picture credit: Adam McGinnis

Sporting an oversized polo shirt and fuzzy facial hair, Anthony Bennett sheepishly strolled over to the gathered media for his interview at the Verizon Center last Thursday. The NBA prospect looked like a deer in headlights. Bennett immediately admitted to being shy, an unenviable characteristic when having to face a hoard of cameras and journalists. Washington, D.C. is not Chicago or New York in terms of sports media, but this is not the Mountain West, either. By the end of the 11-minute session, the 20-year-old gradually opened up about his fear of heights, poked fun at his own shooting stats, and told a funny story about a fan locating him in the lobby of his Chinatown hotel. A college player being green in these situations seems pretty routine, and Bennett didn’t have the benefit of working up a sweat beforehand. Due to surgery on his rotator cuff in mid-May, Bennett did not actually work out for the Wizards, but the UNLV star out of Ontario, Canada, revealed that his recovery was progressing on schedule.

“It is going pretty well. I spoke with Dr. Altchek—he is the one that did my surgery—I spoke with him yesterday and he said everything is going fine,” Bennett said. “The first week of August, I should be 100 percent, full contact, back into the game of working out.” Dr. David Altchek should also be noted because he helped determine the nature of John Wall’s stress injury  last September. CSN Washington’s Ben Standig previously reported that Bennett was about eight weeks out from full contact but has been cleared to do some basketball things.

“[Altchek] said light shooting. I can dribble and do all that but no contact. Nothing crazy. No dunking or anything,” Bennett confirmed.

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[Ed. Note: Below you will find A) a video from Wednesday's pre-draft workouts produced by Sholape Oriola for TAI; and B) brief capsules on who worked out for the Wizards today, June 6, by TAI's Conor Dirks. —KW]

June 5 Wizards Pre-Draft Workout Video

(featuring these guys)

[video via Sholape Oriola]

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[Bell High School, 16th St./Half St. NW DC - photo: K. Weidie]

In addition to their third overall pick, which will almost certainly be Otto Porter (unless Dan Gilbert gets all Comic Sans on us in Cleveland and takes Porter No. 1), the Wizards currently have two second round picks, their own at 38th overall and a pick via the New York Knicks at 54th overall.

But, as we are well aware, the Wizards don’t want any more kids, even if it’s been proven that second round picks can be solid contributors off the bench in their first season. Other franchises have found success; you just have to find the right players. But alas, youth does have a saturation point, but that doesn’t go to usurp the utility of such workouts.

Yes, most of these players aren’t close on Washington’s radar, but pre-draft workouts accomplish much more than trying to fill a roster spot. To workout players you like, you need competition. Workouts also provide exposure to players, and sometimes players catch the eyes of overseas teams. So, the Wizards are doing players (and their agents) a “solid” just by having them in. The final reason I’ll mention, even though there are likely more, is due diligence. Every window of observation counts, and if not this summer, the Wizards don’t know when they might cross paths with one of these players again.

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[Keene Rec. Center, NW Washington, D.C. - photo: K. Weidie]

• Will Clyburn, 6-foot-7 guard from Iowa State;
• Elijah Johnson, 6-foot-4 guard from Kansas;
• Nick Minnerath, 6-foot-9 forward from Detroit;
• Peyton Siva, 6-0 guard from Louisville;
• Adonis Thomas, 6-foot-7 forward from Memphis; and
• Christian Watford, 6-foot-9 forward from Indiana.

On Tuesday the Wizards brought in:

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So what does Rotnei Clarke have to do with the Wizards, Wale and the Redskins?

Well, for one, the sharp-shooting Clarke worked out for the Washington Wizards on Monday, along with five other players—Tyler Brown, Miguel Paul, Angelo Sharpless, Gregory Echenique, and Ehimen Orukpe. It was the first pre-NBA Draft workout the Wizards conducted this year at the Verizon Center.

Clarke, a 6-foot guard from Butler, said the workout “went really well,” his humble demeanor being sure to mention that he appreciated the opportunity. He doesn’t have any other workouts scheduled at the moment, but indicated that the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks were interested in taking a look. ESPN.com’s Chad Ford (Insider) ranks Clarke, who will turn 24 in July, 98 on his list of Top 100 2013 NBA Draft prospects.

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[The Washington Wizards are working out WHO? The dirt on the six players that the Wizards are bringing to the Verizon Center on Monday, June 3, for pre-2013 NBA Draft workouts.] 

Woodley Basketball Court – via instagram/truthaboutit

>> Tyler Brown                          

G – Illinois State
6’4″, 185 lbs.

The 23-year-old hails from Owensboro, KY. He is listed at 6’4″, but his height without shoes is listed at 6’1″ and his wingspan at 6’5″ (per DraftExpress).

He signed with Morehead State out of high school, red-shirted in 2008-09, then transferred at Marshalltown Community College in Normal, Illinois. At Marshalltown, he was named an NJCAA All-American twice, honorable mention in 2010 and second-team in 2011.

On January 9, Brown was suspended indefinitely by Illinois State Redbirds coach Dan Muller for conduct detrimental to the team. He only missed one game before returning to the court. Last season, Brown led the Redbirds in scoring with 18.1 points per game (third in the Missouri Valley Conference), shooting 44 percent from the field, 39 percent from the 3-point line, and 80.6 percent from the free throw line.

