What Should the Wizards Should Do with the 5th Pick?

[forthepeople]

Yeah there is something similar about there build and movement. Could be an ideal back court mate. Hes a full 6-5 with a crazy wingspan and strong body. I think we will see him more in the post. Guards like Rip and Dalonte West would get eaten up by him.

[RickRoll_inDC]

If we keep the pick, I would absolutely love to have Harden. And yes he does sound and look like Arenas. You can argue that there is Young on the bench and that we don't NEED Harden, but I do think he is the best fit here. I'd start Harden over Young and bring in Young for relief as a scorer for Arenas. I would love to have a healthy Manu Ginobili, and he could very easily be that since he compared his game to Manu's.

The thing that impressed me the most with Harden is that he seems very mature. He mentioned that he'd be more than willing to 'play a little point guard or playing defense, whatever that team needs.'

For me, Harden would fill the position that seems to be the topic of discussion this post season; the use of the X-Factor players like Ariza and Pietrus. Harden could be that piece on this team. He's been my top option past that 1-2 spot for a very long time. Hopefully he's still around at 5 assuming we have that pick.

[AgentOvechkin08]

Harden being the guy that starts and Young coming off the bench would be Ideal, or even the other way around. I still dont want to give up on Nick because I believe that he might be able to flourish in Flips system. But with that said, adding Harden would not hurt. He could be the guy coming off the bench, maybe Nick wins a starting job.

We all have to remember Nick Young is no longer under the eye of Tankscott or EJ (even though EJ was playing him good minutes before he got fired)

[Optms]

Is it not scary how Harden looks and sounds like Arenas??

Please tell me that is not just me...even his body is in the mold of GIl except he is a little taller, also it shows he lost the weight, he seems really toned down.

These two guys talk as if they were raised in the same family house hold. I noticed that the second I ever heard Harden speak and was caught a little off guard by it.

Harden wouldn't be a bad pick at all for the Wizards.

[Ruzious]

Watching more video of Holliday and Evans... wow, those 2 are physical specimens with great raw tallent. If Holliday had gone into football - at about 6'4, long, and he certainly has the frame to bulk up to around 215, with his great feet, agility, and athleticism - he'd physically be the perfect safety. In basketball, what sticks out his pure silky smooth movement with the ball and the great feet on defense. We just haven't seen enough of him at the point to know what he is and isn't capable of. Still, it's hard to believe UCLA got so little productivity from him at the 2. He just needs more confidence and to keep working on that jump shot. He is an elite talent, but you gotta figure it will take some time. I like him better than Westbrook - but I'm not a big Westbrook fan.

On Evans, people say his jump shot is too deliberate or slow. Well, I guarantee that no guard is going to block his shot. Dude has a 6'11 wingspan, and he releases the ball at the top of his jump. Plus, he's so strong, that if any guard crowds him, his body can create space. And for a big strong guard, he's got a nice teardrop touch going toward the basket against shot-blocking bigs. Physically, he is the most impressive of the guards - even if he didn't test real well in the physical tests.

[clubbing_caveman]

On Evans, people say his jump shot is too deliberate or slow. Well, I guarantee that no guard is going to block his shot. Dude has a 6'11 wingspan, and he releases the ball at the top of his jump.

Admittedly, I have only really paid attention to Evans very recently. Aside for a couple of games watched, the bulk of my analysis of him has been done through video clips from YouTube. You're right that he has a pretty good wingspan. However, on his jump shot, it looks to me that most of the time he releases the shot just above his head. The release is a bit slow...there is a bit of a hesitation before the ball leaves his hand. Perhaps all these mechanics can be changed. Till its been changed, I think he will not be very effective.

[Ji]

the whole Curry not working out with other teams is BS just like 95% of the things the media prints.


he Charlotte Observer had an erroneous report in Friday's edition when Rick Bonnell cited Dell Curry's claim that his son Stephen Curry would be shutting it down following one final workout with Washington.

"The Washington one is set, and after that it's still open," said Curry to Chris Littmann of the Sporting News. "We're in talks with a lot of teams trying to get the right schedule going for the last week and a half. Beyond Tuesday in Washington, I don't have anything set yet."

Curry is also still talking about working out for Oklahoma City, Portland and Milwaukee.

[Kanyewest]

ALso...man is Jennings being a little cocky or what? Didnt he say something earlier about another draft prospect and now he is saying Rubio is not the top PG. Jennings has got to get a newsflash, he skipped college and did NOTHING in Europe.

I think I like Jennings more because of that attitude, at least what he said about Rubio. I have to think Jennings would have been the top point guard prospect if not for the 1 year in college rule in the 2008 draft. For better or worse playing European ball hasn't humbled him too much, and it seems like you have to be very confident in yourself if you want to be a good pro. Of course, if Jennings doesn't back it up on the court, he'll be an idiot.

[DCZards]

Who needs generalizations:



Chester's an exurb of Philly. A driveby community just off the highway from the City of Brotherly whatever. All the usual problems of the hardknocks beast coast. There's a reason why his brothers had to work doubletime to keep him out of the trouble that friends and family were pulling him into. Life nowadays...

So what's your point, doc? That the Zards should stay away from Evans because he comes from the hardscrabble town of Chester and might be a borderline thug like that other Chester native Jameer Nelson? Or that the Zards should play it "safe" and draft Curry because you prefer his upper middle-class background?

