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.”

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One moment you’ll hear that NBA team pre-draft workouts don’t mean much, they can be just one of many contact points a franchise has with a player, much less game film scouting. The next moment it’s considered a “telling sign” when a player doesn’t workout for a certain team. Sign of what? Who knows. Are players disinterested? Trying to rig their draft stock? Are teams disinterested? Throwing others off the scent of their desire? Oh the game that’s played — what do all the conflicting reports mean Enes Kanter?

Both sides can use the perception of workouts to their advantage. And the media to a certain extent as well, I suppose. If you feed the monster pixels, we all whore for hits. Kemba Walker cancels his workout against Jimmer Ferdette for the Sacramento Kings … speculate amongst yourselves, Internets. Other players, less secure in their draft status, are just jumping into another window of opportunity, perhaps building a resume toward overseas interest. These workouts, just as anything, are all part of the process. Whatever that means.

Last Thursday, June 2, the Wizards worked out six players: Talor Battle (Penn State), Mike Davis (Illinois), Papa Dia (SMU), Austin Freeman (Georgetown), Justin Hurtt (Tulsa), and Ravern Johnson (Mississippi State).

Toward the latter third of the hour and a half session, the media is let in to watch, joining the already studying eyes of team executives overlooking the Verizon Center practice court while Flip Saunders and the coaching staff put the players through drills.

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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. 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:

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So what can one deduce from Ernie Grunfeld’s press conference on the eve of the 2010 NBA Draft?

Not much … as usual.

On John Wall

When asked about his impressions of John Wall, aside from the ‘are you going to take him/not allowed to discuss who we will take’ mystery, Grunfeld dodged the question by saying, “As you know, we can’t say who are number one pick is, obviously.”

Grunfeld went on to say that Wall is an “impressive young man,” that he “comes from a good program,” and is an “outstanding leader ” … yada, yada, yada.

On Workouts

When asked what he wants to see out of players during workouts: Read more »

On Thursday, June 17, Andy Rautins (G, Syracuse, 6’4, 195 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.), Terrico White (G, Mississippi, 6’5, 213 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 run-down on Rautins and check his post-workout interview video below…

Another guy who also worked out on June 17th that I didn’t mention above is John Wall. But he was all by his lonesome for an 11 am session, Rautins started with the rest of those guys around noon.

By the time I arrived at the Verizon Center just after 11 to catch a glimpse of the end of Wall’s workout, Rautin’s name had already become a punchline several times over.

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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.

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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.

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On Monday, June 21, Magnum Rolle (F/C, Louisiana Tech, 6’11, 225 lbs.) worked out for the Washington Wizards along with Solomon Alabi (C, Florida State, 7’1, 251 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 Magnum below …

Magnum Rolle, a 6’10″ big with high athleticism and perimeter skills but with a thin frame, first worked out for the Washington Wizards on June 2nd with Jerome Dyson, Devin Ebanks and Devin Sweetney. I subsequently wrote an in-depth piece on the Bahamian’s basketball career and his prospects for the draft.

Today, he was back in Washington for a second workout, also hoping to provide a better showing for the coaching staff since his last workout with the team was hindered by a hip flexor strain.

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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:

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