Washington Wizards: Top 5 takeaways from an AMA with Tommy Sheppard

2. Tommy Sheppard has a type.

So we’ve been banged over the head a few times, reminded by our general manager that we have seven players on the team aged 22 or younger. Tommy has done a great job picking up scraps left behind by other teams and spinning them into what looks like gold for a team that started out quite hungry for young talent.

When Tommy was asked what kind of players he targets, this is what he had to say.

"High-character, data-driven. Ultra-competitive players who have demonstrated work ethic and love of the game."

Shabazz Napier, Jerome Robinson, Moritz Wagner, and Isaac Bonga all fit this mold, but one player sticks out in particular to Sheppard.

"I’ll answer the Rui question. Our biggest attraction to Rui is his versatility, gifted scorer, excellent shooter. Don’t be surprised to play more wing in the future. He didn’t play basketball until he was 14, so there wasn’t a lot of wear and tear on his body during the formidable ages. His teammates love him. Rui is kind of where the game is going, the ability to guard multiple positions, score from all over the floor. He’s shot over 40% from 3-point since the All-Star break, and that part of his game must expand. We love his character and his background."

I think we’ve all known for a long time that Tommy has a thing for Rui Hachimura. It could be in large part due to the Japanese background and the pressure of the NBA to expand the game into new countries more and more aggressively with each passing season, but it could very well be for the reasons he states above.

Rui is high-character, his contributions seem to be data-driven with the multi-positional importance of playing in the NBA, and he’s assuredly ultra-competitive and has displayed a work ethic in three seasons at Gonzaga where he became an increasingly important player in what they were trying to do.

The biggest news here is that the possibility of playing Rui at the “swing” or small forward position isn’t out of the question, and it seems to me that the Washington Wizards organization will be spending the upcoming offseason working with Rui extensively to transform his game a bit to fit that mold.

With the stated mutual interest between Davis Bertans and the Washington Wizards, it’s completely possible our starting lineup next year to begin the season will be John Wall, Bradley Beal, Rui Hachimura, Davis Bertans, and Thomas Bryant. Hachimura will have to work on his shooting from deep and his handles to fill that role though.

But Rui isn’t the only young guy on the roster, so when he was asked which of his new additions had impressed him the most, this is what he had to say:

"That’s like picking your favorite child – I have seven kids. But we’re pleased with each one, they’ve all shown flashes of why we think they’re great pieces for the future."

Sounds like we already have seven roster spots filled for next season, but I just hope that Tommy doesn’t get too attached just because they are “his” guys. If Bonga doesn’t ultimately work out, for example, we don’t want to waste another two or three seasons trying to develop him when there isn’t anything there.

But we probably don’t have to worry, because Tommy is already looking towards this year’s draft and the next piece he can add to the squad. When asked about the upcoming draft, he kept it cryptic:

"I cannot mention names, but the draft is deeper this year than people realize."

Obviously, there are rules that prevent him from naming actual players, but obviously he’s spent a lot of time either sending out the Washington Wizards scouts or scouting himself, and feels confident he can find a valuable addition no matter where the Wizards end up picking.