In the same week that the Washington Wizards agreed to trade three-time All-Star Bradley Beal to the Phonix Suns, the new regime of Michael Winger and Will Dawkins will make the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
To get some insight into the new Wizards' basketball brain trust and an idea of what kind of player the team might target and who would be available, Kevin Sheehan brought in Derek Parker, founder of Draft Digest.
Before the two focused on Thursday's draft, Parker, who has experience covering Dawkins and Winger from their time in Oklahoma City, says Wizards fans will need "a ton of patience" as the job ahead will be a "full-tilt, full-blown rebuild" in Washington. "This thing is gonna be a long haul type deal, certainly," he added.
And with that long road in mind, Parker said he sees Winger and co. looking for guys in this draft (and future drafts) who have versatility (guys that can do a little bit of everything), guys who can handle the ball, pass, shoot, defend, and have "quick processing, high basketball IQ."
"I think in their perfect world... no one on the floor is one-dimensional," Parker told Sheehan. "And another thing, as much as an eye-roller as it is, good people."
The odds-on favorite is Arkansas point guard Anthony Black, who is "the exact archetype that Dawkins would look for in OKC. Jumbo point guard... one of the best perimeter defenders in the class, one of the best passers in the class, really high-IQ player... He wouldn't be the flashiest selection. Honestly, there might not be multiple All-Star selections in his future, but he's gonna be a guy that raises the floor of a team down the line and is really a glue guy in the sense that can win you ball games. And picks like that are important especially if you get in on the ground floor of this rebuild."
When Sheehan asked for an NBA comparison to Black, there was talk of Josh Giddey, the six-foot-eight guard the Thunder drafted at No. 6 in 2021.
Of course, there could be the possibility that Black could go to the Orlando Magic at No. 6, and the Houston Rockets could trade back to grab him, but there is the idea that a non-flashy player could still be there for Washington.
Another player who was also mentioned for Washington as a possibility is Kentucky combo guard Cason Wallace, who also is a top perimeter defender and top passer in the draft class.
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