Before we completely close the chapter on the Wizards' draft, why not see how some DC-area blogging personalities feel about it?
I e-mailed a number of DC bloggers asking for post-draft reactions, and a few of them got back to me. Some are still gathering their thoughts (Wizznutzz). Some didn't (cough Unsilent, Steinz), but most did. Below the jump, here are some of their reactions. My immediate reactions are here, although I will say that the more I'm reading about McGuire, the more he's growing on me.
Enjoy!
Jamie Mottram, aka The Blogfather, Mister Irrelevant and Fanhouse: Picking Young and adding Pecherov to the mix and giving Blatche more PT ensures that the '07-08 Wiz will be the most offensive and least defensive team in the Association.
Still, I love the Young pick. Who else should we have taken there? Williams? No, I'd rather go with top overall talent, especially at a position of need.
My only beef with our draft is not taking DJ Strawberry in the 2nd round, because a) I'm a MD fan and b) he would've been a nice defensive compliment to Young at the 2.
Gregg Kaner, Les Bullez: The Wizards made the right choice. I never expected Nick Young to be there when the Wiz were on the clock. You never know what you are going to get with college shooters (case in point, Jarvis Hayes), but this guy really seems like he can help the Wizards like Daniel Gibson helped the Cavs in the playoffs. The Wizards were desperate this past season for scoring off the bench. Ever since Juan Dixon left, they didn't have a guy who could catch fire and bring energy. Nick Young could be that guy. Plus apparently he's just as strange as Gilbert, so at least that'll be entertaining.
As for the second pick, I would have liked them to take a chance on Pitt's Aaron Gray. Gray is not expected to be anything more than a backup center, but we could sure use some big men with talented inside game. According to the 'experts', Gray has above-average post moves.
All in all I was pleased with the draft, but for them to take that next step, it's up to Ernie Grunfeld to get rid of Brendan Haywood and get another big body in there.
Kevin Broom, The Secret Weapon and Real GM: I'm not excited about the Nick Young pick. I'm willing to give Ernie and crew the benefit of the doubt -- at least until I see Young in uniform. Odds are, the Wizards weren't going to get much more than a role player at 16 anyway. At 16, what you typically get is a bench guy or a rotation player. Typically someone well below average. The weighted average PER for players chosen at 16 since 1990 is 13.5 (average is 15). If you're looking at what Young might do in his rookie season, odds are it'll be a PER in the 11-12 range -- right about what Stevenson did last season. I'd have rather seen the Wizards take Splitter, Belinelli, Fernandez, or Fazekas. Young just wasn't productive enough in college for my taste. But, in Ernie we trust.
Gilbertolgy, Gilbertology.net: I love the Nick Young pick. He is a great shooter and isn't afraid to take it to the basket and dunk on you. He'll need to work on his defense and upper body but the same can be said for virtually every rookie. I firmly believe by midseason we'll be seeing Nick Young/Gilbert Arenas starting backcourt. Arenas will love him because he's just as quirky, has a chip on his shoulder, and is quite the personality. Is a future Nickology site in the works? Can't wait for the mohawk.
JakeTheSnake from here (duh):The Wizards got the absolute best player available at #16 so I don't have any complaints for the first round. If Young can be as good of a defender as Stevenson, the Wizards will be better next year and even if he isn't I think his offensive game should make up for it. My one concern is that he might try and do too much, he needs to remember at this point in his career he's the 4th option so he shouldn't try and force unnecessary shots that should be left to the Big 3.
I'm not as sold on the McGuire in the second round. I'm not sure that taking a big like Gray or Gasol was the best option either but it just seems like the second round is loaded with athletes that have no basketball skills and he would fit in that category. Then again, all-world defensive stoppers like Bruce Bowen and Raja Bell were found in the second round or later so you never know. If he does turn out to be a great perimeter defender and can make the occasional open shot, it might work out.
Bobtimist Prime, DC Optimist: (be warned, he went a little crazy expressing his excitement).
1. Nick Young: Words cannot truly express how magnificent I feel about this pick. Many-a 'Tism-hater will shudder at the thought of another defense-avoiding, highlight-reel clamoring, offensive-prowess seeking, kid-two-guard being selected by the wiz when they may have thought there had to be some larger boringer stiff out there to solve this supposedly unreparable big man situation. However, we at the DC Optimist will always trust in newly-minted president of all basketball related Wizardsness Ernie Grunfeld, who in the last two drafts has used brilliance to optimize menial selection spots. Maybe none of us have seen Oleksey Pecherov outside of some grainy soviet footage, but from the words of Ivan Carter and the praise of other non-optimism-themed-blog-writers, he seems to be a) large, and b) not a stiff. With him joining the fold with Andray Blatche, another emerging Grunfeld-brilliantly-selected big, we feel that this big man situation that Stephen A. Smith was screaming about Thurday night is straight. What wasn't discussed by ESPN (during their [LOL] fawning praise of Michael Jordan and his [2X LOL] drafting strategies) was the Wizards' upcoming shooting guard conundrum. Many of us grew tired of not being able to feel DeShawn Stevenson's face during those dread-filled final weeks of the season. And Jarvis Hayes' lack of production has been rigorously painstakingly (emphasis on pain and rigor) documented. Both of these dudes will be looking to re-up. I for one see DeShawn's return as desired. As the forth option in the Wizards triumverate of players, his contributions were admirable, till all of that injury blah blah blah disaster yada yada Lebron sucks you know the rest. Drafting Young is a nice safety net if DeShawn finds another city to dance like Tony Yayo in. If D-Steve returns, the jettisoning of Jarvis will be even more advantageous.
Young is a better everything than Jarvis, and he doesn't have explodable knee caps either. After reading the Bog's convo with Young (dunk contest?! MOST DEFINITELY!) I was extra-geeked. Dumars will again look silly for passing him up for Stuckey, who looks like a glorified Robert Pack. And even when Stuart Scott (HUGE GROAN) was interviewing the kid, trying to elicit some sort of tears with questions about his deceased brother (very Wizards, Verizon-center-esque technical difficulties during that, no?) he came out shining, saying, "I'm playing with GILBERT." I for one would have the same reaction. One more thing about Young because I am sure this is more than you would have ever needed/wanted to hear from us when you know how we would have felt about the pick, even if it was Spencer Hawes (HAHAHAHA HE WILL SUCK), Gilbert, in his blog/scripture, said that he wanted to draft a guy that can come off the bench and score. That is what this kid can do NOW granted he doesn't contract Jarvis-knee-itis. Making Gilbert happy is something that 'Tism haters worldwide have been worrying about regarding this offseason. Gilbert is happy. Young =A+++++++++++++++++++++
2. Dominic McGuire. We know how Ernie loves to work his magic in those second rounds, where old GM's would simply draft whatever Terrapin is available, Ernie instead consistently extracts that shiney valuable indestructable gemstone-like player from this seemingly rough player pool. McGuire looks to be that guy. Smallish, but tough (love that fighting-from-the-brink background, Junior college, Fresno State -- that's a hard worker there). I read in the DraftExpress profiles that workouts showed him snatching rebounds from bigger, softer, Spencer Hawes-types, and playing tough mano-y-mano defense. This sounds like a guy Eddie will reluctantly sub in to play lock-down defense on Lebron, with DM causing a travel that will be ignored by officials. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT.
Update [2007-7-3 22:16:34 by Pradamaster]:: Dan Steinberg e-mails in his thoughts. They are below.