1st Batch of Draft Prospects Roll Through Verizon

As I walked into the practice court at the Verizon Center, I came across someone who was watching along with the Wizards front office and scouts, John Wall.    

It's pretty cool to see him being here in DC in the off season, I'm pretty sure he's working out and conditioning with coaches and him being here also shows he cares about what the team decides to do with the draft picks that the Wizards have (#6 and #18)

I watched the likes of Alec Burks, who is regarded to be a first round pick (maybe even lottery), who is even a top 3 point guard in this NBA Draft.  He looked lanky and pretty tall for a point guard but I don't know how he would fit in with Washington.  I mean, John Wall is 6`4 and we have plenty of shooting guards unless they get rid of Nick Young.  Burks has the tools to make it but not sure if he would fit the Wizards plans. We'll just have to see how this shapes up. 

JaJuan Johnson, the F/C from Purdue, has nice length but is only 220 lbs for his size.  He needs to add bulk and weight to his frame.  He is raw offensively as he showed it during the drills.  He went for this hook shot and it was pretty much a Shaq type free throw, wasn't going in at all.

One person I liked but did not get to see enough was, Klay Thompson of Washington State.  He has size but then again, he's a shooting guard and not sure if the Wizards are taking a look at these people for the hell of it or if this means we are going for shooting guard and moving our current roster but he seemed like a good prospect.

Being short has it's disadvantages but Andrew Albicy was something incredible as he did a hair raising dunk which drew ohhh's and aww's from media and Wizards staff among.  I asked him after the practice if he would make an appearance in the NBA All Star Slam Dunk Contest, "Yeah I hope so."   He was a great interviewee.  You can't help but like the guy.



Last but not least, a top 10 pick possibly, Tristan Thompson from Texas.  The big man who is raw offensively but has potential and athleticism that is scary.  Only reason I would shy away from this guy is because he is raw and his fundamentals need to be tweaked (we have enough of those).  He has to also gain weight and add to his frame which could happen with in the next couple of years just like with any other player.  I can't wait to see Kanter though. 

Check out videos of the interviews over at NBA.com/Wizards 

http://www.nba.com/wizards/video/2011/06/01/NBADraftWorkouts6111mp4-1721940/index.html


The draft picks that were there working out were (Courtesy of the Washington Wizards PR team):

Name Pos. From Ht./Wt. Note

Andrew Albicy             G         France             5’10, 175 lbs.  Averaged 11.1 ppg and 4.5 apg in 30 games during the 2010-11 season for Paris-Levallos

Alec Burks                   G         Colorado         6’6, 195 lbs.    An early-entry candidate for the NBA Draft; averaged 20.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 2.9 apg as a sophomore in 2010-11

Randy Culpepper        G         UTEP              6’0, 165 lbs.    Averaged 19.3 ppg and 3.1 apg as a senior in 2010-11

JaJuan Johnson          F/C      Purdue            6-10, 221 lbs.  Named 2010-11 Big Ten Player of Year after averaging 20.5 ppg and 8.6 rpg during his senior season

Klay Thompson           G         Wash. St.         6-6, 202 lbs.    An early-entry candidate for the NBA Draft; averaged 21.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg and 3.7 apg as a junior in 2010-11

Tristan Thompson       F          Texas               6-8, 225 lbs.    An early-entry candidate for the NBA Draft; averaged 13.1 ppg and 7.8 rpg as a freshman in 2010-11 
 


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