Official 2013 Draft Thread - Part VIII

[truwizfan4evr]

Whats everyone draft grade for wizards?

[jivelikenice]

CBS gave both picks an A+
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/draft/drafttracker

Walterfootball gave an A+ and an A-
http://walterfootball.com/nbadraft2013grades.php

I give them an A. Otto was the perfect pick. I've said it a few times now but he tested better than MKG and Kawhi and is more advanced offensively so I don't see why is upside is being limited by so many.

Rice is a 1st rd talent. Good risk here. I would not have taken him directly out of GA Tech after being dismissed, but the time in the D-League may have been the wake up call he needed.

We still have both exceptions and Ariza who could be used to fill the remaining holes which are a backup pg and a stretch 4.

[gambitx777]

we drafted him for someone else. Why someone would actually draft him actually surprises me. He doesn't have NBA range. Could be a glue guy down the road but I don't think he'd provide more utility to us then like...Temple.

I thought that but i read that we still had him.... guess they were wrong? but any way UDF's who do you guys want the wiz to grab?

[doclinkin]

I'm actually pretty happy with this draft. Not just our draft but the draft in general. This one was fun. Drama, intrigue, unpredictability, good talent going undrafted and possibly available for summer league or training camp.

1. Bennett was selected before our pick, so his adherents get satisfaction that their talent evaluation of him was justified, and his detractors get a sigh of relief in case his flaws prove intractible.

2. OpiDos gets drafted by the Wiz. Solid genuine good guy with all of the intangibles you want including youth and upside and room to improve. His game sinters perfectly with the rest of our backcourt, unselfish pasing, effort and length on defense, a bit of a post game if he's got a mismatch, hard working.

3. Noel dropped, but dropped past PHX which as far as I'm concerned means I have fewer qualms about missing him. Detroit and Pheonix have the best medical/training staff in the league, if either or both think he's a risk for future problems then I'm happy our staff is not given this problem to examine. Our injury record is the bar none worst in the league over the past 10 years as far as games lost to injury. My conscience wouldn't wish the questionable Wiz medical team on that poor kid.

4. Ed Wood showed up for a single post, gifting us with his usual syntactical rubics cube of a paragraph. Come back ed wood, you have no life nor anything better to do than track field data of these athletic ectomorphs and pituitary cases.

5. We drafted both Nate Wolters (back-up PG/combo guard we needed) and Arsalan Kazemi (quintessential glue guy) !!! doc and CCJ will be pleased! Oh NOES!!! THEY WAZ TRADED!!! Ok: We now have real excuses to gripe and grumble about how much our front office sucks if it turns out either/both pan out.

6. The guy we traded them for may actually prove better even than the guy we drafted in front of him at teh same position. Only difference being the character issue. But character schmaracter. He was young! Surroudned by bad influences! Grew up entitled rich and spoiled! Had to learn through the school of hard knocks not to squander his opportuntities. Put in the work and earned championship experience. And better still! Ddid we not just trade questionable character plus talented upside for our centerpiece Center? If GRJR shows up large in the bright spotlight as a back-up SF-- or if either he or OPDos develop their ballhandling skills/perimter D, and are able to play next to each other as tall ball Shooting Guards, why goodness me then we have both positive on court effect and ALSO a possible trade piece.

7. Undrafted talent abounds. There are a few guys who might think it fun hopping on our squad for a tryout. I like SevHoos' list. Chiefly James Southerland and Seth Curry who'd be nice fits for us, especially in summerleague playing next to Beal and Otto.

8. ...SuperChiefly John Wall's homey CJ Leslie, who okay plays the same position as our two draftees, and Ariza, and ok Webster if he elects to stay here. But hey maybe he misses playing with Johnny Ballgame.

Pulling for CJ Leslie to go undrafted. That's John Wall's homeboy from Cafalack. He might like to give it a tryout up here.

