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2018 NBA Draft: Wizards select Issuf Sanon with 44th overall pick

By Jake Whitacre
2018 NBA Draft Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The Wizards selected Ukranian point guard Issuf Sanon with the 44th overall pick in the NBA Draft.

With all due respect to Sanon, this pick isn’t going to go over well with Wizards fans. Let’s review a few quick reasons why:

  • There was a safe pick (Keita Bates-Diop) who could have helped next season and a high upside pick (Hamidou Diallo) who could have helped down the road. Instead, they added a point guard who probably won’t be NBA ready for at least another two years.
  • Ernie Grunfeld said he will be stashed in Europe next season, just like second round picks of years past like Vladimir Veremeenko and Aaron White. At least he will play with the team during Summer League, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.
  • Sanon isn’t the first Ukranian the Wizards have selected in the draft during Ernie Grunfeld’s tenure. Washington also selected Oleksiy Pecherov back in 2005. I think we all know how that worked out.
  • We couldn’t even find a photo for this guy in our photo tool. That’s why we’re using this generic photo from the draft as the main image. Sorry about that.

Here are a few highlights from the past season to get you intrigued about what he could bring down the road. We’ll see how long it takes before he’s ready to make the jump to the NBA.