The Wizards will have plenty of draft options after landing the No. 2 pick in this year’s lottery, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. General manager Will Dawkins, who was inside the lottery drawing room to learn his team’s fate, admitted there was some slight disappointment in not getting the top selection, but he’s confident about adding another valuable piece to the rebuilding process.
“I would say that there’s a lot of optionality at the top of the draft, and there’s probably not the same level of instant gratification that you can see in year one with some of these rookies,” Dawkins said. “But if you really dive down and have some patience and have a forward-thinking outlook, these players are going to be pretty good players in the NBA a few years from now.”
Last year’s selection of Bilal Coulibaly, who Washington traded up one spot to get, indicates that the front office is prioritizing players who understand the game and possess a strong work ethic, Robbins adds. He identifies G League Ignite forward Matas Buzelis, Connecticut center Donovan Clingan, French wing Zaccharie Risacher, French big man Alexandre Sarr and Serbian point guard Nikola Topic as players in this year’s draft class who fit that description.
Coulibaly offered a scouting report on Risacher, whom he faced in France last season.
“Risacher, he’s got a lot of talent, a lot of talent,” Coulibaly said. “I played against him, like, two times last year. A great shot-maker. He can create his own shot. Yeah, a really good player.”
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- There wasn’t any lottery luck for the Hornets, who had the third-best odds for the top pick but dropped to No. 6 when three teams leapfrogged them, notes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Even though he didn’t get the result he wanted, co-owner Rick Schnall enjoyed his first look inside the lottery room. “It happens really fast and they run it in an incredibly efficient way,” he said. “And your disappointment comes really quickly. But it was interesting and it was good to see who was in the room, watch how the NBA runs it and understand — it might be my last time in there.” Schnall expressed confidence that Charlotte can find a productive player at No. 6 and called the lottery “just another step” in the process of building a competitive team.
- Assistant coach Josh Longstaff will leave the Bulls to become part of Charles Lee‘s staff with the Hornets, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. He joins former Jazz assistant Lamar Skeeter, who was hired last week.
- Hawks executive David Starkman, the team’s representative in the lottery drawing room, didn’t know how to react when Atlanta overcame long odds to win the No. 1 pick, per Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. The vice president of player personnel wasn’t familiar with what is considered acceptable behavior inside the lottery room. “I wasn’t sure what the protocol is,” Starkman said. “This isn’t the room to celebrate.”
- The lottery win adds $7MM to the Hawks‘ projected team salary and pushes that figure above the first tax apron, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).
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The Lakers are looking to trade the No. 17 pick, per @jovanbuha
“ It will be the first time that they could use all three of their tradable first-round picks, and it’s a prime opportunity for them to potentially get either a third star…
Washington Wizards: “the front office is prioritizing players who understand the game and possess a strong work ethic”
– Nobody embodies that more than Jordan Poole
I understand the work ethic and character thing, but you can’t build a winning team out of just Michael Kidd-Gilchrists. Seems like you have to prioritize shotmaking and volume scoring at some point — like a more effective Jordan Poole. The Wizards went for defense and character with Coulibaly last year; maybe they should look for some strong offense this time, IMO.
Kind of hard to see the comp there on offense. MKG couldn’t make a jumper if his life depended on it. Coulibaly has a good short game and wasn’t far off average from 3. Moves a lot better without the ball in his hands as well.
Risacher is a good option. Very solid 2-way guy who can create his own shot and run plays for others. Has a quality step-back already and can attack off-ball as well. Sarr’s interesting; super-fast at his size and has Mobley-esque switchability at greater length. Needs to bulk up more, but as a Center, he’d be quality.
Buzelis and Topic both should be behind them. Topic can create his own opportunities and is a smooth playmaker with length, but he has no jumper to speak of. He’s also currently battling some knee issues. Buzelis has interesting handles and speed at his size, but despite his smooth-looking shot, he can’t actually hit it all that well, and doesn’t really make good use of his court vision. He’s more of a reach pick than a sure top-3 pick imo. Upside is there but the downside is equally obvious.
You know what’s weird? Risacher has really low assist numbers overseas. I haven’t watched any tape on him, but maybe he doesn’t actually have the ball in his hands that often? Is all the projection on him based on shooting and defensive potential?
Combination of fewer minutes per game than NBA starters (nobody on his team averages over 25 mpg, Risacher included), his team (Mincidelice JL Bourg) having a very ball-dominant primary guard, and being more of a finisher (highest PPG on the team despite being just 19). Hugo Benitez (Bourg’s PG) averages nearly a full third of the team’s assists and is fifth in the league in APG, with his backups being right behind him in APG on the squad. It seems more like a coaching strategy than Risacher’s own decisions.
And while he does play off-ball more than on, that’s again a reflection of having Benitez running the point. His game reminds me of Franz Wagner.