A Love Story: Ernie Grunfeld, the Second Round of the NBA Draft, and Washington Wizards Fans
By Ward Watkins
2004:
The Pick: With the 32nd pick of the 2004 NBA Draft, the Washington Wizards select…Party Peter John Ramos.
The Outcome: OK!!!!! Oh how we were tantalized by this massive, 7’3, 275-pound behemoth from Puerto Rico (HOOOOOOOO!!!!). He had just turned 19, was a star in the National Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico, where he averaged 20 and 9 during the 2004 season, and he was a part of the Puerto Rican national basketball team (the one that beat the U.S.). What a steal of a pick! Well…
While Ramos played in the D-League for a couple of seasons, he didn’t play much with the Wizards. That’s putting it lightly. He played in six games total, all during his rookie season, scoring a total of 11 points. He was shipped down to the D-League at the start of the 2005-06 season, brought back up a couple of times, but ultimately waived by the team for good in October 2006 (Oddly enough, Ramos was selected an NBADL All-Star in the 2006-07 season, and became arguably the best Puerto Rican player the D-League has ever seen). Sadly, Party John’s tenure with the Wizards is known for his nickname (a big man that liked to party a little too much, are you guys getting nostalgic and angry yet???), and his allegedly being with Andray Blatche (HOW ABOUT NOW?) when he was shot in 2005.
Woulda Coulda Shoulda: Not a great start here, but it’s the second round, you swing for the fences, right? As far as playing the “who they could have picked” game, there was Chris Duhon, and one other player in particular that caught my eye, Trevor Ariza (pick 43). Uh….let’s keep going.