2008 NBA Draft Could Serve as Crossroads for Wizards

Since taking over the General Manager position for the Washington Wizards, Ernie Grunfeld has made an array of excellent personnel decisions that have catapulted the franchise back to relevancy. The Wizards have been in the playoffs for four straight years, which is equal to the Phoenix Suns’ streak, for those wondering.

However, this offseason looks to be the most challenging for Grunfeld since taking over the job. 

Grunfeld and head coach Eddie Jordan are faced with the difficult task of determining whether the Wizards are just a player or two away from being a contender, or if they have to retool their roster and build around Caron Butler instead.

All indications point to Gilbert Arenas being resigned, but the same cannot be said about power forward Antawn Jamison. Ideally, bringing in Elton Brand would be the perfect fit but given Brand’s desire to play for a more attractive market, his signing seems unlikely. So what does that leave the Wizards' lineup looking like? 

DeShaun Stevenson will likely start alongside Arenas in the backcourt, with Butler playing small forward. Clearly, the Wizards are okay with those three.

The problem lies with the interior of the lineup. Grunfeld had envisioned Andray Blatche and Brendan Haywood bringing length, size, and defense inside. Unfortunately, both have been inconsistent.

Haywood has shown signs of being a defensive force inside during spurts of the season, but the Wizards can’t keep rolling the dice and hoping that one of those spurts coincides with the playoffs.

Andray Blatche can’t seem to keep himself from driving on a suspended license or getting into trouble, so Grunfeld can’t be happy about the maturity level he has shown. 

With neither Blatche nor Haywood giving any indication that they are ready to step up and maximize their potential, the Wizards need to look to draft an interior presence that will. 

Robin Lopez, the 7'0" center out of Stanford, brings everything to the table other than scoring. He has a good frame, weighing in at 245 pounds, and managed to score 10, grab six boards, and block just over two shots a game in about 25 minutes of play per game last season.

Though he lacks scoring ability (the vast majority of his points came on tip ins or dunks) and even potential to get better in that venue, the Wizards aren’t in the market for a center who can score. Washington can score with the best of them as is. Their defense and rebounding are the real problems.

Given the fact that out of the 16 playoff teams last season, the Wizards ranked 15th in rebounding and 16th in rebounding differential (out-rebounded by an astounding 7.5 boards per game), Lopez seems like a perfect fit. Lopez could come off the bench to keep Haywood fresh, or he could even at times play alongside the fellow seven-footer.

The Wizards would have a much easier time stopping LeBron from dissecting them if they have two seven-foot defensive oriented centers clogging the lane. If Toronto doesn’t take Lopez at 17, the Wizards will take a long hard look at the 20-year-old and see if he fits into their plans.

The other option is taking the 6'9" power forward out of Kansas, Darrell Arthur. Blatche’s defensive potential could be complimented by Arthur’s offensive potential. He shot 53.8 percent his freshmen season and upped that to 54.3 percent his sophomore year while scoring just under 13 points in 25 minutes of play.

Arthur brings the ability to crash the boards and a versatile look to the position. He can play either the three or the four. However, there are a couple of significant issues that come to mind with the former Jayhawk. 

First, he tends to look to shoot right away when he gets the ball. His ball-handling is suspect, so that may be the reason. Either way, the last thing the Wizards need is a trigger happy shooter. There aren’t enough balls to go around for that. 

Second, he tends to pick up silly fouls. He averaged three fouls per game last year in only 25 minutes of play. Still, the biggest knock on Darrell Arthur could be the one that keeps the Wizards from selecting him at 18—his reputation for floating in and out of games.

Lack of focus and intensity for the duration of the game from its interior players is not something Washington is interested in.

Unfortunately, from everything we have seen thus far, Arthur is just another talented but inconsistent player. Given the disappointing play of previous draft choices (Jarvis Hayes, Blatche, and Haywood), the Wizards are going to be very wary of selecting another possible unpredictable player.

Ideally, the Wizards would draft Lopez at 18 and bring in a wild card power forward with the 47th pick—that wildcard being Walter Sharpe. Sharpe has shown scary athletic ability but given the fact that he only played 12 games last season, he’s a bit of an unknown.

However, it doesn’t take more than 12 minutes to realize that he’s got the talent to be a solid starter in this league. The risk of a 47th pick being a bust versus grabbing a potential starter is one the Wizards should take.

If Washington can shore up their frontline of defense, add depth to their bench with young talent, as well as make a splash by grabbing Elton Brand, they could do some serious damage in the East.

As we learned from Boston this season, it all starts with defense and, quite frankly, right now, Washington doesn’t have any.