He's a likely 6th-8th man in the NBA. You can do a lot worse with a mid- to late first round pick. In fact, many teams have, by swinging for the fences and coming up empty. So if you're getting a guy who can play some point, score in spurts, and play in the mold of Jason Terry or Nate Robinson then you do it. I just don't think he's a starter/star (think Devin Harris, former Wiz draft pick), so I wouldn't take him in the top 10.

[Rafael122]

So... how does Curry compare to, oh, say, Juan Dixon?

I made that comparison a few weeks ago. They are the same players, but I will agree that Curry has better passing skills.

It's not ironic that Curry struggled again against College of Charleston. He struggled against them in a bracket buster game in February. Curry went like 0-11 at one point and bricked a 3 so bad it hit the side of the board.

It's really not that hard to game plan against him. Any average defender could shut him down.

[Tyrone Messby]

http://www.faniq.com/video/Blake-Griffin-Monster-Dunks-Vs-Oklahoma-State-YouTube-16191
Everyone take a look at these Griffin highlights.
Please, please let the number 1 pick fall to us.

Realistically, (Arenas being healthy) how good could the Wizards be next year barring injuries with a talent like this added to the roster?

[barelyawake]

If we get Blake, my next call is to McDyess or Rash. I don't care what I have to move to make space for them. Blake with AJ as a mentor is a waste. Step one: Get Blake a mentor. Step two: Get Blake a high profile big man coach. Step three: Now, deal with shedding salary or whatever you have to do financially. I don't want another big whose progress is slowed or whose promise is wasted because we don't have the system in place to ensure that guy reaches max potential. That goes for Blake and McGee (I figure Blatche is already a lost cause, but if he's still around after the shedding process, then him too). Get some tough vets in here who can show these boys: when to go for a block; how to judge a fake; how to block out; how to judge where a rebound will fall; when to come out on a pick; when it's ok to cheat off your man; what signature moves work based on their body types; how to foul without the ref seeing; how rough you can go; etc etc etc... Head coach, big man coach, mentors all working on protecting your investments. Build the roster like this:

Arenas/Crit

/Dom
Blake/McDyess
Haywood/McGee

Start there. Then, fill in the rest.

[AgentOvechkin08]

http://www.faniq.com/video/Blake-Griffin-Monster-Dunks-Vs-Oklahoma-State-YouTube-16191
Everyone take a look at these Griffin highlights.
Please, please let the number 1 pick fall to us.

Realistically, (Arenas being healthy) how good could the Wizards be next year barring injuries with a talent like this added to the roster?

When I saw those highlights over the weekend it made me want him 100x more.

Yea, I drool over the scenario

we somehow get rid of Jamison and a lineup of

Arenas
SG
Butler
Griffin
Haywood

If Griffin improved his ball handling and his range on his jumpshot, he could be our LeBron in a way, he would not be able to be guarded driving down the lane.

LeBron James without the passing ability and a decent jumper, now that would be sweet

[doclinkin]

So... how does Curry compare to, oh, say, Juan Dixon?

Better range, better passer, gets to the line more, worse teammates. Fewer championships.

The question on Juan coming into the league was whether he could play Point. He couldn't-- only learned to pass last year. Stef Curry has proven to be a solid passer despite carrying the heaviest load in college sports in terms of total possessions.

If he can manage 7 assists per contest with a scrub team, with defenses keyed to stop him-- I expect he'd look alright dishing off to JaVale McGee instead. I maintain that a few years down the line we'll tend to think of him as one of the better PG's in this draft.

[dobrojim]

Draft express still has Blair going much later than I've heard some folks
say they think he should go.

Worst case scenario, we end up 2nd worst and pick 5th, who do you take?

Assume Hill, Harden and Thabeet (who we wouldn't really need anyway) are gone.

Blair
Curry (edit - his stock should probably slip unless Davidson wins the NIT)
Henderson (recently outplayed by DGreen)
T Williams (maybe a reach)
Teague (still have not seen much of)
Aminu (ditto)
Budinger (another reach)

I'm just struck by DE having Blair as low as they do.
He's got pro written all over him (despite his lack of height).
Is he really that much worse than Griffin or Hill?
This guy ain't no TractorTraylor or BigBaby either.
He's pure beast.

