NBA Draft 2022: Wizards invite six players for workouts on Monday, including Tari Eason

The Washington Wizards will host six players for workouts on Monday at their practice facility in Congress Heights. Here are the players expected to participate:

• James Akinjo, 6’1 G, Baylor
• Ryan Allen, 6’2 G, Delaware
• Gabe Brown, 6’8 F, Michigan State
• RJ Cole, 6’1 G, UConn
• Tari Eason, 6’8 F, LSU
• Scotty Pippen Jr., 6’3 G, Vanderbilt

Of the players here, Eason is the one to keep the closest eye on. He is a consensus Top-20 prospect and has been picked at No. 12 on NBADraft.net’s most recent mock. Eason is coming off a sophomore season where he averaged 16.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for the Tigers, who made the NCAA Tournament. Since the Wizards have the No. 10 pick, he is clearly someone whom they could realistically select.

Two players have local ties. Ryan Allen is coming off his fifth season at Delaware (players were granted an extra year of eligibility if they played in the 2019-20 season). He averaged 11 points per game this past season for the Blue Hens.

Also, RJ Cole has ties with the D.C. area because he played his first two seasons at Howard and was the MEAC Player of the Year in 2018-19 before transferring to UConn. At UConn, Cole was the Huskies’ leading scorer (15.8 ppg) and led them to the NCAA Tournament for the last two seasons.

Brown and Pippen are also ranked in the Top 100 of NBADraft.net’s Big Board. Of the two, Pippen has the most famous name given that his father is Hall of Fame forward Scottie Pippen. (Yes, I emphasized the spelling of Scotty’s father’s nickname on purpose.)

Let us know your thoughts on the players in today’s workout.