Washington Wizards NBA Draft: 3 Gonzaga players the Wizards could draft
By Ethan Smith
Corey Kispert: Small Forward
Priority number one for the Washington Wizards last offseason was re-signing one of the best shooters in the NBA during the 2019-20 season: Davis Bertans. Although that didn’t end up being the most noteworthy move of last offseason, that was the John Wall-Russell Westbrook trade, the Wizards did successfully re-sign Bertans to a five-year, $80 million deal. The only problem: It hasn’t been a success.
Bertans started the season out of shape. Then missed time due to COVID. And then missed time again due to a right calf strain. So far this season, he has played in 36 of the Wizards’ 48 games. His three-point percentage has fallen from 42.4 percent on 8.7 attempts per game last season to 38.2 on 7.3 attempts this season. Is it time to add another (or a different) shooter?
Given the value of the three-pointer in the NBA, a team can never have enough shooters. And there may be none better in the upcoming draft than Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert.
Kispert is a legit sharpshooter. The 6’7″ senior averaged 6.5 three-point attempts per game, and made an insane 44.5 percent of them this season. Last season, Kipsert shot 43.8 percent on 5.4 attempts. This is what Kispert does. By comparison, Wizards sniper Garrison Mathews shot 40.3 percent from three on 8.0 attempts during his senior year at Lipscomb.
Kispert currently projects to be in the 8-12 range, exactly where the Wizards picked the last two drafts (#9), but it would be a bit of a fall from where they’re currently projected.