First the Reebok announcement, now his jersey number. John Wall has chosen to have a deuce on the back of his uniform next season, making us forget about all the other No. 2s who have ever worn a Bullets/Wizards jersey.

And all via Twitter. Look at John Wall leegggooo!!! He’s a Twitter news-making machine! He’s also interacting with fans by soliciting their opinion. Smooth marketing move.

John Wall’s Tweet is thy command (to Tweet back). So people did. And to get the immediate (at the time) pulse of yucks, comments and thoughts, let’s check some Tweets out.

First …..

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Why should you care about the 56th pick? These guys rarely make NBA teams, right?

Not this year, not with the Wizards.

And regardless, you should be intrigued by Hamady N’diaye, the man who is simply known as “H” wherever he goes. It’s easy to see what attracted the Wizards to N’diaye, he exemplifies Ted Leonsis’ “Business of Happiness” philosophy.

Growing up in Senegal, N’diaye didn’t find basketball as a serious outlet until around age 15, mostly playing soccer when he was young like Solomon Alabi and others from the African continent. But with height as a natural tool (he now measures 6’10.5″ without shoes with a 7’6″ wingspan — Saunders says he can touch about 12’7″ on the backboard), N’diaye saw an opportunity and jumped on it. He left his family and came to the U.S. at 16, by himself and speaking very little English, to pursue a career in basketball.

Going from the Life Center Academy in New Jersey, then to Florida Prep, where he and a couple friends/teammates from his home country had to literally escape from poor conditions in the middle of the night, and finally ending up at Stoneridge Prep in California, you could easily call making it to the NBA a long shot for N’diaye.

Four years of basketball conditioning at Rutgers later, where he leaves as the school’s all-time leader in blocked shots (his 4.5 per game average was third highest in the nation last season) and reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year, N’diaye finds himself a member of the Washington Wizards — six total years of competitive basketball experience and counting.

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{flickr/Buou}

Mere minutes after the introductory press conference of 2010 draft picks Trevor Booker and Hamady N’Diaye ended, rumors began to surface that Ernie Grunfeld had another trade up his sleeve to absorb the Wizards’ cap space while gaining misspent potential in the process.

The team has officially announced that they will acquire 2007 sixth overall draft pick Yi Jianlian from the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Quinton Ross. New Jersey will also send Washington “cash considerations,” estimated to be $3 million.

Ross recently exercised a player option that will pay him $1,146,337 next season. Jianlian is set to make $4,050,499 in 2010-11 with a qualifying offer of $5,403,366 for 2011-12.

The Nets obviously swing this trade because Yi has been a disappointment and they’re hungry for cap room to acquire a top tier free-agent or two (aka The Race for LeBron). The Wizards gain a player who is still a prospect, one who certainly has more promise than Quinton Ross, for essentially nothing since they are getting cash from New Jersey.

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You know the perp walk, right? If not, the all-knowing Wikipedia has you covered:

The term perp walk is an American slang term which refers to the police practice of intentionally parading an arrested suspect (or “perp”, short for “perpetrator”) through a public place so that the media may observe and record the event. The suspect is typically handcuffed or otherwise restrained, and is often dressed in prison garb.

What Wall did last Thursday night was what I imagine to be the exact opposite of a perp walk.

Let me talk you through the process …

After getting picked, players go on stage, shake David Stern’s hand, go off to the plush white chairs for their “official” first interview and then are ushered from the floor area, up the right side of the MSG theater, and through the crowd. They are led around a curling path through the concourse where fans await on one side of a velvet rope while Wall and his handlers, media and the what-not walk the other side.

After more walking and more stairs, players enter a media area, welcomed by throngs of computers, tables and press who have taken over a MSG sports bar. The train of folks (well, for Wall it was a large caravan of followers … for DeMarcus Cousins, there was like two dudes) finally ends up in another media area with a main press conference table and several booths where one-on-one media sessions are held.

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Kevin Seraphin and John Wall played on opposite sides of the ball when the USA Junior National Select Team faced the World Select Team at the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon. And the U.S. lost in a stunner, 97-89, letting a nine point lead slip away in the fourth quarter to boot.

Wall impressed with 13 points, five steals and 11 assists to only three turnovers. But Seraphin, with eight points, nine rebounds and four blocks in 22 minutes, left the Summit with several hailing him as the breakout player.

He’s got a gregarious personality making a lot of friends on the World team despite the fact that his English is very limited. He also has a great on court demeanor as he was an absolute beast in the paint all week in practice and in the game.
-Aran Smith, NBADraft.net

You could see his arm raise several times out of the paint to get the ball far above the rim. He also had several blocked shots coming on help situations or as a second row goalkeeper.
-Christophe Ney, EuropeanProspects.com

Both players sported No. 11, which was also their jersey numbers at respective previous stops in Kentucky and France, but will certainly not be their jersey number in Washington.

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NBA draft night 2010 was a whirlwind … and any other similar word you can find in a thesaurus to describe a confusing commotion of excitement.

I got there not knowing what to expect. And because of that, it was hard to really take in the whole scene. Minutes and picks flew by. What was I there to do? Capture the experience? Go on a sprint for blog-worthy moments with the goal of being first to publish? Catch interesting angles aside from ‘here’s my grade for a draft that really can’t be graded because all of these prospects have yet to play’? Grading the draft is a silly, fruitless effort, by the way.

