More photos » Andrew Shurtleff - AP

2 months ago: Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors (14) looks for a shot against Virginia's Mike Scott (32) during an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010, in Charlottesville, Va. (AP Photo/Andrew Shurtleff)

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Editor's Note, by rook6980:
This is the fourth installment in what I expect to be a regular posting on Draft Prospects.  This series will take a look at the top draft prospects for the 2010 NBA Draft in June. The plan is to have one or two a week, leading up to a flurry of activity the week of the draft. My DVR is crammed full of College games, and I'm watching and writing as fast as I can (between Wizards games).

Just another note: These draft prospect articles are not necessarily done in any order... but rather their order is based on which College games I've had time to watch and analyze; and which ones my editor (Mike Prada) thinks may be particularly pertinent at the time.

Draft Prospect assessments:
John Wall
Evan Turner
Wesley Johnson
DeMarcus Cousins    Upcoming
Al-Farouq Aminu         Upcoming
Cole Aldrich                 Upcoming
Greg Monroe               Upcoming

Derrick Favors

Runs like a deer, jumps out of the gym. I really hate that trite cliché, but in the case of Derrick Favors, it fits. He has that combination of size, strength, skill and athleticism that makes General Managers drool. I've said this about other players before (John Wall), but Favors has "freakish" athleticism. Now combine the physical tools with a person that is reportedly a hard worker, with good grades, great character, leadership ability, with a high intensity motor, a tremendous work ethic and a fine young man to boot. The tools and the intangibles are all there. Derrick Favors could be special.

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Bill Kostroun - AP

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Editor's Note, by rook6980:
This is the third installment in what I expect to be a regular posting on Draft Prospects.  This series will take a look at the top draft prospects for the 2010 NBA Draft in June. The plan is to have one or two a week, leading up to a flurry of activity the week of the draft. My DVR is crammed full of College games, and I'm watching and writing as fast as I can (between Wizards games).

Just another note: These draft prospect articles are not necessarily done in any order... but rather their order is based on which College games I've had time to watch and analyze.

Draft Prospect assessments:
John Wall
Evan Turner
DeMarcus Cousins    Upcoming
Derrick Favors        Upcoming
Al-Farouq Aminu        Upcoming
Cole Aldrich        Upcoming

Why did I pick Wesley Johnson for my third installment?  To be honest, I had already watched three Syracuse gamesand I had the notes ready before anyone else on the list.  But having said that, Wesley Johnson's stock has been skyrocketing since he blew up against North Carolina for 25 points and eight rebounds, helping the Orange to a 87-71 victory.  He was unarguably the best player on the floor that night.  Then, two games later, Johnson had his career high 26 points against Columbia and in December went off on Seton Hall for 20 points, 19 rebounds and five blocks (including two spectacular blocks right at the rim).  During that span of games, Johnson did everything.  He hit threes, ran the floor, scored inside, scored outside, rebounded and blocked shots.  He was everywhere.

So, it's not inconceivable that he could be taken anywhere from the third pick through the 10th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.  I think Wesley Johnson is a better SF prospect than Al-Farouq Aminu from Wake Forest.  I suspect, however, that some GM will take Aminu's high upside (but raw actual game) over Johnson's more refined game, and Johnson will go somewhere in the mid-lottery (5-10).

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More photos » Michael Conroy - AP

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Editor's Note, by rook6980: This is the second installment in what I expect to be a regular posting on Draft Prospects.  This series will take a look at the top draft prospects for the 2010 NBA Draft in June. The plan is to have one or two analyses a week, leading up to a flurry of activity the week of the draft. My DVR is crammed full of college games, and I'm watching them as fast as I can (between Wizards games).

Draft Prospect assessments:
John Wall
Wesley Johnson        Upcoming
DeMarcus Cousins    Upcoming

Evan Turner

• Team: Ohio State
• Height / Wt:  6'7" / 205
• Position: Shooting Guard / Small Forward
• Age: Junior, 21 Years Old

Turner is smooth. I mean smooooooove. He will likely play shooting guard in the NBA but at 6'6" (with a 7-foot wingspan) he could also switch to small forward. He's got the passing skills and vision of a point guard, but he rebounds like a power forward, averaging 11.2 rebounds per 40 minutes (pace adjusted). Draft Express says his best case scenario is Brandon Roy, but while I think that Turner is a lot like Roy, particularly offensively, I think Turner is a better rebounder and will be a better defender.

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More photos » Ed Reinke - AP

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Editor's Note, by rook6980: This is the first installment in what I expect to be a regular posting on Draft Prospects.  This series will take a look at the top draft prospects for the 2010 NBA Draft in June. Since the Wizards have three picks, one of them being a potential high lottery pick, I think it's important that we take a look first at the high lottery picks. The plan is to do one or two analysis a week, leading up to a flurry of activity the week of the draft. My DVR is crammed full of College games, and I'm watching them as fast as I can (between Wizards games). So here is my first assessment - John Wall.

