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Here to provide the DC Council Opening Statements for Washington’s 17th game of the season at home against the Golden State Warriors are TAI’s Rashad Mobley (@rashad20) and guest Jordan Ramire (@JRAM_91), who writes about the Warriors for the ESPN True Hoop blog Warriors World
A.J. Price, Bradley Beal, Martell Webster, Chris Singleton, Emeka Okafor
[Editor's Note: This is Andrew Abramson's Truth About It.net debut. Andrew has been around basketball his entire life — he's a Wizards fan, having grown up in Alexandria, Va. — and has experience working in the basketball industry. Andrew will provide insights on the business side of the NBA as well as salary cap analysis, which you'll get a taste of below. You can follow him on Twitter at @AndrewA91. —John T.]
When the Portland Trail Blazers drafted seven-foot center Sam Bowie with the second overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, they were filling a position of need. Sure, there was a clearly more talented shooting guard still available who was ready and waiting to become a Blazer, but Portland already had All-Star, Jim Paxson, and a young Clyde Drexler returning at that position.
Ouch.
The Washington Wizards worked out North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes on June 19 along with Syracuse’s Kris Joseph and Northwestern’s John Shurna. Just when the media was finally given access to the Verizon Center practice court to see Barnes at work — normally for the last 10-15 minutes of a workout — Wizards coach Randy Wittman abruptly ended the session. No Barnes basketball-related activity was witnessed by the press. Wittman had issues with the media, but we’ll get to those later. A person who saw the workout said all three players shot the ball extremely well from long range, and Barnes had a highlight-type reverse jam on a baseline drive. More of that to come in the Verizon Center?
Barnes is turning into a stronger possibility for the Wizards at the third spot if certain trade rumors hold any weight — he’s Washington’s “Plan B,” if you will; Shurna and Joseph are fringe second round picks. The 6-foot-8 small forward starred at North Carolina for two seasons, but was highly criticized for not living up to the hype bestowed upon him coming out of high school. He’s happy to move on to a new chapter in the pros.
“There is not really any pressure now,” Barnes said after his workout. “Obviously, when I went to UNC, there were a lot of expectations put upon our recruiting class.”
There are no guarantees in Bradley Beal the player. There’s also no denying that Beal is a top three — if not top one — NBA Draft target of the Washington Wizards.
So, as reports surface that the Cleveland Cavaliers have theirs sights set on trading up to steal Beal, and that their presumed trading partner, the Charlotte Bobcats, have a new coach going on record saying that trading down from the No. 2 pick “makes a lot of sense,” Wizards fans, at least those in favor of Beal, are starting to hit the panic button.
Even today, a local sportscaster for Cleveland’s Fox station, John Telich, is tweeting: “Hearing Cavs /Bobcats talking. #Cavs want #2 pick..would give #4 #24 #34 #NBADraft.”
So, despite reports from ESPN’s Chad Ford that the Cavaliers are hesitant to give up the 24th pick (and that the Wizards themselves may be willing to give up the 32nd pick to ensure their selection of Beal), the latest signs point to Beal being Cleveland’s for the taking. How bad do they want him playing next to Kyrie Irving?
Yesterday on TAI we wondered which player should be the Wizards’ Plan B if Beal is off the board when they pick. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s 36.7-percent of the vote barely eked out the 32.3-percent who preferred Harrison Barnes. (BTW, if Washington’s Chris Singleton were drafting for the Wizards, he’d take Barnes over Beal, with Kidd-Gilchrist off the board at No. 2. More on that in the “If I were the general manager…” feature by ESPN The Magazine that asked NBA players to mock draft for their respective teams. Beal went 19th to the Orlando Magic, selected by J.J. Redick, if you must know.)
Chris Jackson, later Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, was the third overall pick in 1990. Where will the Washington Wizards go with the No. 3 overall pick in 2012?
Over the weekend reports surfaced from news outlets in both North Carolina (The Charlotte Observer) and Ohio (The News-Herald) that the Cleveland Cavaliers, who hold the fourth overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft, will trade up with the Charlotte Bobcats, who own the second overall pick. Charlotte would reportedly get the 24th pick from the Cleveland as part of the deal. Such a move by Michael Jordan’s Bobcats could screw the draft hopes of the Washington Wizards.
Coming off last week’s trade for Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza, Washington’s camp may have revealed a preference for Bradley Beal out of the University of Florida, leading their old nemesis, the Cavs (who are targeting Beal themselves), to believe that they’ll have to sacrifice an asset to get their man. And there’s nothing the Wizards can really do about it other than settle for what’s left.
People, myself included, might make something out of Washington’s draft preference — a pick that, if chosen wrongly, could significantly setback rebuilding — resting in the hands of former Wizard Jordan, but it would be a smart move by the Bobcats. Charlotte GM Rich Cho, as well as the team’s vice chairman, Curtis Polk — who used to be an agent for David Falk, a former rival of the Washington franchise and Abe Pollin — are smart people. They know that Charlotte needs just about everything, and if this means trading down to settle for two out of three prospects being available between North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes, Kentucky’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Kansas’ Thomas Robinson (along with getting the 24th pick, which comes with more value to a team like Charlotte), then the move is a no-brainer. If Wizards fans want to be irked at someone screwing them, it should be directed toward Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert and not necessarily Jordan. Both are easy targets in any case.
Across The ESPN TrueHoop Network