He's a tweener who can't shoot...I mean...he'd be better then vesely I guess since he isn't afraid of his own shadow but I'd like to see some low post bangers/myck be our primary focus.

Banger or not CJ can finish in traffic. When asked if John Wall had ever played with a guy as athletic as JaVale or if he was blown away by the speed of the NBA he scoffed and said 'nah, I've played next to CJ Leslie'. The same CJ Leslie who posted the fastest lane agility in the combine, coupled with a 12' 1" max vert reach, a 40" jump, and the 3rd fastest 3/4 court sprint, faster than all but 2 PGs.

Okay he has no jumper. Neither did John until halfway through the year. You can teach shooting, can't teach quix like dis. I'd love to find a place for him, a role, call him our Fast Forward, and replace Vesely with the kid. If he wants run he'll have to play a little defense, but I suspect he'll want run, and he's got the tools to be a disruptive and versatile defender if he's motivated to give a rip. On this squad I think he's motivated. It's a good crowd. Culture of effort on D. I'd lvoe to see how he could develop as a frenetic tall perimeter defender. If we had a Spurs-type training ground, he'd become our Bruce Bowen type perimeter missile shield defender. Able to stay in front of Point Guards, but tall enough to force readjustment. We just need a Popovich style hardassery to coax it out of him. BUt if he were playing for Thibodeaux he'd become a hybrid of Rondo and Joakim on defense. Long quick and bothersome. Just needs proper give-a-fuxkery.

[The Consiglieri]

grantland also has one on Porter

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-trian ... en-rice-jr

[gambitx777]

Again the Glen Rice Jr pick is not as bad as the sataransky pick. I can live with it, we needed a back up 2 and we got one, I am not, in any way up set about not taking noel. 2 historically good drafting teams and the medical wonderland of the suns passed on him. Just proves my point that he is not worth the risk. Otto will be fine so will Glen Rice Jr.

[Knighthonor]

Need a big. The Wizards need a big. Need a PF/C

Edit*
With TALENT!!! AND YOUTH!!!

[Knighthonor]

Totally dislike the Cavs right now.
Glad Lebron James left them!!! >:(

[The Consiglieri]

No bigs till next year unless we trade for one. Maybe not till '15. Depends on slotting, cap situation, and our attractiveness to the '14 and '15 classes. Loving the Rice Jr pick more and more each time I find a new piece of info on it. Really feel like we've got PG/SG/SF covered for the next decade if we can also get Webster back. Figuring out how to add young quality talent at 4/5 is going to be very hard though.

[queridiculo]

Glenn Rice junior, charged in gun shooting incident outside of a night club... DC is just the right town for him, I can see him picking up the void left behind by Blatche.

[Knighthonor]

I really get the feeling EG knows Webster is not coming back and its getting pieces in place to replace him.

[gambitx777]

Hopfully we grab Jackkie Charmichel as a UDFA, and I again think we took Glen rice Jr as a 2 to Back up beal because he can shoot and hes a good fit for the 3ed or 4th guard.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

After that draft I predict the Wizards will win the CHAMPIONSHIP !! Of the Summer League that is.

[Knighthonor]

After that draft I predict the Wizards will win the CHAMPIONSHIP !! Of the Summer League that is.

Wall cant play the summer league remember

[fishercob]

Good morning, my little chickadees. Now THAT was a draft night -- blockbuster deals, complete unpredictability, picks changing hands multiple times. Thoughts are scattered; hoping coffee kicks in soon.

The Telecast: The worst I can ever remember. I am usually a big fan of Bill Simmons' work form TBoB to the 30 for 30's to even some of his pregame/halftime stuff. But he was completely out of his depth covering a draft, and the problem was exacerbated by having no coach or color analyst on the panel to balance him out (where art thou Jeff Van Gundy??). Perhaps Simmons could have worked if they had him at a separate desk and cut to him regularly -- so he could monitor twitter, digest what was happening, have some time to gather his thoughts and come up with a quick take. But he talked waaaay too much, interrupted people, got stuff wrong because it was happening too fast, etc. The Doc exchange was good. Other than that, pure crap.

