Washington Wizards Will Have Their Eye on Blake Griffin This June

If it was ever a year where the Washington Wizards, would have said ''We could have used that guy, he is going to be a great player," it would be this year as Oklahoma's forward Blake Griffin is eligible to enter the NBA draft.

With the pathetic season the Wizards are having it may benefit them. They will be in the lottery late June, and may have a chance to land Griffin.

Griffin is a type of player that does not usually come along in every NBA draft. He is a 6-10 forward who is physical, can finish with explosion inside, has good work ethic, and plays with intensity, passion for the game.

Griffin is averaging 22 points a game along with 13 rebounds, Oklahoma is 25-3 and 2-3 while Griffin was sideline with a concussion.

Griffin looks the part of a potential one pick, not just because of his production or athleticism, a league executive said. ''But because of the intangibles he appears to possess. He looks like an excellent teammate—unselfish, intelligent, and showing the competitiveness of a real winner, which should make teams comfortable about making the significant investment involved in picking him so high."

If the Wizards are unable to land Griffin the next best thing would be point guard Ricky Rubio.

With the injuries to Gilbert Arenas the last three years you have to be prepared if something happens to him again. Rubio is regarded as the best European guard prospect since the late Drazen Petrovic and many have compared him to Pete Maravich, pointing to his natural scoring ability and creativity.

"He's the real deal," one Eastern Conference general manager said. "He could be the No. 1 player picked next year. He's going to be a top five pick for sure.

But if Gilbert Arenas comes back, and be the player he once was, then Rubio will not see any minutes.

This all points to Griffin, who maybe be a franchise player in the National Basketball Association one day.