Heading into the offseason, the Washington Wizards seemed destined to land a top prospect in the upcoming NBA Draft.
Following the results of the NBA Draft Lottery, where the Wizards nightmare scenario became a reality falling to No. 6 overall, it seems that Washington may not be so destined to find the team's next cornerstone prospect.
Obviously, Washington is still in a solid position to land one of the top available players in the draft class, but after missing out on Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper, there's not many "can't-miss" prospects left out there.
By no means does that mean the players behind Flagg or Harper aren't good prospects, but there's just not as much hope for an immediate impact like there was with Flagg, at least not on the same level.
That said, it wouldn't be shocking to see the Wizards keep their options open heading into June, especially with their history of making draft night deals; just ask Deni Avdija.
In Bleacher Report's most recent NBA Mock Draft, a proposed trade had the Wizards making a deal that would net them an additional first-round pick.
Wizards proposed NBA Draft night deal
A look at the proposed trade from Bleacher Report:
In this deal, Washington would ultimately forfeit their chance to land a top five prospect, depending how they grade their board.
As of now, Washington is destined to land one of Tre Johnson, Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen or Khaman Maluach. At least those are the top prospects being linked to Washington as of now.
Moving down to No. 13 would certainly be a gamble, and there's no telling if a draft night slide could result in them landing the player they wanted anyways at no. 13 while netting an additional first round pick.
My question: is this a risk the Wizards are willing to take?
The perception around this upcoming draft class is that after the first ten picks or so, the talent level drops a tier or two. There's no sure-fire prospect that late-lottery teams covet with the comfortability that they'd make it to them in picks 10-14.
Is it worth the Wizards potentially missing out on a player they feel has the potential to be a building block just to earn an extra late first-rounder to potentially take a swing on another talent?
As of now, nobody truly knows what the Wizards are thinking about outside of the team's front office. However, if I were general manager Will Dawkins, I would remain at No. 6 overall and select the best available player who I believe could propel this team back into contention as soon as possible.