thedcdime

By: Willis and Bohlin

1.) How would you grade the Wizards draft?

Grade: B+
Bohlin: The Wizards made a significant addition to their roster last night by selecting Bradley Beal with the third overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. Beal, widely regarded as the top SG prospect in the draft, will be able to step in and contribute at the shooting guard position immediately. I believe that John Wall and Bradley Beal will work extremely well off of one another and will finally give the Wizards the stability they have been searching for in the backcourt since the days of a healthy Gilbert Arenas and Larry Hughes.
Their selection of Tomas Satoransky in the second round makes sense when you really look at it from the front office’s perspective but fans were not as sold on the Czech born guard. Their argument has merit, there were players left on the board who could have helped this franchise continue to turn the corner. A Doron Lamb, Quincy Miller or Will Barton would have pleased the fanbase more so than taking a guy no one had ever heard of prior to his workout in DC two weeks ago. Satoransky is the definition of a draft and stash player. I do like the fact that he plays in the ACB league in Spain, at least we know that he is facing quality competition in Europe while we wait for him to hopefully make his way over to the states. Currently the Wizards have 12 players signed for next season and 8 of them are still on their rookie contracts, this selection affords the Wizards the opportunity to seek out a veteran in free agency to take Satoransky’s place on this year’s team.
Grade: C
Willis: Does a C seem a little harsh? Yeah, a bit, but whatever because in my book a C means you’ve half-assed something, which is exactly what Ernie did with this draft. It’s like Ernie hit a potential RBI double (drafting Beal), but got thrown out at second because he was so shocked about getting an actual hit that he jogged to first. That’s the story of Grunfeld’s career; he may do something right, but he’s got to make at least one dumb move every single draft. In this case, it was botching the second round pick for a kid who the Wizards may never see.

That being said, I like the Bradley Beal pick a lot, and the Wizards have officially bolstered their backcourt for the future and addressed their perimeter shooting woes. Beal should be able to stroke it from everywhere on the court, and the Wizards amazingly have an in and out game now. It’s not the best in the league, to be sure, but Beal makes it much better.
2.) Bradley Beal; your thoughts on him and John Wall?

Bohlin: Beal is the perfect complement to our franchise point guard. His smooth stroke and quick release will only help Wall’s game as a whole. Opposing defenses will no longer be able to completely disrespect the Wizards ability to knock down shots from behind the arc with any consistency. Beal’s presence should free up the lane a bit for Wall to do what he does so well, penetrate and get into the paint causing defenses to react to him.

I believe that this newly formed Wizards backcourt is going to cause problems for the rest of the Eastern Conference sooner rather than later. With two super talented guards to match up with the plethora of bodies we have in our front court rotation we are one step closer to relevance outside of the DMV. I am excited to see this pairing come together and cannot wait for the first time #2 and #23 take the floor together wearing the red, white and blue.

Willis: Rather than talking more about Bradley Beal and what his shooting brings to the table, I’m going to go a different route in getting people excited for the upcoming season. Think about this: multiple times a year for the next 2-3 seasons, John Wall and Bradley Beal are going to be facing off against Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters. Four players on two different teams who play in the same conference and going about things in an entirely different manner. I think these two backcourts are actually the future of the Eastern Conference, and considering their closeness in draft position and age, the comparisons are going to be constant and unending. Whereas Irving is a shooter, Wall is a speed demon slasher. Waiters is an attack the basket kind of guy, but Beal is a shooter like Irving. I couldn’t be more excited for these matchups next year, and you should be just as estatic.

Another matchup to look forward to? Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner of the Philadelphia 76ers. These two are another youthful backcourt combination that Washington is going to constantly face off against. Turner was drafted right after Wall, and Jrue Holiday is still a very young player who is developing into a stud. The backcourt matchups are all over the Eastern Conference, and we’re in for a fun ride from here on out.

3.) Tomas Satoransky: Great Czech? or Greatest Czech?

Bohlin: Great Czech. Washington D.C. has quickly become a hotbed for Czech basketball. Of the four Czech born players to ever make it to the NBA the Wizards now have one on their roster and own the rights to another. Tomas Satoransky, a 6’8” combo guard who last played for CB Sevilla in the Spanish ACB league, is an interesting prospect. I had to do some research on him in the last 12 hours as I will admit I had a sparse amount of knowledge about his game outside of the fact he worked out for the Wizards two weeks ago. The more I read up on Satoransky, the more I don’t mind this selection.

