The Washington Wizards are in the beginning stages of a much-needed rebuild in hopes to return the organization back into contention.
As of now, the Wizards are the frontrunner to earn the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NBA Draft with the likes of Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey seeming to be the top prospects to suit up for Washington next season.
However, while the NBA Draft may seem to be the only thing that can save the Wizards franchise right now, it could be argued that their inability to make the right selections in previous drafts is the reason for them being in this situation in the first place.
That said, here's a look at some of the biggest misses the team has made over the last couple of offseasons when it comes to the NBA Draft.
The Wizards failed themselves in the 2022 NBA Draft
Looking back at the 2022 NBA Draft, it has to hurt for Wizards fans to look at the draft board and see who they missed out on in that talented draft.
However, before we take a look at who Washington missed out on, let's take a look at who they drafted.
With the No. 10 overall pick in the 2022 Draft, the Wizardss selected Johnny Davis from Wisconsin. In college, the 6-foot-4 guard spent two seasons with the Badgers, where he broke out in his sophomore season averaging 19.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists, while shooting 42.7% from field goal range and 30.6% from three.
Undoubtedly, the Wizards brass seemed to be fooled by the guard's college tape and overlooked what flaws and weaknesses he did have entering the draft process.
Fast forward to his time in Washington, David played three seasons for the Wizards where he averaged 3.5 points across 112 career games. Between injuries and inconstancies, it never seemed to workout for the former first-rounder. As a result, the Wizards ended the Johnny Davis experiment as the NBA trade deadline sending the playmaker to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Nonetheless, here's a look at the names that the Wizards COULD HAVE selected with the No. 10 overall pick that have went on to impress over the last three seasons.
- Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder (Pick 12)
- Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons (Pick 13)
- Mark Williams, Charlotte Hornets (Pick 15)
- Tari Eason, Houston Rockets ( Pick 17)
- Christian Braun, Denver Nuggets (Pick 21)
- Walker Kessler, Utah Jazz (Pick 22)
- Andrew Nembhard, Indiana Pacers (Pick 31)
Of the names the Wizards elected to select Davis over, the above names are players who could have immediately impacted the team and potentially put them in a different position of their current rebuild.
Obviously, different situations could have impacted the way each player performed up to this point, but had the Wizards selected any of the players above, there's a high chance that they could have found a key piece to their rebuild a lot sooner and would be in a different position headed into this draft class.
Hopefully, the new regime learns their lesson and takes more pride in the NBA Combine and draft process, rather than falling victim to college stats.