Barnes Bark: “With the 5th Pick, the Washington Wizards…Select
or Trade?”
Barry Barnes, Baltimore Scribe
Barnes comments on the Washington Wizard's draft quandary
June 5, 2009– The Washington Wizards were projected to have a 17.8 percent chance to have the 1st overall pick and a 13.73 percent chance to win the 5th overall pick. The 5th selection is the magic number which was announced before game one of the Western Conference Finals.
The ideal selection was to get the 1st or 2nd overall pick to draft a big man to contribute right away; forward Blake Griffin or center Hasheem Thabeet. The 5th overall pick is a good selection and this is the fifth occasion the Wizards are able to draft this high, first time since 2004 when they selected guard Devin Harris, now starting point guard for the New Jersey Nets.
The 5th pick was not the selection the Wizards’ organization wanted and was expecting a much higher choice, but health is the main issue for this team. “I think coming in, our mind-set was, what we got was going to be gravy for us, and increase our talent pool,” said Wizards’ head coach, Flip Saunders. “But our biggest improvement is going to be able to get our guys healthy and get them back healthy again.”
The health of the Wizards is the key, the main factor to any team’s success, and that’s the luxury the Wizards were not fortunate to have for the past couple of years, especially last season finishing 19-63.
Glibert Arenas, here dunking in Goodman League (Barry Farms) action, could use some 'big man' help through draft or trade.
This year’s NBA Draft is guard heavy and outside of Griffin and Thabeet, teams don’t know what to expect from the other selectees.
The Wizards need another big man who is physical, but if they could use a high quality point guard to help free up guard Gilbert Arenas. A point guard, more of a facilitator (not a scorer because they have those), that can push the ball, is good decision maker, can shoot, and can get the ball into the playmaker's hands.
The first point guard comes to mind is Spanish guard, Ricky Rubio, who most likely won’t be around, but if he was, he wouldn’t be a good fit for the Wizards. Personally, foreign players aren’t worth a lottery pick because the NBA physical style of play is much different from overseas. Rubio is a good guard, but don’t be brainwashed because he did ‘okay’ against Team USA in the Olympic last year for a couple games. Rubio will have to deal with quality, physical guards’ night in and night out, 82 games.
The Wizards worked out eight guards last week, including Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez, Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks and Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds. The best pure point guard in the upcoming draft is none other than Ty Lawson who would fit perfectly with the Wizards because he brings all the mentioned qualities the team needs and he plays ‘defense’.
The Wizards truly need a big man that will play big, be a banger. The Eastern Conference is becoming a big man’s conference and the best teams in the east, the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic, have tree (height) with long branches (length) that plays in the paint.
The Wizards’ big men, except center Brendan Haywood, want to shoot jumpers. Haywood is the only true center the Wizards have and wants to bang. The Wizards have the 32nd overall selection and a guy like DeJuan Blair would be a good choice. Like center Etan Thomas, who battled back last season from heart surgery the year before, Blair would bring a nasty attitude to the team and bring a presents inside.
“There are a lot of great players in this draft,” said Wizards’ president, Ernie Grunfeld in a telephone interview according to Michael Lee of the Washington Post. “We’re in a good spot to get a good player or to possibly use that player in a trade.”
The Wizards could make that call to the Phoenix Suns’ front office and see if they are still willing to part ways with center Amar’e Stoudemire, but it would come with a price. Forward Antawn Jamison could be packaged with the 5th pick, but the Suns probably wouldn’t want Jamison’s contract, so he would be out of the question. Forward Caron Butler would make more sense, financially, because Butler will be a free-agent soon and it would good to get a quality player for him. It’s only fair to Jamison and Butler to move one of them to a contender since the Wizards are not ready to challenge for a title now. But if the Wizards could package the 5th pick with forward/center Andray Blatche, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov for Stoudemire, the Wizards would be considered a legitimate Finals contender, now.
The Wizards last season lacked good consistent play on both ends of
the court, not heart and effort because they have that. Whatever the Wizards
do, it will be an improvement; with a healthy line-up and a couple of
additions, the Wizards’ 09-10 season could be an exciting one. “This
is a great opportunity to improve our team,” said Grunfeld. “The
addition of a new player through the draft combined with the return of
a healthy lineup and the new leadership of Flip Saunders have us excited
about what we can accomplish next season.”
Additional Wizards Draft Coverage: