A Love Story: Ernie Grunfeld, the Second Round of the NBA Draft, and Washington Wizards Fans
By Ward Watkins
2008:
The Pick: With the 47th pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, the Washington Wizards select…cash considerations (The pick itself was Bill Walker).
The Outcome: DOLLA DOLLA BILL, YALL.
Woulda Coulda Shoulda: It was a pick in the second half of the second round, so not much to say here. No one of note that the Wiz passed on here.
2009:
The Pick: With the 32nd pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, the Washington Wizards select…cash considerations (The pick itself was Jermaine Taylor).
The Outcome: XDFMGAFFCLKH!!!!! This was the draft that drove a number of Wizards fans absolutely through the roof in anger. The Wizards had the fifth pick, but traded it to Minnesota for Randy Foye and Mike Miller (Do we really have to rehash this?). With one pick in the draft, it didn’t really matter to many whom the Wizards drafted here, anything short of DeJuan Blair was wrong if he were available, ACLs or not. I know of a number of fans still haven’t forgiven Grunfeld for this draft, and this pick in particular. The team needed frontcourt depth, and Blair seemed to have made for a nice fit on the roster at the very least as a backup big. To make matters worse for fans, the San Antonio Spurs selected him with the 37th pick. To make matters infuriating, Jermaine Taylor never played for the Wizards, as he represented a pick the team traded for sweet moolah for the second year in a row.
Woulda Coulda Shoulda: Players of note that the Wizards passed on: Sam Young (36), Jonas Jerebko (39), Jodie Meeks (41), Patrick Beverly (42), Marcus Thornton (43), Chase Budinger (44), Danny Green (46), AJ Price (52), Nando de Colo (53), and Patty Mills (55). And we were upset about not picking DeJuan Blair? You know, I’m not feeling well.