A Love Story: Ernie Grunfeld, the Second Round of the NBA Draft, and Washington Wizards Fans
By Ward Watkins
2006:
The Pick: With the 48th pick of the 2006 NBA Draft, the Washington Wizards select…Vladimir Veremeenko.
The Outcome: Draft-and-stash Euro. Never played for the team, and ended up part of the 2010 draft night trade that led to the acquisition of Kirk Hinrich and the selection of Kevin Seraphin.
Woulda Coulda Shoulda: You know, I don’t remember much reaction at the time – that’s more age than there not being any reaction, I’m sure. Still, Ernie had built some good equity at this point so there may not have been any MAJOR outrage – other than this pick, coupled with the selection of Oleksiy “I Gets Buckets, Son” Pecherov in the first round seemed like two full-on swings for the fences picks that both had the potential of missing horribly. Guess what happened?
No one of note that the Wiz passed on here.