• Team: Kentucky
• Height / Wt:  6'4" / 195
• Position: Point Guard
• Age: Freshman, 19 Years Old

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So how do I feel about Ricky Rubio remaining in Europe instead of coming to the NBA?  I don't know. 

I'll be honest: I didn't know what the heck was going on for most of the time.  Every time the situation seemed resolved, it wasn't.  Every time Rubio seemed to lean one way, he didn't.  While one can argue that the nature of the uncertainty is enough of an indictment on Rubio himself for the Wizards to stay away from having to deal with that drama, the unbelievably unreliable European media is to blame for a lot of this as well.  Throw in Minnesota's unique situation -- they drafted a point guard right after Rubio, they stripped down their team, they're rebuilding, etc. -- the difficulty with the buyout and several other factors, and there's a lot more to this debacle that simply Rubio's own immaturity and indecision. 

But enough about that, what about the Wizards?  The obvious reaction to the news is that this vindicates Ernie Grunfeld's decision to pass on drafting him for the surer thing of Randy Foye and Mike Miller.  Is there an element of truth to this?  Certainly.  If we assume that there would have been some sort of difficulty in bringing Rubio on board and/or trading his rights for something of value, then yes, with the roster currently in the state that it's in, it would have been a very risky move when risk may not be the best thing for the team's psyche. 

However I'd say there's too much unknown and forgotten here that makes Grunfeld's vindication a little more complicated.

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Our 2009 draft pick.  Yay!

I need to sleep on this before I say even more.  We're all clearly angry, and justifiably so, so here's yet another thread to vent.  Go ahead as long as you don't attack each other and keep it relatively civil.

My initial thoughts are these:

The jist of my criticism is pretty much as the same after the Minnesota trade on Tuesday: you can't have it both ways.  The Wizards are already tax payers and their owner has said he desperately wants a championship.  That's going to cost you money, unfortunately, even in this climate.  Either you need to be a buyer, in which case you explore every possible avenue you can to upgrade your on-court product, even if it means taking on more long-term money, or you need to be a seller, where you're rebuilding and retooling at the expense of not competing.  You can't be both. 

The Wizards, for the past few days, have tried to be both, getting more talent for the short term (the Foye/Miller trade) while still saving some money long term (the trade, selling the 32nd pick when you could have had DeJuan Blair, which is exactly what you need as an interior guy).  That doesn't get you far enough in either diretion.  The draft today drove that point home very clearly.

Staying stuck in the middle means you take on the first trade you can think of for your #5 pick that allows you to accomplish your divergent goals instead of waiting on draft day when a guy like Vince Carter is available for expiring contracts and comparable young talent (Our expirings=more $ than Orlando's expirings and #5 is as least equal to Lee) or when Ricky flippin Rubio slips to you.  The Rubio thing is particularly ridiculous for two reasons.  First, he carries a lot of trade value, and second, even if he does stay in Spain as rumored, you still hold his draft rights, don't have to pay him (keep in mind part of the motivation of swapping 5 for Foye/Miller was that the latter two have shorter contracts that the #5) and, assuming you really believe a rookie won't help you much anyway, you don't have to actually give him minutes.  There's a no-lose to drafting Rubio, even if he doesn't turn out to be as good as advertised.  

One further thought on the last point about Rubio.  The Wizards motto the entire month was that the fifth pick wouldn't provide immediate help anyway and therefore it wasn't worth adding another young player to the roster.  If Rubio does indeed stay in Spain, he doesn't have to be on the roster until he's needed most.  They can hold his rights, let him stay in Spain and use him as an asset again.  Or, they can bring him over when his situation is more clear and when they need him more.  The point is, even getting Rubio's draft rights is getting something for the fifth pick.  They're still tradeable well after the draft and they effectively act as a draft pick since they aren't worth any salary in a trade.  So even if Rubio doesn't come over, the Wizards would have effectively still held the fifth pick as an asset.  They wouldn't have lost it.

Of course, the Wizards weren't sure Rubio would drop to 5 anyway (which may speak to a lack of intel within the organization), but the point still stands.  A rookie like Tyreke Evans or James Harden is still an asset, albeit one with a salary.  It's still worth something.  It's still tradeable when something better comes along.

And then passing on DeJuan Blair ... that's just icing on the cake.  Blair would have cost less than a million dollars next year and was statistically the best rebounder in college basketball in the last decade.  What do the Wizards need among their interior players?  Rebounding.  As is repeated ad nauseum with a lot of truth, no skill translates better to the pros that rebounding.  And we passed on that to sell the pick for cash.  I don't think it's fair to call the organization cheap, because the Wizards are probably struggling with their bottom line, but that was a move that smacked of frugality.  You could have helped solve your rebounding problems for less than a million dollars just by drafting Blair.  Instead, now you have to do it for 5 million dollars, unless you want to let the team stay as is.  That's poor management of the team's player payroll.

About the one thing we can say is that the WIzards are going to be better next year than last year and possibly even better than in 2008, 2007, 2006 or 2005.  But as far as jumping to the level of title contenders, this was a huge missed opportunity. 