All that said, I still adhere to the view that our greatest need is at SG.
Jamison may not be ideal but if you had the choice to replace someone in
what was supposed to be our starting lineup this year

Gil
DeShawn
Caron
AJ
Haywood

it would have to be DeShawn IMO.
And with the other talent there, shooting ability should be high on the list of
strengths, along with some defensive ability (duh).
AJ is flawed but fixing our defensive ineptitude will be more due to our
next coach than any single player we add to the roster.

Best case scenario - (other than winning the lotto)
We trade the draft rights to Thabeet to a team desparate for a C
and simultaneously unload some of Etan/James. And draft Blair,
and one of the stat filling swing players like Henderson, TWilliams or
Budinger or the guy from OSU that was discussed earlier.

But if Blair goes anywhere below 10, I think someone is going to be very
happy with their value for that pick.

[doclinkin]

Draft express still has Blair going much later than I've heard some folks
say they think he should go.

Worst case scenario, we end up 2nd worst and pick 5th, who do you take?

Considering our competition for the bottom rung, ending up 2nd with the 5th pick isn't the worst case scenario.

Also Ricky Rubio is trying to get free to land in the top 3, which would bump down either of Hill or Harden in your scenario.

But given your scenario, yeah right I'd try to package a trade to upgrade our backcourt, and dump roster thickener. Ideally with a pick-swap into the later lotto/near lotto since the available talent is equivalent, then take Evan Turner/Maynor/Curry/Blair... Best available. (I'm still mulling my draft, the Tourney always clarifies the thing for me. And I haven't even really run the metas yet, for the hellovit).

Still if forced to pick 5th (and no Ricky in the draft) and unable to trade, I suspect Ernie would take Henderson. EG might sniff at Jennings as a hypertalent whose game is better suited for the NBA than Euroball-- the kid will test well, and positively blaze in the one-on-one /two-on-two workout circuit. And despite the stats Europe was good for his game. But EG'd be more likely to drop a rumor of his interest to see who bites on a trade-- then ultimately not pull the trigger, worrying about the learning curve & waiting on the talent.

I dunno. Weird draft. Lots of good smaller players.

[miller31time]

Still if forced to pick 5th (and no Ricky in the draft) and unable to trade, I suspect Ernie would take Henderson. EG might sniff at Jennings as a hypertalent whose game is better suited for the NBA than Euroball-- the kid will test well, and positively blaze in the one-on-one /two-on-two workout circuit. And despite the stats Europe was good for his game. But EG'd be more likely to drop a rumor of his interest to see who bites on a trade-- then ultimately not pull the trigger, worrying about the learning curve & waiting on the talent.

If we do drop to the 5th pick and can't trade it in a package for a star player or a good player and cap relief, then I would be fine with Henderson.

Yeah, it's higher than he should go but my mind was forever changed about Gerald when the Terps played Duke and Henderson demonstrated about everything you expect from an NBA-star-caliber player.

He'd be practically ideal for the Wizards, too. Excellent defensively, nice shot, incredible explosiveness, has a propensity to come up big when his team needs it most (doing whatever it takes).

As much as it would pain me to take a Duke player, it might be a necessary path.

[MF23]

CCJ, what is your opinion on Larry Sanders of VCU?

I really like his length and attitude towards defense.

[Ruzious]

Still if forced to pick 5th (and no Ricky in the draft) and unable to trade, I suspect Ernie would take Henderson. EG might sniff at Jennings as a hypertalent whose game is better suited for the NBA than Euroball-- the kid will test well, and positively blaze in the one-on-one /two-on-two workout circuit. And despite the stats Europe was good for his game. But EG'd be more likely to drop a rumor of his interest to see who bites on a trade-- then ultimately not pull the trigger, worrying about the learning curve & waiting on the talent.

If we do drop to the 5th pick and can't trade it in a package for a star player or a good player and cap relief, then I would be fine with Henderson.

Yeah, it's higher than he should go but my mind was forever changed about Gerald when the Terps played Duke and Henderson demonstrated about everything you expect from an NBA-star-caliber player.

