With the 46th Pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, The Washington Wizards...Sold Their Pick For $2 Million To The Lakers
Post – For the first time since 2009, the Washington Wizards entered the NBA draft without a first-round pick, having shipped it away in the October trade that brought them Marcin Gortat. Ultimately, the Wizards elected to end their season in a manner similar to the way it began, trading No. 46 overall pick Jordan Clarkson, a point guard out of Missouri, to the Los Angeles Lakers for cash considerations. Washington received just less than $2 million in the deal, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, granting them more flexibility on the free agent market, which opens July 1 and is expected to include Gortat, Trevor Ariza and six other Wizards. “We focused in on two, three players who we thought would be there but were gone by the time it was our turn to pick, and we didn’t want to waste it and just bring someone in that we didn’t think would fit in with what we were trying to do,” Wizards General Manager Ernie Grunfeld said after emerging from the Wizards’ draft war room at Verizon Center late Thursday night. “Nothing really came up for us and we felt like it was best to move the pick for cash considerations, and this way it opens up another roster spot for us to get someone who’s established.”
It’s troubling when a team has no interest in developing young talent. It’s troubling when the GM says they were only focused on 2 or 3 players and didn’t have the confidence to bring in anyone else. It’s troubling that the Wizards are actually going to enter the season with Andre Miller as their backup to John Wall.
Great teams develop young players through the draft. You build a nucleus of stars and roll players through the draft, then plug in the rest of the holes through free agency. It’s a tried and true way to win. The Wizards apparently have no interest in doing it that way. They’d rather sign veteran free agents to big contracts and cross their fingers that it works out. Why not take a flyer on a 2nd round pick? They need EVERYTHING. They have no depth to write about. So instead of adding a piece and developing a player, they decided to line their pockets. And yes, the 2nd round pick is a bit of a crapshoot..but shouldn’t they have some sort of confidence in their scouting department? Are we really saying the 46th pick is exactly the same as an undrafted free agent? I don’t buy that. And it’s not like this team is a small market club struggling to make money..and especially not now after making the 2nd round of the playoffs. There really is no good excuse for not taking a guy with the 46th pick. It’s embarrassing.
Good teams develop young talent while keeping the pieces like Gorat and Ariza. The Wizards seem to think it’s only one or the other. So let’s hope last year’s first rounder Otto Porter develops into a usable NBA player, Gortat comes back, and they get Durant in 2016. Or this was all a way to be able to afford LeBron this year. Right? Right.