Washington Wizards: 15 greatest draft steals in franchise history
By John Buhler
- Seven seasons w/Bullets/Wizards (1988-93, 1996-99)
- 508 career games w/Bullets/Wizards
- 10.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists per game w/Bullets/Wizards
Harvey Grant and his identical twin brother Horace Grant each spent over a decade in the league playing for several leagues. While Horace was the better overall player, as he a four-time NBA champion, four-time All-Defensive and an NBA All-Star, Harvey has the better NBA pedigree. Two of Harvey’s three sons play in the league today with Jerami Grant with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Jerian Grant with the Orlando Magic.
Regardless of who was the better Grant twin professionally, Harvey Grant does classify as one of the better draft steals in the history of the Washington professional franchise. The Bullets took Grant No. 12 overall in the 1988 NBA Draft out of Oklahoma. He spent his first five NBA seasons and seven of his 11 in the league in the nation’s capital.
During his first two years in the league, Grant played in a rotational role coming off the Washington bench for a pair of bad Bullets teams. But by year three in the league, Grant had cracked the Bullets’ starting lineup. He started at least 60 games over the final three years of his first run in Washington.
Grant averaged over 18.0 points per game from 1990-91 to 1992-93. Those ended up being easily his best statistical seasons in the league, as well as his first season with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1993-94. However, Grant would only make the Eastern Conference Playoffs once in Washington uniform and that would come in his second stint with the team in 1996-97.
Grant would leave Washington after five seasons in a trade with Portland for Kevin Duckworth. He made the Western Conference Playoffs all three years in the Pacific Northwest before he was traded back to the Bullets for Rod Strickland in 1996.
Grant played two more years with Washington in 1996-97 and 1997-98 before leaving for the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency. He spent one year in Philadelphia and one with the Orlando Magic before retiring in 2000. Given that Grant average 10.7 points per game in 508 career games with the Bullets/Wizards over seven years certainly showcases the value he was to the franchise as a late-lottery pick back in 1988.