I'll leave with one final thought.  You see the San Antonio Spurs, long a team that hated paying the tax, becoming buyers by trading for a long-term contract like Richard Jefferson (who may not be that great anymore, but they took the better player, not the better contract) and drafting DeJuan Blair instead of selling the pick like many other teams.  In not trading Antawn Jamison at the trade deadline to save money, the Wizards seemingly asserted that they were buyers.  Their actions during draft week, though, indicate they were mostly sellers.  If you were going to be a seller on draft day, you should have traded Jamison and committed to a clear course of action.  Maybe you stink on the court, but you're clearly committed to rebuilding, and most fans will realize that.  That's what makes the Spurs organization so great.  Instead of learning a lesson from the Spurs, we demonstrated that we're kind of stuck in neutral.

Use this space to talk about anything that comes to your mind, any rumored trades, any trades that go through, anything you hear about anything draft-related, etc.

Already, we've got Cleveland trading Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to Phoenix for Shaquille O'Neal.  I'd say this is a panic move, but then again, the Cavs literally gave up nobody of consequence to get Shaq.  Wallace and Pavlovic are pretty awful at this point and the trade is cap-neutral from Cleveland's perspective.  It does allow Phoenix to save money by cutting Pavlovic and his non-guaranteed contract, but it doesn't add any long-term salary for Cleveland unless Shaq re-signs.  Pretty much a no-brainer from their end.

Other interesting rumors out there to get you going:

-The big one is from Mike Jones of the Times about our 32nd pick.

According to a league source, the Wizards are considering parting with the 32nd overall pick - possibly in a package with aging point guard Mike James, whose contract expires after next season - in an effort to acquire a veteran big man who would add depth to the frontcourt.

If they are unable to land a veteran as part of a package deal, the Wizards still might trade the 32nd pick for future considerations.

So there may yet be some actual action on draft night.  Quick, anyone want to think of players who match up to the combined salaries of James + 32? 

(By the way, screw future considerations.  If you can't find anything, use the pick.  The 32nd is really valuable this year because it's basically a first-round pick without the guaranteed contract).

-Draft Express last night:

Washington was able to save decent money in their trade with Minnesota, as well as bring in two players that appear to be more equipped to help them win right away than the #5 pick. At #32 they seem to be targeting a big man, although it’s not quite clear if they can find a quality player there. Some options include Taj Gibson (likely gone already), Ahmad Nivins and Victor Claver.

Anyone know anything about those guys?

League stuff

-Y'all probably heard about the Jamal Crawford to Atlanta trade already.  Pretty pointless if you ask me.

-Peter Vescey of the New York Post:

Phoenix is talking to Houston about Stoudemire after being turned down by Washington (unsure) and Minnesota (even up for Richard Jefferson).

According to the same source that disclosed Terry Porter was about to be fired as Suns coach, the Rockets are leaning toward swapping Tracy McGrady's expiring $22M contract, Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks for Leandro Barbosa and Stoudemire, who owns an escape clause after next season and is demanding an extension this summer to waive it.

I find that hard to believe, but it's definitely value for Phoenix.

-Arizona Republic:

Teams recently have inquired about every returning Suns starter, including Golden State's ongoing interest in Amaré Stoudemire (with a package involving Andris Biedrins being revisited). Washington looked at Stoudemire, too, but backed away when Caron Butler and [Jason] Richardson were added to the mix.

Those talks started with Antawn Jamison and the Wizards' fifth pick being offered for Stoudemire. The Wizards traded that fifth pick Wednesday.

You all know the drill.  Anything you see today that's draft-related, either for us or for another team, put it here.  I'll update this post if I can depending on my availability and whatever news breaks.

You're going to hear a lot of names get bounced around as players the Wizards could be looking at with their picks.  Scouting reports and highlight reels can help you get a feel for some of the players, but nothing can replace the knowledge and insight that you get from watching a player on a night-in, night-out basis.

In order to get that kind of feel, you really need to talk to someone that's a true fan of the team.  And if you want a more informed feeling for who you're looking at, it always helps if you can find a couple of bloggers who follow the university's athletic program.  With that in mind, we're enlisting the help of some of the college hoops bloggers out there to get a better feel for some of the players the Wizards might end up drafting, especially the ones that can be found later in the draft who might not be getting the publicity of a James Harden or a Tyreke Evans. 

For our second segment, we're turning to The UConn Blog for a look at UConn forward Jeff Adrien.

In what areas do you think Adrien will be able to contribute right away on an NBA team?

With Adrien, it is pretty clear what you are going to get and I feel confident that what you get one day one is pretty much exactly what you'll be getting three, five or 10 years down the line. He is very generously listed at 6'7" and as such is incredibly undersized to play the 4 in the NBA. However, he is incredibly strong and tough. From day one (and likely his whole career) he will be the type of guy that gives you 10-15 minutes off the bench. He will muscle his way into grabbing a decent amount of rebounds and score a few points each games on put-backs and easy dunks. He'll also throw up one or two 15-foot jumpers a game and make one or two of them each week.

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