He'd be practically ideal for the Wizards, too. Excellent defensively, nice shot, incredible explosiveness, has a propensity to come up big when his team needs it most (doing whatever it takes).

As much as it would pain me to take a Duke player, it might be a necessary path.

I wouldn't - unless he convinces me he's going to hit a lot of 3's in the NBA - and he's kinda disappointed me in that area. You gotta get value picking that high, and unless he shows better tre range, he's not worth the 5th pick. Besides, I've made it pretty clear I want Danny Green in the 2nd round - as I think he'd be a better fit. I also wouldn't mind trading down for Buddinger to team with Green - as Bud can play some 3 - and it'd be nice to see the basketball IQ rise on the team. Get either Patrick Patterson or Blair with the other pick you get in the trade down.

[dobrojim]

refresh my memory...

won't we need to clear roster space ie cut someone with guaranteed $$
outright in order to sign a 2nd rnd pick?

This could complicate potential to make trades since other teams
obviously can count to 15. I guess I'm not thinking that they don't
already know that if we have something they want, a high pick,
they're going to have to take back something bad along with it.

also I keep forgetting that with the 2nd worst record, our 2nd
rnd pick is basically like a late-1st rnd.

[miller31time]

Still if forced to pick 5th (and no Ricky in the draft) and unable to trade, I suspect Ernie would take Henderson. EG might sniff at Jennings as a hypertalent whose game is better suited for the NBA than Euroball-- the kid will test well, and positively blaze in the one-on-one /two-on-two workout circuit. And despite the stats Europe was good for his game. But EG'd be more likely to drop a rumor of his interest to see who bites on a trade-- then ultimately not pull the trigger, worrying about the learning curve & waiting on the talent.

If we do drop to the 5th pick and can't trade it in a package for a star player or a good player and cap relief, then I would be fine with Henderson.

Yeah, it's higher than he should go but my mind was forever changed about Gerald when the Terps played Duke and Henderson demonstrated about everything you expect from an NBA-star-caliber player.

He'd be practically ideal for the Wizards, too. Excellent defensively, nice shot, incredible explosiveness, has a propensity to come up big when his team needs it most (doing whatever it takes).

As much as it would pain me to take a Duke player, it might be a necessary path.

I wouldn't - unless he convinces me he's going to hit a lot of 3's in the NBA - and he's kinda disappointed me in that area. You gotta get value picking that high, and unless he shows better tre range, he's not worth the 5th pick. Besides, I've made it pretty clear I want Danny Green in the 2nd round - as I think he'd be a better fit. I also wouldn't mind trading down for Buddinger to team with Green - as Bud can play some 3 - and it'd be nice to see the basketball IQ rise on the team. Get either Patrick Patterson or Blair with the other pick you get in the trade down.

I think it's important to know that Henderson CAN hit the three. Maybe not exceptionally well and maybe not with the best consistency, but he has shown that it's one of the shots in his repertoire.

So long as he isn't absolutely dreadful from 3, then he's a good pick, considering he does pretty much everything else really well AND that he plays shooting guard AND that he has a high basketball IQ.

We'd have our shooting guard position set for years.

[AgentOvechkin08]

Juan is probably going to be gone just as a roster space casualty.

I really hope we get rid of Deshawn and Mike James. We bought out Chucky so if we had to we might just do it to James.

For the draft, of course i hope we get the 1st pick and get Griffin. If we pull a celtics and have the worst record and pick 5th, that will piss me off.

Blair is not worth a lottery selection
Curry isnt either
Henderson is not a top 5 pick
Jennings maybe....but we have a PG in Gil and Critt as a back up
Maybe Derozan on potential based only, the dude is the most athletic player in the country right up there with Griffin, for his position.

Aminu, Clark, both guys that REALLY intrigue me. People say Clark has potential to the sky but he seems to tease scouts. He can shoot it, pass, rebound, block shots, has a good frame (room to add some muscle), which i said earlier, his frame reminds me of LeBron when he first came to the league.

