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The Washington Wizards invited six players to draft workouts on Monday. They are:
- Blake Francis, G, Richmond
- Tre Mann, G, Florida
- Nikita Mikhailovskii, F, Avtodor Saratov (Russia)
- Yves Pons, F, Tennessee
- Oscar Da Silva, F, Stanford
- Koby Thomas, G/F, Coppin State
Of the six, Mann is the highest-rated prospect and is moving up many big boards. He is ranked 24th on NBADraft.net’s Big Board and 23rd on SI.com’s. Mann averaged 16 points and 3.5 assists per game for the Gators, who advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. He is expected to a be an NBA point guard when he’s in the league, so perhaps the Wizards could use him as a backup to Russell Westbrook next season in the short term, but if Washington decides to rebuild, that could also help him start more games as well.
There is also a lot of international talent in this group. Pons, a French native is the highest profile prospect here, where he is 75th in NBADraft.net’s big board and 71st on SI’s. Last season, he averaged 8.7 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Volunteers, who advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. As an NBA player, he’d probably be more of a defender. Da Silva ranks 72nd in SI’s Big Board and is from Germany.
Mikhailovskii has played for Avtodor Saratov in the last four seasons and was the VTB Young Player of the Year in 2018-19. The VTB is the premier basketball league in Russia but there are also teams from other countries like Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan and Poland.
Finally, Francis and Thomas are local prospects who went to college in the Mid-Atlantic. Francis specifically went to Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va.
Let us know your thoughts on the prospects in the comments below.