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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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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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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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.

On Thursday, June 17, Terrico White (G, Mississippi, 6’5, 213 lbs.) worked out for the Washington Wizards along with Chas McFarland (C, Wake Forest, 7’0, 245 lbs.), Kevin Palmer (G/F, Texas A&M-CC, 6’6, 205 lbs.), Dexter Pittman (C, Texas, 6’10, 290 lbs.), Andy Rautins (G, Syracuse, 6’4, 195 lbs.) and Darington Hobson (G/F, New Mexico, 6’7, 205 lbs.) (Note: Hobson actually did not work out for the Wizards because he tweaked his ankle). Get the quick run-down on White and check his post-workout interview video below…

Only one guy jumped higher than John Wall’s 39-inch max vert in Chicago. Well, two according to the DraftExpress database — some dude named Stefan Bircevic (a 6’10″ Serbian cat with a supposed 39.8-inch vert  … I don’t believe it, I demand a recount!) and Terrico White (40-inch max vert).

White is another one of those “combo” guards, or more like a mixed-bag between ‘maybe’ and ‘who knows’. The sophomore guard from Ole Miss has a 6’9″ wingspan to go along with his 6’3.75″ height without shoes. Plus, he has huge hands. Whatever that means to the pre-draft measurement junkies. Basically, he’s a great athlete.

Run-down:

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[Editor's note: This is the second piece on TAI by John Townsend, check out his first one here.]

photo courtesy of K. Praslowicz (Sjixxxy)'s Flickr - www.kpraslowicz.com

“Just because you have money doesn’t mean you should overspend on someone that won’t be a part of your long-term future.  If the right opportunity comes along, I think you want to look at it, but I’ve said all along that we might save our powder for down the road, to see what the new CBA brings, to see if there’s a hard cap or a soft cap.  We don’t really know all the rules going forward, so just because you have the cap room doesn’t mean you should go out and spend it if it’s not for the right player.”[1]

These were wise words spoken by Wizards GM Ernie, a new herald for operational procedure and organizational preparedness, at a press conference on June 10.  As a long-time Green Bay Packer fan (my first memories of football were watching Packers games at 4am in New Delhi, India with my Wisconsin-born dad), I understand and fully endorse building a team through the draft.  There seem to be philosophical parallels between Grunfeld and Packers GM Ted Thompson, who firmly believes that the most effective way to build a winning football team is through the draft.  Thompson sees free agency as a complementary tool which can be used to add the types of players to a roster that may otherwise be difficult to find. In practice, this means that the Packers re-sign as many of their own players possible.  Rebuilding post-Mike Sherman, the Packers made 14 draft-day trades, all but one of them down, turning 31 picks into 44.  The Packers’ picks filled the roster with solid “glue guys” and have been able to add impact players including QB Aaron Rodgers, FS Nick Collins, OLB Clay Matthews, TE Jermichael Finley, WR Greg Jennings, and NT BJ Raji.  The result? The Packers are a team poised to make deep playoff runs every winter and are near the top of the NFL in just about every statistical category.[2]

Ted Leonsis, the Wizards new majority owner, made public his commitment to building a “generationally great team” that will ultimately win a championship.  Under new management, the Wizards will aim to hit their targets in the draft, spend prudently, create a competitive, cohesive team on the court that plays with an identity and within a system, and (most importantly) win games.[3] In an open note to Wizards fans, Leonsis also dismissed the generalized notion that the franchise was unwilling and averse to bringing in free agents.  Leonsis noted that that teams must consider using all of the tools at their disposal: the draft, free agency (small, medium, and large), rookie free agency, waiver wire pickups, developmental league players, and finding players in Europe.

All fans want to see that max contract free agent wear their team’s colors.  The addition of a superstar means that the team feels it is close to a winning a title and are prepared to kick down the doors of the championship fraternity. Read more »

On Monday, June 21, Devan Downey (G, South Carolina, 5’9, 175 lbs.) worked out for the Washington Wizards along with Magnum Rolle (F/C, Louisiana Tech, 6’11, 225 lbs.), Samardo Samuels (F, Louisville, 6’9, 260 lbs.), A.J. Ogilvy (C, Vanderbilt, 6’11, 250 lbs.), Solomon Alabi (C, Florida State, 7’1, 251 lbs.) and Bobby Maze (G, Tennessee, 6′3″, 195). Get the run-down on Downey and check out his workout videos below…

Okay, let’s get this straight first … the 30 points weren’t ‘on‘ John Wall. Wall didn’t guard Devan Downey the whole time, Eric Bledsoe and Deandre Liggins had their tries too. But the game sure was hyped as Downey v. Wall.

Devan Downey Run-Down:

• The point guard out of South Carolina measures 5’8.5″ without shoes. On DraftExpress, the column for height with shoes reads: ‘N/A’. Wonder if Downey was just like, ‘Eff it, I’ll just take five-eight and a half.’