We will have options, i trust ernie with this one though, he wont do something stupid with a top 5 pick, when it comes to trading it or picking. (last time he did get us Antawn Jamison, even though Devin Harris has become an All Star PG)

[Ruzious]

I think it's important to know that Henderson CAN hit the three. Maybe not exceptionally well and maybe not with the best consistency, but he has shown that it's one of the shots in his repertoire.

So long as he isn't absolutely dreadful from 3, then he's a good pick, considering he does pretty much everything else really well AND that he plays shooting guard AND that he has a high basketball IQ.

We'd have our shooting guard position set for years.

I don't disagree. I just feel like we need to get 5th pick value - to make up for such a bad season - and I think he falls a little - not a lot, though - short of that. And again, I'm a Green guy.

Part of my problem there is I'm a Bucks fan (after the Wiz), and last draft, they went with that philosophy on the first round - draft Alexander and you have your 3 for the next decade. But, they had another forward targeted in the 2nd round who was a better fit (and that's what Green is in my mind). Meanwhile, they could have drafted the BPA - Brook Lopez. They didn't NEED a center, but... it was a huge mistake to pass him up. And sure enough, Bogut got injured, and they really did need a center. And that was the 8th pick. Gotsta get value at 5.

[Ruzious]

refresh my memory...

won't we need to clear roster space ie cut someone with guaranteed $$
outright in order to sign a 2nd rnd pick?

This could complicate potential to make trades since other teams
obviously can count to 15. I guess I'm not thinking that they don't
already know that if we have something they want, a high pick,
they're going to have to take back something bad along with it.

also I keep forgetting that with the 2nd worst record, our 2nd
rnd pick is basically like a late-1st rnd.

We do have a roster #s problem right now - with 14 people guaranteed money next season and a max roster size of 15 - due to EG's infatuation with Pecherov and others. Hopefully, he can make a 2 or 3 for 1 trade. I don't like the idea of stashing away a 2nd round pick in Europe. And selling a 2nd rounder again - when it's as high as it's going to be - would be unforgivable, imo.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Draft express still has Blair going much later than I've heard some folks
say they think he should go.

Worst case scenario, we end up 2nd worst and pick 5th, who do you take?

Assume Hill, Harden and Thabeet (who we wouldn't really need anyway) are gone.

Blair
Curry (edit - his stock should probably slip unless Davidson wins the NIT)
Henderson (recently outplayed by DGreen)
T Williams (maybe a reach)
Teague (still have not seen much of)
Aminu (ditto)
Budinger (another reach)

I'm just struck by DE having Blair as low as they do.
He's got pro written all over him (despite his lack of height).
Is he really that much worse than Griffin or Hill?
This guy ain't no TractorTraylor or BigBaby either.
He's pure beast.

All that said, I still adhere to the view that our greatest need is at SG.
Jamison may not be ideal but if you had the choice to replace someone in
what was supposed to be our starting lineup this year

Gil
DeShawn
Caron
AJ
Haywood

it would have to be DeShawn IMO.
And with the other talent there, shooting ability should be high on the list of
strengths, along with some defensive ability (duh).
AJ is flawed but fixing our defensive ineptitude will be more due to our
next coach than any single player we add to the roster.

Best case scenario - (other than winning the lotto)
We trade the draft rights to Thabeet to a team desparate for a C
and simultaneously unload some of Etan/James. And draft Blair,
and one of the stat filling swing players like Henderson, TWilliams or
Budinger or the guy from OSU that was discussed earlier.

But if Blair goes anywhere below 10, I think someone is going to be very
happy with their value for that pick.

jim, DE was wrong about Millsap and I think they are very wrong about Blair. (JonG, I hope your search engine picked that up.)


He should be a top-5 pick. Period. I think he's better than Millsap. He's getting 15 points and 12 rebounds in UNDER 27 MINUTES per game. (That would be 20 and 16 for 36 minutes).

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/pr ... erId=36578

His team is 28-3 in the TOUGHEST BY FAR conference.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/teams/schedule?teamId=221

Two wins over UConn

He is only 19 years old!

