7 Stars the Washington Wizards missed drafting by a single pick

Much of the NBA Draft process is a crapshoot. Acquiring the best picks takes a sizable amount of skill in scouting the right talent and a boatload of luck, hoping the results of the season and the draft lottery fall your way.

While the Washington Wizards have had their share of success in the draft room, they have also suffered their share of misfortune. The draft lottery has not always been kind to the Wizards and scouting recruits has many times been a shot in the dark.

These are some of the team's closest misfires, including players the team saw taken immediately before their name was called as well as players the following team on the board was happy to see Washington take a pass on.

1968 NBA Draft, Round 1: Elvin Hayes

Taken by the San Diego Rockets with the draft's first overall pick, Elvin Hayes was just out of reach of the Baltimore Bullets who held the 1968 NBA Draft's second pick.

Hayes would become a 12-time All-Star, leading the NBA in points per game with an average of 28.4 per contest as a rookie. However, the future Hall of Famer would be turned away from earning Rookie of the Year honors by Baltimore's Wes Unseld, who the team selected following San Diego's pick.

Four seasons later, the two stars would join forces on the Bullets, dominating their competition throughout the 1970's. By the end of the decade, Hayes and Unseld willed the newly-relocated Washington Bullets to their first NBA title, defeating the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games in 1978.