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On Monday, June 21, Samardo Samuels (F, Louisville, 6’9, 260 lbs.) worked out for the Washington Wizards along with Magnum Rolle (F/C, Louisiana Tech, 6’11, 225 lbs.), Devan Downey (G, South Carolina, 5’9, 175 lbs.), A.J. Ogilvy (C, Vanderbilt, 6’11, 250 lbs.), Solomon Alabi (C, Florida State, 7’1, 251 lbs.) and Bobby Maze (G, Tennessee, 6′3″, 195). Get the run-down on Samuels and check his workout videos below…

I’ll let you finish laughing …

Yes. ‘Our’ Andray Blatche has an understudy.

Caught you snickering again, didn’t I?

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On Monday, June 21, Solomon Alabi (C, Florida State, 7’1, 251 lbs.) worked out for the Washington Wizards along with Magnum Rolle (F/C, Louisiana Tech, 6’11, 225 lbs.), Devan Downey (G, South Carolina, 5’9, 175 lbs.), A.J. Ogilvy (C, Vanderbilt, 6’11, 250 lbs.), Samardo Samuels (F, Louisville, 6’9, 260 lbs.) and Bobby Maze (G, Tennessee, 6′3″, 195). Read about Alabi below…

Florida State’s Solomon Alabi has an NBA body, no question. Measuring 6’11.5″ without shoes and 237 lbs. with a 7’5″ wingspan, a 9’5″ standing reach and 5-percent body fat (tied for the 7th lowest measure in Chicago), it’s easy to see why Alabi has been present in the first round of most mock drafts (#26 – Slam, #19 – DraftExpress, #19 – ESPN/Chad Ford), despite being a relative newbie when it comes to the game of basketball.

Solomon tried playing soccer as a young boy in his home country of Nigeria, but says that his friends would make fun of him trying to play at his height. Among the other sports he grew up playing, tennis, volleyball, table-tennis, field hockey and handball, basketball became the obvious choice, especially when NBA scouts discovered Solomon and told him that he could potentially earn a scholarship playing college ball in the United States.

And that’s just what he did. Being exposed to competitive basketball for the first time at Montverde Academy in Florida, Alabi impressed enough to earn a scholarship to Florida State. But in his first season, he suffered from a stress fracture and was limited to just 10 games, forcing him to take a medical redshirt for the rest of the year.

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Dexter Pittman is a big body with soft hands. The Wizards could certainly use a post man who can take up space and Pittman, along with Derrick Caracter, might be options … perhaps not necessarily at 30 or 35, but a possibility should the Wizards acquire a late second round pick. Pittman worked out for the Wizards last Thursday, June 17th. Here’s a bullet point run-down on Dexter along with his post-workout media interview video:

• Pittman says he left high school for Texas weighing 388, dropped that to 366 before enrolling in June 2006, and got his weight down to a listed 290 by his senior year.
• Below I’ve embedded a video of a good ESPN feature that chronicles the transformation Pittman went through at UT, a school with a renowned strength and conditioning program.
• Pittman weighed in at 303 in Chicago, said he was “probably around 300″ on his day working out with the Wizards, and that his ideal playing weight is around 270-280.
• He had the highest percentage of body fat, 20.8%, of those measured in Chicago. DeMarcus Cousins was second at 16.4%.
• The website of Pittman’s foundation, DexterPittman.org, says that he once weight 402 pounds.
• His foundation sponsors the ‘Get Fit With Big Pitt Challenge‘ to help fight youth obesity.
• He had to unfortunately leave the Chicago pre-draft combine early because his younger brother was murdered.
• NBADraft.net compares him to Stanley Roberts.
• Pittman measures 6’9.5″ without shoes with a 7’6″ wingspan, almost six inches longer than Caracter’s wingspan.
• Pittman also had the biggest hands of the Chicago measurements with a length of 10.5 inches. Sure, these are just measurements, but I’m loving the new hand measurement stat. Some of the greatest players, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Rajon Rondo, and many that I’m surely missing, have had some of the biggest, strongest hands. Kwame Brown was said to have small hands. Enough said.
• Pittman made Academic All-Big 12 his sophomore and junior years.
• In an interview, he said one of his nicknames is “Sexy Dexy,” given to him by the Texas women’s basketball team his freshman year.
• He also said that he “loves phones like women love shoes” and that he’s a big fan of Wal-mart.
• His Twitter account is @Big_Pitt.
• Charles Barkley has noticed Pittman’s work ethic.
• He had an impressive workout with the Timberwolves, where he compared himself to DeJuan Blair and Big Baby Davis, but with 3 or 4 more inches in height, says T-Wolves GM David Khan.
• In the scouting report video embedded below, I was impressed by Pittman’s footwork/agility when guarding the pick-and-roll on the perimeter.
• Says he would’ve been disappointed if Texas went to the Pac-10 because the Big 12 stands for being “big and physical” while the Pac-10 is known for “premature point guards” who don’t want to get hit in the paint.

