Grading our 2025 draft

[WallToWall]

Dawkins and company made a few trades to land the Wizards with the #6, #21, and #43 picks. With those picks the Wizards picked, Tre Johnson, Will Riley, and Jamir Watkins respectively. What grade would you give each pick and how the Wizards did overall?

[tontoz]

In b4 you get scolded by Nate.

[WallToWall]

Love the Tre Johnson pick. I initially thought that we were going after Ace Bailey, but now, in retrospect, I am glad we didnt go that route. Dawkins saw no reason to trade up to get Ace, and that was a good decision IMO. Tre has incredible upside - a lot of people see Beal as a comp. I think Tre can be a better shooter, and definitely a better dribbler. In terms of value, he probably should have gone #3 because that is his value. I give this pick an A.

Will Riley is someone I didnt have this high. I didnt do too much research on him, so it was a surprise to see him picked. With Newell still on the board, I was also surprised that we didnt go with a position of need and a player with, IMO, at least the same of not more up-side than Riley. I really dont know what to make of Riley. I've since looked at video and I see as much development needed as Bilal Coulibaly needed coming into the NBA. I dont know what to make of this pick. I'm going to give it a C.

I watched Jamir Watkins play. His game is good! He plays physical, can draw fouls, can make his FTs, and rebounds really well for a guard/SF. He plays smart. Really like the value in the pick. This is an A.

Overall I give Dawkins and company a solid B. Getting more draft picks in trade on the way to making these picks was nice. Making the Tre Johnson pick was easy. Not making the trade up to get Ace was a great call IMO.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

I know this is a cop out, but I have to give an incomplete grade. I’m getting sucked into the Tre hype, but I watched him play a lot at UT and I saw neither the motor nor the skill set to justify a top ten pick. Now that he’s ours, I’ll root like heck to be wrong. I Iike Riley’s game a lot. I always wondered why Kasparas was rated above him. I’d have preferred Clifford there, but I get the logic.

Watkins was worth a swing.

So, if I had to grade, I’d say B-/C+

[closg00]

I agree with ESPN's Overall Grade of B- because of what transpired after the trade-down @ 18, so everything is with that in-mind.

Tre Johnson - A, desperately needed sniper, and a real one with potential to be our guy to hit Big shots, I have to admit that I do not know that much about his game.

Will Riley - C+, We already have iffy shooting% prospect wings in Bilal and Keyshawn, how-many "like" prospects are we going to take, but he appears to be a fair swing at 21. However, Dawkins was right about Keyshawn so...

Jamir Watkins - B Another guard prospect we took when we are already log-jammed with them, fine for 43.

[AFM]

Johnson: A, I've posted enough about him, but he was my guy here

Riley: B-, I'm trusting others on this board + Dawkins & Co., wouldn't be surprised if he's another sleeper like K. George, but like closg00 said, we have a lot of these already. Wanted a big but that's the nature of the draft.

Watkins: B, perfectly fine pick, no one else I wanted here and I like the idea of adding someone older who can contribute immediately rather than another project.

Overall I'll give them a B+.

[J-Ves]

It was a solid draft I think I’d give it a B

I bet internally the Wiz see this draft as a moderate disaster. They missed out on their top target and I assume missed out on their center of choice by a few picks. Dawkins would never tell you that publicly of course

[nate33]

It was a solid draft I think I’d give it a B

I bet internally the Wiz see this draft as a moderate disaster. They missed out on their top target and I assume missed out on their center of choice by a few picks. Dawkins would never tell you that publicly of course

I'm happy with the draft. To the extent that this stuff can be accurately assessed pre-draft, this was a 5-man draft and we managed to grab one of them with the 6th pick.

I'm mildly disappointed that we didn't draft Wolf at #21, but it's not that big of a deal. We can find a burly center to complement Sarr anytime we want in free agency. In fact, with the moves to create cap space in 2026, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the team is eyeing Isaiah Hartenstein who will be jettisoned from OKC for cap reasons that summer. So if they weren't worried about the backup center position, then I'm fine with them going with BPA, which they perceived to be Riley.

