Wiz of Awes
Fansided

The Financial Wizardry of Grunfeld in 2018 NBA Draft

By Jen Julie Smith

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 27: Ernie Grunfeld, GM of the Washington Wizards, announces the new contract of Bradley Beal during a press conference on July 27, 2016 at Verizon Center in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 27: Ernie Grunfeld, GM of the Washington Wizards, announces the new contract of Bradley Beal during a press conference on July 27, 2016 at Verizon Center in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 27: Ernie Grunfeld, GM of the Washington Wizards, announces the new contract of Bradley Beal during a press conference on July 27, 2016 at Verizon Center in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 27: Ernie Grunfeld, GM of the Washington Wizards, announces the new contract of Bradley Beal during a press conference on July 27, 2016 at Verizon Center in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Now that the 2018 NBA draft, which will be held on June 21, is upon us, an interesting theory has emerged about what the Washington Wizards will do with their 15th pick. Whether you agree or disagree, one has to give General Manager Ernie Grunfeld an “A” for creativity.

The Saturday morning after the NBA Finals, I did not plan on writing the second I woke up. But after witnessing LeBron James take on the Golden State Warriors, I thought why not the Washington Wizards as a landing spot for the King?

After my article was published on Saturday, Mike Wilbon of ESPN on Monday, would posit the same notion of James taking his talents to the most powerful city in the world.

However, it occurred to me that Saturday morning, that Washington was stuck in a rut. One of the best ways to get out of one is to make a seismic change. Just moving a single piece on the chessboard wouldn’t cure Washington, unless that piece was the Queen, or in this instance the King.

When John Wall was up, Bradley Beal was down. When Beal was down, Wall was up. When Otto Porter, Jr. was up, both Wall and Beal were down. When the season started, Markieff Morris was down with injury.

Although the Wizards had all the pieces, they were never on the same board together. Other teams made up for that by having a deep bench to go to, while Washington still lacked a deep reservoir of reserves.

(Their reserves are good, but two of them weren’t ready to be starters for a long period of time. I’m not comparing Washington to Boston, just pointing out that there wasn’t someone who could start if Beal wanted “rest”, which he didn’t. Or if he had an off night.)

The King would solve everything that ailed Washington. But he would come at a hefty price, and it would have to include Otto Porter. Yes, sacrifices have to be made on the road to victory, but pragmatism has to be our guide.

However, the point I was trying to make is that Washington needed to think big if they wanted to win big.

The first order of business is the need for an athletic big. That should be the Wizards main priority.

With the 15th pick, I selected Donte DiVincenzo from Villanova in FanSided‘s mock draft to be Beal’s backup shooting guard.

After the national article was published, which included the entire first round, I received some local “feedback” from the Land of Oz, as to why that may not be a good idea,

However, I was standing in Ernie Grunfeld’s shoes on a late Friday night, while editors from the other NBA teams took their turn in draft order. Did I try to skip my position and grab Michael Porter, Jr.?

You bet I did. And my vocabulary was much prettier than Grunfeld’s, after I was told I was breaking every CBA and NBA rule in the book. But I took on those other GMs. However, in the end, I had to keep my 15th pick.

Do you think when my turn came, and there was an athletic big still on the board, I was going to pass up that chance? My hands were tied.

On Monday, Ben Standig of the Sports Capital, wrote an interesting theory about how the Wizards are going to pursue the draft. Untying their hands a bit.

According to Standig’s “source”, the Wizards put the word out to the league, that they may be willing to trade down from their 15th pick, if a team took on one of their expiring contracts.

Why trading down from 15th may be a good idea:

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