Post Wizards Workout Interview:

[video courtesy of Adam Douglas, Truth About It.net]

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It’s pretty rare to find someone from the DMV area, one who has played basketball at high levels, admit that they were a fan of the Washington Bullets growing up. It’s usually the Bulls, the Bulls, the Bulls, or whomever. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride … the Bullets/Wizards usually are.

Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds is the exception. Reynolds spent a good chunk of his life growing up in Virginia, playing for Herndon High School where he was named a McDonald’s All-American as a senior in 2006. Reynolds moved on to suit up for the Wildcats and after a stellar 4-year career, was named a 2010 AP 1st Team All-American.

As a combo guard, Reynolds doesn’t have the highest prospects for the NBA Draft. ESPN projects him as someone who could go in the second round or undrafted, and both DraftExpress and NBADraft.net do not list him in their respective two-round mocks. This past Tuesday, Reynolds worked out with his hometown Washington Wizards.

Which brings me to why, assuming you are a Wizards/Bullets fan, you should root for Scottie Reynolds … because he is a fan just like you. When asked how much he followed the Wizards (Bullets) growing up, Reynolds opened up the floodgates. He said he was at the very last game played at the USAir Arena, a loss to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls on November 29, 1997; he kept both his ticket and t-shirt giveaway from the game. He also attended the second game at the MCI (now Verizon) Center, a win against Mitch Richmond and the Sacramento Kings. Reynolds then started running off names of players he rooted for — Tracy Murray, Chris Whitney, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Tim Legler — saying it’d be a “dream come true” to play for the organization.

Below, check out Reynolds’ post workout interview video, where he talks about the Bullets and calls Randy Foye his “big brother,”  and footage from him on the Wizards practice court … courtesy of Adam Douglas.

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Thanks to TAI media guru Adam Douglas for shooting Wall’s interview footage.

Five players worked out for the Wizards on Tuesday, highlighted by former Iowa State standout Craig Brackins and Villanova star Scottie Reynolds.

When it comes to making the decision to turn pro, the media routinely hypes up two outcomes: when a kid stays in school and improves his draft status, and when a kid leaves too early and doesn’t get drafted, wasting his remaining college eligibility.  The third scenario, one the media often downplays, is when the player’s draft fortunes decline by staying in school an extra year, costing him NBA millions in the process. This is what transpired with Brackins.

During a monster sophomore campaign (2008-09) for the Cyclones, Brackins averaged 20.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. He was was named first team All-Big 12, honorable mention All-American and  tallied up a career-high 42 points in a contest against powerhouse Kansas. Mocks of the 2009 NBA Draft had Brackins going anywhere from late lottery to mid-20s. He was pretty much a lock for the first round and thus, awarding him the coveted financial security a second round selection does not provide.  Brackins tested the waters and ultimately decided to return for his junior year because he felt he was personally not ready yet.

The 2009-10 Cyclones opened the season with great expectations and some thought they could be a conference sleeper like 2008-9 Missouri. However, injuries, player defections and hard luck contributed to a disappointing 15-16 record. Brackins underachieved, struggled with consistency and his numbers dipped to 16.5 ppg and 8.5 rpg.

Iowa State’s head coach, Greg McDermott, likely under fire with a make or break 2010-11, bolted to take the job at Creighton in April. The Cyclones then hired ex-NBA player, former school standout and local icon, Fred Hoiberg, aka “The Mayor,” who previously had not been a head coach at any level.

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[Editor's note: TAI media guy Adam Douglas attended the Wizards pre-draft workout on June 14th, his report is below.]

The Wizards worked out six players on Monday, highlighted by Luke Harangody from Notre Dame and Trevor Booker from Clemson, and including Marqus Blakley (Vermont), Marquis Gilstrap (Iowa State), Trevon Hughes (Wisconsin) and Jeremy Wise (D-League), as the entire coaching staff , several personnel employees and team president Ernie Grunfeld closely watched. Below are some video interviews, pertinent draft info and pictures from the “job interview”, a concept Flip Saunders drilled into the heads of these professional basketball applicants after the workout.

Trevor Booker – Clemson, Sr.

Chicago Measurements: 6’6.25″ without shoes, 236 lbs., 6’6.75″ wingspan
Age: 22 (11/25/1987)

Draft Express Profile (Feb. 19, 2010):

Booker is just 6’7, but he has excellent length and strength, which suggests that his transition to the next level should be smoother than expected from undersized post players. Similarly, his explosiveness and quickness in the open floor will help him overcome his lack of size at the next level. Though undersized big men have done well in the NBA lately, and Booker’s athleticism helps his case significantly, but he still must prove to scouts he has what it takes to operate as a power forward at the next level.

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