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The Washington Wizards have selected Troy Brown out of Oregon with the 15th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
This is a surprising pick, even considering the Wizards brought him in with Zhaire Smith and Elie Okobo for a pre-draft workout earlier this month. Brown has some interesting mix of skills as a solid defender and playmaker that could be very useful with the way the league is going. Clearly, the Wizards see him as someone who fits with the future of the NBA.
#Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld on No. 15 pick Troy Brown Jr.:
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) June 22, 2018
“He’s a very versatile player, very high basketball I.Q. Great work ethic. Outstanding character...We think he has some real good upside also.”
The Rockets gave the Warriors a run for their money in the Western Conference Finals with guys like Brown. Still, he’ll need to go a long way as a shooter (he only shot 29.1 percent from deep last year) to be useful to the Wizards or anyone else in a playoff rotation.
Brown is still very young (he doesn’t turn 19 until next month), so he has some time to develop those aspects of his game. If it all works out, he could be a good value. That said, there’s a reason he was behind Zhaire Smith, Donte DiVincenzo and Lonnie Walker on most draft boards. It’s surprising the Wizards didn’t try to shed salary and move down, where they likely still could have gotten Brown in the late teens or early 20’s and helped out their financial situation.
His selection presents two other issues with the team’s roster construction. First, his skills overlap quite a bit with Tomas Satoransky’s. Is there room for two guys on the second unit who aren’t high-volume outside shooters?
Washington also still has to figure out how to improve their frontcourt. The first round pick was their best chance to add an athletic big man like Mitchell Robinson to rejuvenate their decrepit big man rotation. Now they’ll have to hope they can pull off a good trade or find a gem for cheap in free agency. If they can’t things are going to be even worse for the Wizards next season.
Needless to say, the Wizards better hope they got this one right, because if they didn’t it will be remembered for years to come as a missed opportunity.