Wizards Draft Preview
The Wizards haven’t been successful since the Wall and Beal era, constantly in the middle of lottery picks with the most successful being Hachimura who’s now finally playing towards his potential.. with the Lakers. With the draft lottery concluding and the draft a month away, it makes you wonder what’s next for the Wizards?
Honestly with the Wizards time’s a ticking bomb, so whatever the Wizards do they must make a splash because honestly it’s now or never. With the 2023 class potentially having one of the deepest classes, itβs time we shoot for the stars and make a full rebuild. It’s not ideal but it’s our only hope the chance we had to win we honestly blew it.
Here’s my thoughts for potential candidates for the organization’s future.
Pick #8:
Safest Picks: Anthony Black, Taylor Hendricks
Majority of Mock have the Wizards choosing Anthony Black. On a highly touted roster consisting of talents such as Nick Smith Jr. and Jordan Walsh, the leading guard averaged 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists for the Razorbacks. Though he shot 45% from the field, Black still has some growing to do as far from a shooting aspect as he only shot 30% from three and shot 71% from the line, but with the defensive prowess he carries this is easily the safest option.
Another safe option is Taylor Hendricks highly versatile frontcourt playing able to guard 3-5 maybe even the 2. The leading forward averaged 15.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.4 assist on 48% shooting from the field and nearly 40% from three on five attempts a game. Though the Wizards are a bit forward-heavy, Hendricksβ versatility will take the pressure off of Beal a bit. I feel out all the rookies this potentially available at the 8th pick he’ll have the biggest impact off rip due to his NBA level skill set
High Risk High Reward/Longshot: Ausar Thompson, Cason Wallace
Ausar is projected to go between 6-10 and honestly I don’t have him producing out the gate. Both Thompson has superstar like tendencies and potential but the question is can they tap into it. Ausar averaged 16.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists for OTE’s City Reapers. He shot 56.2% from the field yet only 30% from 3. Ausar is a bit of a project as OTE is kind of a place scouts aren’t too fond of but with the potential Ausar has he can be a culture changer for the Wizards. With his athleticism he can be two-way star who could possibly be converted into a PG as he’s shown he’s a great passer but will need a few kinks to be fixed such as IQ, efficiency, beyond the arc, and lastly shot creation.
Cason is projected to go between 8-15 which is honestly understandable as his numbers
weren’t really eye opening as he averaged 11.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists on 45% from the field and 35% from three but with a ceiling of Jrue Holiday He’s someone you wouldn’t mind taking a chance on. With his defensive prowess it’ll add to the Wizards defensive front court of potentially Wallace, Beal, Avdija, with Wright and Kispert off the bench. He won’t be a wow factor off rip but he will be a longevity type of guy.
In all honesty trading this pick (unless trading up) is useless as we don’t have a pick for next year we might as well hope to make a splash #8 and build upon it but with our new president in Michael Winger though he might not be the GM I’m sure he can still help the Wizards in a huge way as far as searching for talent or acquiring talent throughout free agency only time will tell. The core of Beal, KP, Kuz was already too old. The win now mentality is honestly not worth it no more if we can get value out of Beal, or KP and hopefully re-sign Kuz with another star who knows maybe this rebuild wouldn’t prolong like the Kings did until this year.