[dcPress]

Tre - A
Hard to imagine him not being at least an nba starter. Plus I’d take Tre’s much higher floor over the risk of missing out on Aces potentially higher ceiling.

Riley - C
No idea why Newell wasn’t the pick here, or even Powell. I guess Riley may be able to hold his own defensively at some point, but it seems like he’s a couple years away and there were better options.

Watkins -B
Seems like a good pick

Overall A-
Heavily weighted the Tre pick

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

I would give a solid B+

The Tre Johnson pick was nice…I realized once finally warming up to his game and getting over that Jazz stunt involving Ace Bailey.

Will Riley was a nice pick up. His situation reminds me of Keyshawn George’s, raw but talented.

Jamir Watkins looks like he can do a bit of everything. Has good shooting range, is a decent rebounder, appears to be an excellent passer at his position, and is very alert and disruptive on defense.

The offensive is definitely gaining more firepower, as none of these guys are timid about looking for their offense…we got an immediate defensive punch with Watkins too.


Could only give it a B+ grade because we still have one of, if not the weakest collective frontcourts in the league. Slap me in the face twice in one night, why don’t you? Missing out on Maxime Raynaud by one selection in the 2nd rd., just as with Bailey in the 1st rd. stung so bad. We could have really, really used him.

[doclinkin]

On Asa vs Riley.

It’s consistent with their draft philosophy. Asa is a slim high energy forward with a centers game. He gets his points by effort more than skill. Undersized if you call him a 5. Under skilled if you call him a 4. Unlikely to grow taller or longer, not a high flying athlete. So. Not positional length. Not a BBIQ all star. You can find that type in the g league or undrafted every year. Asa slid down draft boards all year when it was clear his game wasn’t highly developed, just pure effort.

Riley by contrast is a 6’8” kid who plays a face up game. A tall guard. He’s skinny but is still in his growth spurt. Has shown a better outside game in the recruiting drive that landed him with the Illini. In fact he started the year torching the net. When that cooled he retooled and committed to his dribble drive game. And got even better. Even unlocked his passing game. Posting a 2:1 assist to TO ratio. Rare that a player improves mid season. But Riley took over some games late with his energy and effort.

Both players were standouts in offensive box plus minus. But Riley got his points from shifty attack and ball handling. Keeping defenses on their back foot. Asa got his from crashing the glass. The front office had to figure the 6’8” guard with skill was a better bet to succeed than the undersized front court guy. And the guy who passes well will make his teammates better.

Yes the team would be better quicker if we added rebounding forwards. We don’t need to be better this year. We need to stink.

Yes we are deep in face up wings. Deep is not bad if it turns out they’re all good. And growing better. And if they’re all good that is one way to stall our overall improvement. We can still be lousy in one area despite remarkable talent elsewhere.

[Dat2U]

On Asa vs Riley.

It’s consistent with their draft philosophy. Asa is a slim high energy forward with a centers game. He gets his points by effort more than skill. Undersized if you call him a 5. Under skilled if you call him a 4. Unlikely to grow taller or longer, not a high flying athlete. So. Not positional length. Not a BBIQ all star. You can find that type in the g league or undrafted every year. Asa slid down draft boards all year when it was clear his game wasn’t highly developed, just pure effort.

Riley by contrast is a 6’8” kid who plays a face up game. A tall guard. He’s skinny but is still in his growth spurt. Has shown a better outside game in the recruiting drive that landed him with the Illini. In fact he started the year torching the net. When that cooled he retooled and committed to his dribble drive game. And got even better. Even unlocked his passing game. Posting a 2:1 assist to TO ratio. Rare that a player improves mid season. But Riley took over some games late with his energy and effort.

Both players were standouts in offensive box plus minus. But Riley got his points from shifty attack and ball handling. Keeping defenses on their back foot. Asa got his from crashing the glass. The front office had to figure the 6’8” guard with skill was a better bet to succeed than the undersized front court guy. And the guy who passes well will make his teammates better.

Yes the team would be better quicker if we added rebounding forwards. We don’t need to be better this year. We need to stink.

Yes we are deep in face up wings. Deep is not bad if it turns out they’re all good. And growing better. And if they’re all good that is one way to stall our overall improvement. We can still be lousy in one area despite remarkable talent elsewhere.

Yep, that was my read on Asa as well. PF-sized rim runner. Honestly I saw alot of Marvin Bagley III in him - with a little less offensive polish. Maybe his effort carves out a role but I worry he's a backup until he shows he can defend at a high level.

Wolf, Jaku, Riley, Penda were all about equal to me. I probably would have went with Danny Wolf just because I'm so intrigued by his skillset and his movement at a legit 7-0 250. Not quite at Derik Queen's level but he is bigger. However, I love the swing on Riley - he'll just have a much longer development curve as he develops physically but the skills are certainly there.

[9 and 20]

I give it a B. Still mad we traded with Utah and didn't come away with Ace Bailey. F Danny Ainge.

Tre should come in an immediately get buckets, mostly because nobody else really can. Will Riley looks like he might be something in year two or three, which is fine.

[Frichuela]

For what is worth, and as I posted in our draft thread, Sam Vecenie of the Athletic gave us a solid A. Third best team (tied with Charlotte) after Dallas and San Antonio.

Personally, very happy with the Tre pick, a solid A there for me. On our other 2 picks no clue, let’s see if Dawkins hits…

[gambitx777]

Solid B+

Sent from my SM-S926U1 using RealGM mobile app

[Pointgod]

For what is worth, and as I posted in our draft thread, Sam Vecenie of the Athletic gave us a solid A. Third best team (tied with Charlotte) after Dallas and San Antonio.

Personally, very happy with the Tre pick, a solid A there for me. On our other 2 picks no clue, let’s see if Dawkins hits…

Wiz fans. Just getting Tre is an A draft.

[The Consiglieri]

On Asa vs Riley.

It’s consistent with their draft philosophy. Asa is a slim high energy forward with a centers game. He gets his points by effort more than skill. Undersized if you call him a 5. Under skilled if you call him a 4. Unlikely to grow taller or longer, not a high flying athlete. So. Not positional length. Not a BBIQ all star. You can find that type in the g league or undrafted every year. Asa slid down draft boards all year when it was clear his game wasn’t highly developed, just pure effort.

Riley by contrast is a 6’8” kid who plays a face up game. A tall guard. He’s skinny but is still in his growth spurt. Has shown a better outside game in the recruiting drive that landed him with the Illini. In fact he started the year torching the net. When that cooled he retooled and committed to his dribble drive game. And got even better. Even unlocked his passing game. Posting a 2:1 assist to TO ratio. Rare that a player improves mid season. But Riley took over some games late with his energy and effort.

Both players were standouts in offensive box plus minus. But Riley got his points from shifty attack and ball handling. Keeping defenses on their back foot. Asa got his from crashing the glass. The front office had to figure the 6’8” guard with skill was a better bet to succeed than the undersized front court guy. And the guy who passes well will make his teammates better.

Yes the team would be better quicker if we added rebounding forwards. We don’t need to be better this year. We need to stink.

Yes we are deep in face up wings. Deep is not bad if it turns out they’re all good. And growing better. And if they’re all good that is one way to stall our overall improvement. We can still be lousy in one area despite remarkable talent elsewhere.

I definitely feel like he and McNeely could turn out to be ridiculous shooters at the next level, a real chance to really climb in value with the passage of time, Riley is the better upside bet because of the measurable and youth/growth angle, the fact that he's still putting it together, I like McNeely for a lot of reasons, not least that his high school 3 ball was miles better, and at least one scout at the athletic wasn't concerned at all that his 3 #'s were off in his freshman year. I think McNeely will end up being a steal in this draft, should have gone 12-20, went late first instead, exactly what I wanted us to trade up from 40 to get.

Otoh, I have really warmed up to the Riley pick, feels like the opposite of our 2nd rounder, Riley has a ton of ceiling potential untapped, and already has a pretty good floor because of his offensive skills/tools/size/length etc.