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Former Georgetown Hoya Hollis Thompson was all of two-years old when Sam Cassell made his NBA debut with the Houston Rockets in November of 1993.

So, with Cassell serving as an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards, who have been putting 2012 NBA Draft hopefuls through workouts, including Thompson last Thursday, we are given a chance to crunch the age numbers as the two faced-off in a drill on the Verizon Center practice court.

Cassell will turn 43-years old this November, and Thompson turned 21 this past April; the difference between them — 21 years, 4 months and 16 days — is currently greater than Thompson’s age.

The drill was defensive in nature. Participating players were required to rotate properly on help defense as the ball was passed around. The final component involved the main defender rotating from helping in the paint to closing out on a wing player in the corner (Cassell) using proper technique.

From there, Cassell had free reign to relish the opportunity of scoring on a kid at least 50-percent less in age. And this wasn’t the first time Cassell has dueled with kids — previous battles have come against the likes of John Wall, Nick Young, JaVale McGee, and Andray Blatche — and it likely won’t be the last.

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If things go how they should go, the Washington Wizards worked out their future 2012 third overall draft pick on Thursday: Bradley Beal out of the University of Florida. Sure, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Thomas Robinson would be fine additions — either/or likely being the target of the Charlotte Bobcats with the No. 2 selection. But Beal fits the greatest need the Wizards have: long distance shooting combined with attack-the-basket scoring.

And if the Wizards value the presence of John Wall, they’ll select Beal over any player not named Anthony Davis. The Wizards have some guys with the skills of Robinson — rebounding, post scoring, hustle, and mean screen setting (see Nene, Kevin Seraphin, Trevor Booker, or Jan Vesely). And while Kidd-Gilchrist is obviously a top five talent, he can’t shoot. Not acceptable at pick No. 3 (unless Beal goes second, then it’s MKG over Robinson).

For the love of God Shammgod!! The Wizards need shooters more than this town needs an enema. (Although, the recent spike in corruption amongst D.C. City Council members does exasperate the latter option.)

Other than Mike Miller’s .480 from the 3-point arc in 2009-10, the last Wizards players to shoot above .410 in a season (while attempting at least 100 threes) were Hubert Davis, Tyronn Lue and Chris Whitney, all in 2001-02.

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Jeremy Tyler is a reluctant case study. You’ve probably heard the story. He is the first high school junior to turn pro. No 12th grade year at San Diego High. No sticking to Rick Pitino’s coaching regimen at the University of Louisville, where he’d signed to play in the fall of 2008, a couple months after turning 17. Tyler’s name wasn’t splashed across headlines for being who some thought to be a future No. 1 overall draft pick in pursuit of March Madness glory. No, it was because he was missing out on all of that. Before he could turn 18, Tyler announced he was going to play basketball in Israel.

“I mean, I’ll be sitting here lying to you if I told you it was easy. It’s not easy. I wouldn’t advise, but…,” Tyler said after working out for the Washington Wizards on June 10, stopping in mid-sentence. It’s been over two years since his decision. Tyler’s self-confidence still seems high, but whether he would recommend his path to the NBA Draft to another high school junior is a different story.

“Because it was the best thing for me,” he continued. Later, he still struggles with his recommendation.

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Below, an interview and workout video of draft hopeful Raven Johnson, a wing player out of Mississippi State who has worked out with the Wizards, and then, his story…

Athletes and politicians represent the two foremost groups that must be weary of the ills of Twitter. Maybe politicians have more to lose in terms of social standing, but the millions Gilbert Arenas ultimately lost due to his 50-game suspension in 2010 by David Stern is nothing to scoff at. It may have been Finger Gunz in Philly which made the final decision possible, but Arenas’ Twitter escapades surrounding his gun incident helped make a strong case for Stern.

In the furor of 24-hour news cycle overreaction to initial misreporting of the December 2009 situation between Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, Rev. Al Sharpton implored Stern to punish with a heavy hand. Before his suspension (which was initially deemed “indefinite”), and before his original @GilbertArenas Twitter account became non-existent, some of Arenas’ last tweets took to criticizing the reverend of inane public profiling. In the present day, however, Arenas continues to get fined by the NBA for tweets deemed inappropriate (for language), which have also been scrutinized because of their misogynistic nature. Future athletes and politicians will surely continue in this out-of-bounds manner on many occasion.

Mississippi State’s Ravern Johnson, a four-year senior who worked out for the Washington Wizards on June 2, also has first-hand knowledge of Twitter’s tribulations on the college level, albeit much more trivial in comparison to Arenas. In early February 2010, one of Johnson’s tweets, seemingly expressing frustration about a tough season, was deemed “inappropriate” by his university. He was also suspended indefinitely, at first. Johnson’s tweets were not utterly flagrant (they are quoted below), but seeing as the failed system of college athletics serves more as a money-making venture for institutions than it does to serve the athletes and the sport, it makes total sense that many coaches hold a desperate grasp on their ability to be disciplinarians. Not to say the college landscape isn’t chock full of good stories and genuine benefits, there’s just an obscene imbalance. And not to digress too much into a legit area that’s beside the point, because in this case, the punishment remained just. Being dumb enough to Tweet something likely to be viewed as dumb is no excuse.

Johnson’s Tweets (via Clarion-Ledger.com):

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