NBA Draft Lottery could change outlook of the Wizards’ future

Fans of the Washington Wizards are eager for a winning season, desperate for some hope. but where does the hope of a good season start, at the NBA Draft Lottery. The Wizards are looking for a piece to help build on the little success they’ve had this past season by drafting a player who can make an immediate impact. The Draft Lottery is a good place to start.

In last year’s draft, Washington took Johnny Davis from Wisconsin at the 10th overall pick. Davis didn’t get much time on the NBA court, while spending most of his season in the G-League. With the Capital City Go-Go, he averaged 12 points, in the Association he averaged 5.8 points.

He started to show flashes over the last five games of the season, averaging 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals. He was given more opportunity as a lot of the stars were benched (possibly for some late season tanking). So, there is some hope with the recent pick and the fans hope this success can be duplicated. With Tommy Sheppard gone, hopefully Washington can find their way back to the Playoffs starting tonight.

The Wizards had 32.9% projected chance to land the 8th overall pick, which was their highest. The 9th pick was projected to go to Washington 31.1%. The chance of landing the 1st pick was 6.7%. But their chances of moving into the top four picks were at 29%.

How fans reacted to the Washington Wizards continued Lottery luck

I had the pleasure of sitting in on a Wizards Draft Lottery watch party, where fans were anxiously waiting to hear where their beloved team will land in the draft. Fans are hoping for a miracle and the Wizards land in the top 3 for a chance to draft star prospects like Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson, Amen Thompson, or Brandon Miller.

The crowd grew restless and when the Wizards were selected to become the 8th pick, the crowd wasn’t too pleased about their selection. There was some optimism about getting a very good player at eight, but this draft can shape how the Wizards go about their offseason.

How will the Washington Wizards use their draft pick?

Ideally, the Wizards would probably go for the best available player at eight, but if they want to keep the core of Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, and Kyle Kuzma together, they should draft around fit. So, we could revisit the possibility of drafting a point guard.

Anthony Black is projected to be picked in the top ten. Black is a 6’7 point guard who has the size to see over the defense but also switch to guard multiple positions. The Arkansas Freshman has drawn comparisons to Josh Giddey and Steve Smith. Those are two pretty good players to be compared to.

This pick can help to give the Wizards some direction of what to do next and what they can build. Anthony Black at point guard can solve a lot of the problems that the Wizards had defensively and having another ball handler. This will give Beal an opportunity to play off the ball, which may be best for him. Beal put up career-high scoring averages when he played off the ball.

The Wizards can also go in another direction and decide to use the pick to draw some trade interest and possibly land a veteran talent so add to the core. I’m not sure a lot of teams will be willing to trade a superstar for the pick that’s not in the top five so a well-established veteran who’s a borderline all-star can also be a very realistic option. This will show that the Wizards are in win now mode and depending on who they trade for, it can attract more players to come.

The biggest drawback to this plan would be the salary cap issues. The Wizards are already close to the cap so they may have to include a few of the supporting cast to get any notable players from this pick.

They can also decide to use this pick and start a rebuild. They can let Kuzma walk in free agency, retain the money they will offer him and if possible, trade Beal. This would lead to Johnny Davis getting more chances to show why he was a top pick. If the Wizards want to be risky, they can start to build around Davis and Black. This would leave the fate of KP up in the air. They can also trade him for some assets. Currently, there is no general manager in office so it’s hard to pinpoint which direction management will go in.

The Wizards have a lot of directions they can go in. The future can be very bright with a top pick and a new GM coming in.