Judging from the scout’s perception of Satoransky he is a skilled player with a high basketball IQ from his experiences playing against high-level European competition. When will we see Satoransky suit up for the Wizards…if he ever suits up for us? I wish I had a better answer to that question; the honest answer is we have no idea. He may never make it over to the states and play for us, that’s the risk you run drafting a foreign player with the hopes of keeping them in Europe for extra seasoning. Could a Doron Lamb, Quincy Miller or Will Barton filled a role with this Wizards team? Sure they could have. No point in looking back at it now though, the pick has been made and we have to live with it. Here is hoping that Satoransky eventually makes it over to D.C. and is able to contribute to this franchise in some way.

Willis: Greatest Czech. After screaming incoherently upon hearing Mr. Silver announce Tomas Satoransky’s name instead of all the people I wanted to see in a Wizards uniform, I eventually resigned myself to the fact that this was just another Ernie move. This had to happen, or our GM wouldn’t be Ernie Grunfeld because Ernie makes incredibly dumb moves all the time. Tomas Satoransky had better be the best Czech player ever, because Washington essentially just took Vladimir Vermeeko all over again. We’re going to stash him away and hope he develops into more than what he already is: an athletic but skinny non NBA ready two guard who can’t shoot. Don’t we have enough of those? Does Ernie not realize that the European Union is collapsing!? How is Ernie not fired yet?

Seriously, nothing against Satoransky, I’m sure he’s a very nice kid, but good teams don’t do this. The Oklahoma City Thunder picked up Perry Jones III very late in the draft, and the Wizards took a guy we’re likely never going to watch play. Don’t tell me that it’s because of a lack of roster space, because if you don’t think Doron Lamb is an upgrade over Jordan Crawford, or Quincy Miller isn’t an upgrade over Chris Singleton/Andray Blatche/anyone on our roster, you’re kidding yourself. Good teams don’t do this, and the gap between the Oklahoma City Thunder’s front office an ours is enormous. Getting value in late round picks is always a staple of good ball clubs, and we just proved why the Wizards are so inept. The San Antonio Spurs aren’t doing this, either. We could have saved money, upgraded at a position, and addressed a shooting need all in one pick. Instead, we made ourselves look just as bad as always.

4.) Do the Wizards make any more moves this offseason?

Bohlin: In short, yes. Will any of these moves grab national headlines? Probably not. I expect the Wizards to make a few more minor additions to the roster between now and the beginning of training camp. Personally, I would love to see James Singleton have a chance to make this team out of camp as I believe he earned himself at the least the opportunity to stick with the Wizards after his performance to round out last season. We will see what Ernie and Co. choose to do in free agency now that we have added our SG of the future. It is possible we have seen the last of players like Roger Mason Jr. (The other Great 8!) and Mo Evans in the Wizards red, white and blue. Both are free agents this summer and might want to look to latch on to a contender as they are both entering the twilight of their careers.

Willis: If we don’t, then we’re leaving Wizards fans with an incomplete team that isn’t good enough to win now. July 1st is the date to look out for, because that’s when NBA free agency begins and there’s a lot more fluidity in the market. Honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if Ernie makes a big splash in free agency by ridding our team of Andray Blatche and a first rounder for a slightly past his prime star wing player, or something like that. It seems like a dumb move now, but Ernie Grunfeld is in win-now mode, whether we like it or not. He has skipped the rebuild and dove directly into the playoff push position. Ted Leonsis himself has said that we’re not going to be a lottery team next year. Is it a flawed plan? You betcha, but our biggest need is at the three now and Ernie is a sly maneuvering GM so expect him to mortgage the future for the now.

Nene, Okafor, Ariza, Beal and Wall is going to compete, but it’s not going to contend, which is the ultimate goal. I look for Ernie to go after a small forward who is capable of defending, rebounding, and hitting the three point shot. We’re going to need to be deep at that position if we expect to guard the absolutely stocked amount of small forwards in the Eastern Conference like Danny Granger, Paul Pierce, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Gerald Wallace, etc. If we can find a 3/4 man, we’re going to grab him, and the playoff push will have officially begun.

Tags: basketball, bradley beal, florida, mkg, nba, NBA Draft, sports, UF, washington, Wizards