Jim, I'd be happy if the Wizards had the SECOND OVERALL PICK AND USED IT ON BLAIR because I AM CONVINCED HE CAN START AT PF AND GRAB A TON OF REBOUNDS AND DEFEND WAY BETTER THAN JAMISON.

I say that with complete confidence.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/spor ... uan00.html

Blair's game combines power, athleticism, finesse, quickness and personality. He is an athletic power forward with outstanding court awareness and passing ability. He uses his long 7-foot-2-inch wingspan for positioning on rebounds and knocking away passes on defense

.

Named the Associated Press Pennsylvania State Player of the Year and First Team All-State for the second consecutive season...Earned Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Area Player of the Year and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fabulous Five honors...Guided Schenley to the PIAA Class 4A state championship, becoming the first City League team to win the state title since 1978...Scored 18 points, grabbed 23 rebounds and blocked six shots in leading Schenley to the state title with a 78-71 win over Chester...Averaged 16.2 points and 14 rebounds per game in leading Schenley to a 29-3 overall record, No. 11 national ranking by USA Today and consensus top-20 national ranking.

...Led Schenley to a PIAA Class 4A state title game before losing the championship game to Lower Merion (60-58) and 30-2 record as a junior...

Played on USA Junior All-Star squad that toured Europe with teammate Brad Wanamaker...Earned MVP honors after scoring 25 points and grabbing 16 rebounds for Team USA in the title game vs. Russia (played in France)...Also averaged a double-double for the squad in the team's five games played

PERSONAL

Born DeJuan Blair on April 22, 1989...Son of Greg Blair and Shari Saddler...Has a brother Greg, who started on the Schenley state title team...Extremely close to his grandmother Donna Saddler...Cousin of Pitt football player Cameron Saddler...Father Greg played and graduated from Schenley in 1991 and his mother, Shari averaged 20 points and 20 rebounds at Serra Catholic in the 1980s...Owns a 7-foot-2-inch wingspan...Grew up in a house just 600 yards from the Pitt campus...Attended high school a mile from campus...

This kid's mom sounds like she could have played against Javale's mom.

I posted all the above just to say draft pundits really need to look at more than a player's height and build. This guy is a beast and somebody will get a steal if he's less than the 5th or so player drafted.

Why? Blair won and appeared in multiple state titles in HS. Won MVP in junior national team tournament against Russian his age (who are essentially pros) in France. His team is currently at or near #1 in the NCAAs. Blair has by far the best PER, EFF, WS, Reb/40 arates in the college game.

Honestly, I won't be shocked if somehow he ends up being the best player in this draft.

[miller31time]

I don't disagree. I just feel like we need to get 5th pick value - to make up for such a bad season - and I think he falls a little - not a lot, though - short of that. And again, I'm a Green guy.

Part of my problem there is I'm a Bucks fan (after the Wiz), and last draft, they went with that philosophy on the first round - draft Alexander and you have your 3 for the next decade. But, they had another forward targeted in the 2nd round who was a better fit (and that's what Green is in my mind). Meanwhile, they could have drafted the BPA - Brook Lopez. They didn't NEED a center, but... it was a huge mistake to pass him up. And sure enough, Bogut got injured, and they really did need a center. And that was the 8th pick. Gotsta get value at 5.

Good post and I agree to an extent. I did already say that he's not the best value at the 5th pick and it is true that the Bucks had the same philosophy last year but just because it's the same philosophy doesn't mean the two picks can be compared on the same basis.

Alexander had plenty of question marks coming out of WVU. He had limited range (though solid from mid-range), was average defensively and was below-average in terms of rebounding. He was (and is) ultra-athletic and can make some incredible dunks so I think that made his draft stock rise more than it should have. Also, he played power forward almost exclusively in college and was forced to play out of position in the NBA. That's something that was known going into the draft.

Henderson, on the other hand, does just about everything you can ask of a player coming out of college. There isn't anything he struggles with and has take-over mentality.

It should also be noted that he has put up almost 20ppg in the 2nd half of this college season. He started off slow but has since been dominant.

I think we just have two different strategies, Ruz. I normally like BPA but for this team and this situation, I think we need to groom a good 2-guard, not add to the glut of forwards, centers and point guards.