I had Riley as the last guy I wanted to trade up from 40, for, based upon my list of dudes, I think I had him around the 24-28 zone, 16th on my list of guys to target after Ace Bailey at 6. Not bad (some guys I expected to go from 6-24/28 I simply did not have any interest in).

I think Riley himself is a B+/A- selection, I think the trade value makes it an A.

Tre I'm sort of spinning on, but being won over by arguments left right and center that love him, even the bleave in wizards podcast, had a Texas podcast/writer guy interview about him, and he basically was talking about the wizards being an ideal landing spot for Tre to run up and grab a max offer in a few years, really, really loved the guy.

So I'm definitely warming up, and the combo of how well Tre handled this process, versus how god awful Ace has, has really helped my erm, healing process, lol over the pick....definitely feels like a B+ to A- pick considering we missed Bailey because Charlotte apparently got cold feet over whether someone might jump them to 5 to take Kon, or maybe Utah would?

I still view Bailey as the better talent, but at the same time, once you make the NBA, things are typically decided at that level by work habits, mental make up, and landing spot, and Johnson landed with a good org, and we know that he appears to have really good mental make up and work habits, and Bailey is an open question on those concerns.

The agony of just barely missing at at least the boards target at 6, 18, and 43 is what could stick, but I think what we got at 6 and 21, if not 43, could make us feel much better about how things play out over time (and most of you already seem to feel that way).

[The Consiglieri]

On Asa vs Riley.

It’s consistent with their draft philosophy. Asa is a slim high energy forward with a centers game. He gets his points by effort more than skill. Undersized if you call him a 5. Under skilled if you call him a 4. Unlikely to grow taller or longer, not a high flying athlete. So. Not positional length. Not a BBIQ all star. You can find that type in the g league or undrafted every year. Asa slid down draft boards all year when it was clear his game wasn’t highly developed, just pure effort.

Riley by contrast is a 6’8” kid who plays a face up game. A tall guard. He’s skinny but is still in his growth spurt. Has shown a better outside game in the recruiting drive that landed him with the Illini. In fact he started the year torching the net. When that cooled he retooled and committed to his dribble drive game. And got even better. Even unlocked his passing game. Posting a 2:1 assist to TO ratio. Rare that a player improves mid season. But Riley took over some games late with his energy and effort.

Both players were standouts in offensive box plus minus. But Riley got his points from shifty attack and ball handling. Keeping defenses on their back foot. Asa got his from crashing the glass. The front office had to figure the 6’8” guard with skill was a better bet to succeed than the undersized front court guy. And the guy who passes well will make his teammates better.

Yes the team would be better quicker if we added rebounding forwards. We don’t need to be better this year. We need to stink.

Yes we are deep in face up wings. Deep is not bad if it turns out they’re all good. And growing better. And if they’re all good that is one way to stall our overall improvement. We can still be lousy in one area despite remarkable talent elsewhere.

Very happy we didn't take Asa, I much prefer prospects with growth potential and ready made skills that will translate like Riley, and yeah, sure, Sorber, McNeely etc. Asa is a guy that attracts people because of that fighting piece, but typically he doesn't hit because he's a tweeter for the NBA, and simply can't find a niche where he's effective. Riley will succeed or fail based on his desire to be great, what's between his ears, in his chest, just like Tre. They have boundless ceilings because they have ready made fits and potential. That's what excites me about them. I wanted to like Newell, but he sounds like a great college player that won't fit in the NBA beyond end of bench sort over time (on the other hand, I thought that about Draymond too, there are a bazillion of those types of guys that seem like they are great in college, and will never make it to the NBA, but Draymond was the rare exception that insures people will keep swinging at such prospects).

[The Consiglieri]

I give it a B. Still mad we traded with Utah and didn't come away with Ace Bailey. F Danny Ainge.

Tre should come in an immediately get buckets, mostly because nobody else really can. Will Riley looks like he might be something in year two or three, which is fine.

I don't thing Tre is scoring because nobody else can, I completely concede that he's a fabulous jump shooter, and from 3. Fantastic, my chief concern all along has been the defense, and finishing.