I guess I tried to do all of it. And now that the dust has settled, I still don’t know what happened. From running through the pathways of Madison Square Garden to tall millionaires to-be in suits to power agents and media members to anxious prospect family members to drunk New York fans chanting ‘Jeff – Van – Gun – Dy!!’  … all of it added up on John Wall’s special night. A night that was all about the ceremony, and pomp and circumstance of matriculation to the National Basketball Association.

The night doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, aside from the fact that every draftee has hope … for the time being.

Below is the draft night I saw in pictures, accompanied by the preceding track from the latest Roots album:

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The Washington Wizards organization hosted a draft party Thursday night at the Verizon Center for season ticket holders on their practice court. They handed out t-shirts and mini posters with the new “Wall, Game Changer” marketing slogan. Here are pictures of the festivities.

Here is the party’s reaction when David Stern called John Wall’s name.

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John Wall met with a few reporters after his press conference today. Wall talks draft experience, expectations, DC declaring June 25, 2010 John Wall Day, jersey number possibilities, USA World Cup Soccer, and the controversial Eric Prisbell Washington Post article. Wall is humble, candid and brings his own raw style of humor. Enjoy

At John Wall’s introductory press conference today, the Wizards played a new video for their No. 1 draft pick. It was a big welcome to the city, the John Wall Dance, D.C. style.

I’m not particularly fond of the Bulls trade that has the Wizards getting Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick in last night’s draft (Kevin Seraphin) for a future 2nd rounder, but I’ll withhold complete judgment until things settle a bit more.

It’s just that paying a guard who everyone says is a great perimeter defender (more so because of smarts and moxie than athletic ability), but who can’t seem to consistently shoot $17 million over the next two years (minus the $3 million the Bulls are evidently sending to D.C., which doesn’t affect Hinrich’s cap hit), along with sending Chicago a future second round pick, for a 6’9″ French big man with a knee injury who barely speaks English sounds fishy. But that’s just me.

Yes, I realize that Hinrich will actually be a player for the Wizards, and not just a dollar sign. But his two year contract is essentially like paying someone else’s player, i.e., the free-agent thing that Ted Leonsis mostly doesn’t want to do. I mean, the OKC Thunder were able to get the 18th pick for the 32nd pick and taking only the 2-years, around $5.3 million left on Daequan Cook’s contract. Seems like Thunder GM Sam Presti made the better move.

Initially, it appears that the Hinrich move somewhat limits flexibility and makes me wonder if Gilbert Arenas’ days in D.C. are numbered … and realize that Shaun Livingston’s days are likely over.

Then again, maybe Hinrich will be great for the team. Maybe he’ll mentor John Wall better than anyone else can … if that’s what the Wizards want, Sam Cassell is still around too.

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Remember when the Wizards removed Gilbert Arenas’ banner from the facade of the Verizon Center?

Of course you do. It was kind of a big deal.

It was a big deal to Arenas. It was a big deal to the local NBC television camera crew that just ‘happened’ to be there to capture it. It was a big deal to the media … a blog-worthy moment of an infamous instance in franchise history.

Sounds dramatic, huh?

Well, Wizards fans, forget about all that. The Wizards implore you to. John Wall is their new banner boy. Where Arenas’ name used to make its mark on the 6th Street side of the Verizon Center has now been replaced by a Wall.

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John Wall has been shuffled just about everywhere in MSG tonight. Kid probably just feels like he just played a game … but I’m betting the adrenaline of being the first overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft is probably helping him maintain.

Between the parade of media appearances and interviews, Wall took time to link up online to fans at the draft watching party at the Verizon Center back in D.C. — represented by none other than Big Tigger, the Wizards’ in-game DJ and all-around radio/television personality.

And such a link up on the web could not come without a rendition of the John Wall Dance. It’s a new media world folks.

I saw Stephen A. Smith roaming the media catacombs of Madison Square Garden and figured I’d ask him about John Wall to the Wizards, Wall playing with Gilbert Arenas, and the proposed trade for Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick … but I figured to not ask him about cheese-doodles, even though we’re at the NBA Draft and all that.

Smith did not disappoint in his answers, including speculation of an Arenas for Baron Davis deal, that he, however, likes the idea of Arenas staying in D.C. (because “he owes the District of Columbia a great deal after the way he screwed up”), and that he’s “not completely convinced” of the purported Hinrich trade.

Just check it out.

While I’m in New York for the draft, Adam McGinnis is covering the goings-ons back in D.C. and brings the video below of Ernie Grunfeld’s post-John Wall selection press conference.

At the end, someone asked the Wizards team president to do the John Wall Dance.

No comment. But hey, at least he tried.

As you may or may not know, I’m in New York City, at Madison Square Garden, covering the 2010 NBA Draft, one that will go down in history for the Washington Wizards.

As you also probably know by now, the Wizards have arranged to acquire the 17th pick in tonight’s draft along with Kirk Hinrich in exchange for providing the Chicago Bulls with precious, precious cap space. The deal can’t be official until July 8th, you can read the details about it here. Hence, when the 17th pick is called tonight, he’ll likely be a Bull for a couple days.

Nonetheless, I stopped and chatted with Coach Fran Fraschilla about who the Wizards might be targeting with the 17th pick, i.e., telling Chicago who to select.

Many thanks to Coach Fraschilla for taking time to talk.