Ted is Right: His "no one knows nothing" axiom couldn't be more true. It doesn't matter how loudly you bang on the keyboard, you just don't know. The mock drafts put out by the guys supposedly "in the know" couldn;t have been more wrong. No one predicted Bennett first and Noel sliding out of the top 5. NBA FO's did an excellent job revealing nothing of substance prior to the draft. It should (but won't) make all of us re-think some of our own evaluative measures, but whatever....

The Wiz were fortunate: If the Wiz had stayed at 8 they would have been looking at a board without Bennett, Oladipo, Porter, Zeller, Len, Noel and McLemore. We won't know for some time, but I think the Wiz gained a lot by moving up to #3 to grab Porter.

I like the Porter pick. He's been my main target since we moved up to 3. I think in a few years he will -- depending on matchups -- be able to share the court with two other wings/shooter; it's a combination of the direction/evolution of the NBA game and the fact that he's likely to grow and/or fill out. As long as he doesn;t have to guard a beefcake who can score efficiently in the post, he'll be fine.

I've never seen Glen Rice Jr play. But the arguments I'm seeing against the pick have to do with (a) that he isn't someone else or (b) his position. Everyone crushes our brass for not playing the value game -- buying low, selling high, etc. Well, isn't that exactly what we're going for here? Rice is a supposed first-round talent who had some issues. So we scoop him up deep in the draft and see what he's made of. He purportedly has owned up to his missteps and was very productive in the D-league. Maybe he establishes some value and is part of a trade package down the road or ends up filling a need here. Certainly seems like a reasonable risk.

As to position, relax a little bit. The Wizards need talent, position be damned -- especially in round two. At this point last year lots of us here were pretty sure that the Wizards were going to be the worst perimeter shooting team in NBA history. Ariza shot much better than anyone expected. Webster came out of nowhere. Beal exceeded expectations. Free agency and trading is still ahead of us, so there will be plenty of opportunity to add backup guards and bigs. Not to get all handsy, but we just have to sit back and watch things unfold a bit.

On Noel: Never fully understood why he was so hyped as a prospect and felt like going to Kentucky inflated his public stock. I don't buy the Noah comparisons, as Joakim had a much more refined offensive game (particularly as a passer) when he came into the league. Tyson Chandler? Well he's well shorter and TC took a long time before he was an impact player. Is he Ben Wallace? Maybe if he adds 30 pounds of muscle. He may turn out to be a very complete player, but he has a long road to get there. The knee injuries were scary, as is his frame, and there were some character/company whispers. I think New Orleans made a really good deal because Holiday is a hell of a young lead guard and they should be good enough to stay out of the high lottery. One has to wonder whether Phoenix considered the same deal but couldn't make it because they were going to suck too bad this year and had Goran Dragic (ew).

[Deeptu McPullup]

This draft is a mess. It's like every lottery team but the Wizards and possibly the Cavs are trying to make the playoffs next season.

The wizards move was a pure short term move. The long term move would have been Noel. Instead they took the guy just about everybody said was the most ready to step in now and play, and E.G. wants to save his arse before he gets s canned four years after he should have been s canned. It was a pure, b.s., all about me, not about the franchise move. Even if you don't feel that incendiary, there's no denying the wizards move was 100% about making the playoffs next year.

This is just complete and total pants on the head nonsense. There was nobody on the board that was going to make a statistically relevant difference in our 2014 win total aside from maybe a few four year players like McCollum.

Trading the pick would have been the move that created the maximum short term impact.

MCW is the best defensive PG. Noel is the best defensive player overall, at PF/C. They got a pick with Noel just for Jrue Holiday.

I think they did better than fine. Noel was the highest rated player, and a phenomenal defender prior to his injury.

