The Wizards caught a lot of people off guard on draft night. It started with the 9th pick, and they continued to surprise when they completed a very productive trade to get into the second round. For weeks experts had been speculating that Sekou Doumbouya would be going to the Wizards on draft night, but then, a trade between the Hawks and Pelicans lead Cam Reddish to still be on the board with the Wizards on the clock. Neither Reddish nor Doumbouya proceeded to hear their name called by Adam Silver.
The Wizards instead took Rui Hachimura out of Gonzaga with the 9th pick. A little over a month ago I put out a post analyzing a few possible draft options at 9, and Rui Hachimura was on that list, along with Cam Reddish and Sekou Doumboya. However, in the following weeks, the Wizards did not have any contact with the 6’8″ PF much less work him out. So, I did not even mention him in my draft preview on June 20th thinking the Wizards surely would not draft someone they had never spoken to… That’s exactly what they did. However, fans should not be upset about the pick, or at least fans should understand it given the circumstances.
The Wizards opted to not try to move Bradley Beal for players and picks, and they also opted to not trade down in the draft to acquire future assets. That left them a star SG that they intend to keep for the long hall (We’ll see what happens), a PG with a torn Achilles, a lot of players getting set to hit free agency, and the 9th overall pick. With all that in consideration, Rui Hachimura was a good pick. If the Wizards believe in Troy Brown Jr., believe they can get Bradley Beal to sign a 3 year $111m extension, and/or don’t think Cam Reddish can play the 4 in a small lineup, then not drafting Cam Reddish was the right move. Reddish is the type of player that will be very good or very bad in my opinion, and the Wizards did not want to roll the dice on him – which is fine. I’m just glad they didn’t screw it up and draft a player that was projected to go at 25th overall.
Rui Hachimura
https://twitter.com/WashWizards/status/1144008620675411968?s=20
Rui Hachimura got better every year that he was in college and averaged 19.7 points and 6.5 rebounds all while shooting 59% from the floor in his final year at Gonzaga. He actually did not start playing basketball until he was 13 and is already this good. That’s a great sign.
With good size, athleticism, and a solid shot, Hachimura should not have any problems putting the ball inside of the basket. However, on defense, he has some work to do. With all of the physical tools that Hachimura possesses, he should be a better defender and rebounder than he is, but since he has only been playing basketball for 8 years, I expect those things to improve with time.
From everything I’ve read, it seems as though he is an extremely hard worker, a humble guy, and Bradley Beal said, “He’s a monster”. On top of all this, the most important thing may be that “Rui Hachimura” is an extremely strong name (tell me I’m wrong.. you know it will look great on a jersey). All jokes aside, I like the pick a lot, and you should too.
Trade
The Wizards went into the night without a second round pick, and for a team with not a lot of cap space, that’s bad. They need a way to acquire cheap, young talent, and they did just that. The 76ers sent off the 42nd pick and Jonothan Simmons to the Wizards for $2m. The Wizards will most likely look to trade or waive Simmons before July 1st when his contract becomes fully guaranteed, so the pick was priced at $2m in the end. Anyways, the more important part of the deal was that the Wizards got to make another pick.
With the pick itself, the team added another player that I loved in college, Admiral Schofield. Over the course of 3 years at Tennessee, Schofield shot 50% from the floor and 38.7% from long range. In his final season in college, he really broke out and averaged 16.5 points and 6 rebounds a game while leading Tennessee to the Sweet 16.
Now, I have my questions about Schofield’s ability to play in the NBA given that he is a compact 6’5″ 241 lbs, but the SF out of Tennessee has an extremely high motor, is a great leader, and can definitely shoot the basketball. So, whether he is in the G league or in the NBA, he will be a great part of the organization.
In fact, Schofield has already been showing the team his confidence and leadership skills in camp. Here is a clip of him from THE FIRST DAY (watch it and I promise you will feel inclined to scour the web looking to see if they are selling his Wizards jersey yet):
Overall, it was a good draft night, and I’m excited to see what the team does with the rest of the offseason. As I’m writing this, the Wizards have completed a deal that will send cash to the Pelicans in return for Mo Wagner, Isaac Bonga, and Jemerrio Jones from the Lakers as part of the AD deal. I will put out a post about that later today or tomorrow! Stay tuned.
Boo On The Bullets 