2022 NBA Draft: 3 Players the Washington Wizards Should Avoid

As we close in on the start of the 2022 NBA Draft, we grow closer and closer to learning what the Washington Wizards are going to look like moving forward. While the chance of a trade remains, here we are assuming the Wizards will be picking right around 10th overall.

These prospects are expected to go in that range during the draft. Even if the range is right for the players talent and outlook, it’s not the right fit for the Wizards to select any three of these players.

This draft is as important as they come for Washington. A mistake will hurt for years to come and could move them even further away from true championship contention. Best case scenario is they add a franchise changing talent. At the least, they need to hit on an impact player for years to come.

Prospect the Washington Wizards should Avoid: Johnny Davis

Johnny Davis broke out during his sophomore season with the Wisconsin Badgers. He put up 19.7 points per game to lead the Badgers. His scoring production was the third highest mark among Big Ten players.

Davis has been a riser in mock drafts for a while. By draft day, many have him going within a few picks of the tenth overall selection one way or the other. That’s reasonable, but it shouldn’t be to the Washington Wizards.

Davis isn’t a strong shooting from the outside, which is weak spot for the Wizards as a team. Another area he doesn’t particularly stand out in is on the defensive end of the floor, which again, is a major weakness for this Wizards team.

Davis can help a number of NBA teams as a scoring threat in bursts, but his weaknesses line up with the Wizards far too much for them to select him in the lottery.

Prospect the Washington Wizards should Avoid: Shaedon Sharpe

Shaedon Sharpe is one of the wildcards of the 2022 NBA Draft. He was a highly touted prospect coming out of high school. The problem is, he didn’t play this past season for Kentucky. There is an extremely limited amount of tape on him in general and what there is available isn’t easy to evaluate successfully.

Sharpe has extreme upside, don’t take this as a knock on what he could become. That upside is in a way tempting, but it’s too much in question given the circumstances. The Wizards haven’t seen nearly enough of him to take the shot here.

This selection in the draft needs to be made with confidence and full blown belief in what the player chosen will become. That is not possible with Sharpe.

The caveat here is Bradley Beal is not traded any time soon. If he is moved any time before the start of next season and the franchise commits to rebuilding and doing it aggresively, Sharpe is a fair prospect to bring in for a number of reasons.

Prospect the Washington Wizards should Avoid: AJ Griffin

Last but not least is Duke wing AJ Griffin. Like the players before him, Griffin is very talented on the court. He would likely be going higher than the Wizards pick off talent alone if that was all that mattered.

Unfortunately for Griffin there are legitimate injury concerns about him. That could cause a draft day fall. If it gets him to tenth overall, the Wizards should stay away and go with a prospect they can be more confident in.

Like Sharpe, the caveat is a Beal trade coming sooner than later. That would make the choice more reasonable but still is a tough sell for a team already rostering Kristaps Porzingis on a large contract.

Big investments in players with injury concerns shouldn’t be paired together. The Wizards should stay away from Griffin.