It's a great move by Philly. They add two very good young talents, both of whom should need a year or two of seasoning. That sets up a strong tank for next year. That NO pick is only top 3 protected so they could go into next offseason with two top 5 picks in the strongest draft in a while.

I'm not sure how the MCW pick will work out, but I agree with you guys directionally on the Sixers; they are VERY well poised for a 2014 tank run here and finally have a coherent direction. They might be able to run a lot of things through Evan Turner and flip him for something too.

New Orleans was too impatient here, though it might work out to an extent depending on what other moves they have lined up.

[stevemcqueen1]

Cleveland has a lot of work to do, but I like their roster better than any other non playoff team in the East save ours. They're going to be a big rival once each of our respective cores mature. Philly could be good in a few years if their gambles pay off but they are a long ways away. And Charlotte is slowly, painstakingly turning themselves around. Indiana's ceiling was this year's finals appearance, their guards blow and they don't have the money or draft picks to get better here. Chicago is a beatable contender. Boston, Atlanta, and Milwaukee are done for. Toronto is a mess. Orlando still has a long way to go right now. Miami as we know it today has an expiration date. The Knicks and Nets are screwed--inflexible and not good enough to contend. Detroit's roster is a mess.

The East is a one to two team conference and it should be pretty open for the next few years. I think Cleveland and Washington fill the void sooner than later.

If Cleveland had taken Valunciunas instead of Thompson (as I said at the time), I would have regarded their foundation as the best in the east in terms of youth movements by a wide margin, as is, it's still better than ours, and they have plenty of booty for the amazing '14 draft as well. They will be in better position than us, and already have a better long term roster.

I disagree. I think Wall is better than Irving, Beal is better than Waiters, and Porter is at least as good as Bennett, if not better. We don't have a Tristan Thompson long term. But in the short term, Nene is better than him. And he's a true seven footer.

Cleveland is going to have size issues as currently constructed. Both Bennett and Thompson are a tad short for the 4 and 5 and Irving and Waiters is a smallish back court. They're very athletic, but they'll have defensive problems most likely. They need a big bodied 7 footer long term.

[sfam]

OK, if Rice works as a SG, I don't hate the pick. But, um, "Goodbye Webster. I really loved what do did here. Hope you have a great career on another team..."

I don't think its that, I think the team views him as a 2/3.

I suspect they envision, if they can pull it off:

PG: Wall, random scrub off the scrap heap
SG: Beal, Rice Jr
SF: Webster, Porter, Ariza, Rice Jr

and a year from now, Webster, Porter, Rice Jr.

I think the thought is that PG/SG/SF will be manned by Wall, Beal, Porter, Webster, Rice Jr and a mystery guy or two by winter '14-'15.

I think Satoransky comes over now. But if I'm Webster, I'm asking my agent to find me a place where I have a chance at starting. I don't see if with Porter and Ariza, and then no backup minutes at the 2 guard, assuming Rice gets some play.

[Deeptu McPullup]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/350544770151620608[/tweet]

So that's that, I guess.

[payitforward]

Very hard to pass on the potential Noel has shown, but I'm happy w/ the pick of Porter who is likely to be a good player for a dozen years (barring injury) and maybe better than "good."

The only other question about the pick is whether taking Noel and then trading down w/ him would have been better. OTOH I'm not a big Jrue Holiday fan (and think he's overpaid too), so that's not the path I'd have taken.

I don't know why I should think Rice is a better prospect than Wolters; Ernie has no interest in late round 2 guys and didn't want 3 rookies, so in his mind he didn't give anything up to get the guy he preferred. But, in fact he gave up Arselan Kazemi, the best rebounding PF in the NCAA last year (and a 60% shooter too). Lets see whether he makes the league.

The undrafted guy I'd most like to see on our SL team and in camp is D.J. Stephens.

Not a disastrous draft like 2011. Not a demonstration of great GM skills either.