[just1bullet]

I would Trade the 5th pick in the trade below
Change in Team Outlook: +11.3 ppg, +0.3 rpg, and -1.9 apg.
Washington Gets

Travis Outlaw
Rudy Gay
pick 36

Memphis Gets

DeShawn Stevenson
JaVale McGee
Darius Songaila
Pick 5 Stephen Curry

Portland Gets
Mike Conley
Pick 27 Omri Casspi

Washington Wizards

Point Guard- Gilbert Arenas/Javaris Crittenton/ Mike James
Shooting Guard- Rudy Gay/Nick Young/ Dominic McGuire
Small Forward- Caron Butler/Travis Outlaw/Dominic McGuire
Power Forward- Antawn Jamison/Andray Blatche/Oleksiy Pecherov
Center - Brendan Haywood/Etan Thomas

Portland Trail Blazers

Point Guard - Mike Conley/Steve Blake/Jerryd Bayless
Shooting Guard- Brandon Roy/ Rudy Fernandez/Sergio Rodriguez /Terrence Williams pick 24
Small Forward- Nicolas Batum/ Martell Webster /Omri Casspi Pick 27
Power Forward LaMarcus Aldridge/ Shavlik Randolph
Center Joel Przybilla/Greg Oden

Memphis Grizzlies

Point Guard- Stephen Curry(pick 5)/Marko Jaric/ Mike Wilks
Shooting Guard- O.J. Mayo /Greg Buckner/DeShawn Stevenson
Small Forward Darrell Arthur/Quinton Ross
Power Forward Marc Gasol / JaVale McGee/Darius Songaila
Center Hasheem Thabeet(pick 2)/JaVale McGee/Darko Milicic

[yungal07]

Rudy Gay is not a shooting guard. And there's no way I involve McGee in a package like that. Terrible.

[Ruzious]

On Evans, people say his jump shot is too deliberate or slow. Well, I guarantee that no guard is going to block his shot. Dude has a 6'11 wingspan, and he releases the ball at the top of his jump.

Admittedly, I have only really paid attention to Evans very recently. Aside for a couple of games watched, the bulk of my analysis of him has been done through video clips from YouTube. You're right that he has a pretty good wingspan. However, on his jump shot, it looks to me that most of the time he releases the shot just above his head. The release is a bit slow...there is a bit of a hesitation before the ball leaves his hand. Perhaps all these mechanics can be changed. Till its been changed, I think he will not be very effective.

Everything you said makes absolutely zero difference. Certainly no PG is going to come anywhere close to blocking his jump shot, and there are very few 2's that could. He will have no problem getting off his shot in the NBA. He just needs to improve his accuracy and decision-making.

[Ji]

rotoworld thinks we will take Tyreke Evans

[FreeBalling]

rotoworld thinks we will take Tyreke Evans

Ji who do you think we will pick?

[doclinkin]

So what's your point, doc? That the Zards should stay away from Evans because he comes from the hardscrabble town of Chester and might be a borderline thug like that other Chester native Jameer Nelson? Or that the Zards should play it "safe" and draft Curry because you prefer his upper middle-class background?

My point is that the chart shows he's in all probability a murdering robbing rapist like everyone else from Chester PA. Can't argue with facts, there. I have charts and everything.

[Wizardspride]

rotoworld thinks we will take Tyreke Evans

That's who I want. He reminds of Larry Hughes.

I mean the "good" version of Larry Hughes.

[NBAMAN2006]

I know it has been beaten to death, but is there any sort of deal yall would do with Portland that didnt involve Rudy going to Washington? I mean, lets say that Griffin/Rubio/Harden/Evans go 1,2,3,4 leaving the Wizards in pretty much the worst situation they could be in. What would it take in that scenario?

[pancakes3]

curry?

i don't understand why portland is so desperate to hold onto a bench player. he's talented but you all are letting him rot on your bench just so he can spell Roy for spot minutes.

If we offer the #5, you can draft either Jordan Hill to back up Aldridge, or Brandon Jennings to replace Bayless. We'll even offer up Nick Young as a replacement. Both teams improve. I don't see what's so inconceivable about swapping Nick Young and Rudy F for you guys to move up.

ding 99 pages. time to switch over.

[NBAMAN2006]

Rudy simply wont rot on our bench. He was a 26mpg guy as a rookie. I think he will find 30-32mpg in the future. I envision a 3 guard rotation of Curry/Roy/Rudy taking up the 96 minutes of PG & SG.

What about some sort of 3 way deal of this sort...

Milwaukee deals #10 for Bayless, #24 & 3M
Washington deals #5 & Songalia for Outlaw & #10
Portland deals Bayless, Outlaw, 3M & #24 for Songalia & #5

[hands11]

harden's work out video. 3:20 crab dribble due to a slow first step won't cut it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf5ye0Fc ... rofilepage

Wow...that was completely unimpressive. Maybe that was the very end of a long workout, but I was hoping for more after his results at the combine.

I didn't see a lot of lift on his jumpshot. He didn't get very far above the rim on his dunks either, even on a full court break. He also seemed to need to gather himself to dunk when driving to the rim. Of course you have lots of guys who look great in workouts that can't really play, but I was hoping to see more from a guy projected in the top 5.

You know, with the beard, he looked like a bigger/stronger DeShawn Stevenson. Not sure that's worth a #5 overall. I posted a couple pages ago that it's possible he could slip and this video is making me consider it even more.

Interesting. I was actually some what impressed. He has good size for one. Looked like he was long armed also. I took most everything he was going was 1/2 or 3/4 speed because they seemed like more endurance drills. He seems to be really great with position, leverage and hand fighting to gain an advantage. He seemed comfortable handling the ball and even hand a double hesitation move that looked similar to one that Gil uses.

The one thing I saw that caused some concern was is it looked like he had a hitch in his slot causing his release to be a little slow. Now I don't know if he does that in games but it concerned me. Great if your wide open but if would give people time to close on him. That said, that is something that can be fixed.

I think whoever gets him will be happy.