The 2010 NBA Draft is over and done with, now we can sit back and really think about what the heck actually happened today.
The Wizards started the day off with three draft picks at numbers 1, 30 and 35. They then traded for Kirk Hinrich from the Chicago Bulls and also obtained the Bulls first round draft pick at 17. This trade cannot be official until July 8. Then, they decided to trade the rights to the 30th and 35th picks for the rights to the 23rd and the 56th picks in the draft. In the end, the Wizards in theory had four draft picks at 1, 17, 23 and 56 and obtained Kirk Hinrich.
Now that all of that is out of the way, let's get into how Ernie Grunfeld and the Wizards did when making their decisions in this year's draft.
The "No-Duh" Decision
John Wall (1st pick): This pick was a no brainer for Erine Grunfeld. Talented point guards do not grow on trees and they don't normally fail when selected with the first pick. He is so much of a franchise player that Reebok has already anointed him as the successor to Allen Iverson as the face of their shoe line. The Wizards just did the right thing by selecting John Wall
The Questionable Decision
Trevor Booker (23rd pick via Minnesota): Booker is a decent power forward, albeit a little short at 6-foot-8. Despite his size, he is a tough and physical presence on the court. It's not a great pick at this spot, nor is it a bad one either. The questionable part about this selection is the price paid to get Booker. The Wizards gave up two picks, 30th and 35th, for Booker. Conventional wisdom says that in the bottom half of the draft, players drafted in the 20s and 30s are generally quite comparable. Why were the Wizards giving up two players for one player that is probably roughly equal in talent and one player at the 56th pick that is far less talented? Time will tell how good a player Booker will become but as it stands now, the price paid for him was too high.
The Bad Decisions
Kirk Hinrich (via Chicago Bulls): Two words first came to mind when I was about to write the "Bad Decisions" section and they were "Kirk" and "Hinrich." The Wizards traded for a point guard that can neither shoot nor reliably run the point position and gets paid $17 million over the next two years. The team says they want Hinrich to mentor John Wall but why they want this is beyond me. It is not like he was mentoring Derrick Rose when Rose took his job away from him. Strapping themselves with an unreasonable contract for the next two seasons, instead of getting a player in his last year, is a huge negative for Hinrich.
Kevin Seraphin (17th pick via Chicago Bulls): There are a lot things to hate about this decision. Firstly, Seraphin is a project player. In baseball these kids are called toolsy. Serpahin looks like a 'baller with this 6'10" frame and athletic build, but he's only played basketball for the last three years. He is raw, plain and simple. Secondly, he was the key part of the Hinrich trade which, as you saw above, I really do not like at all. Sorry you got caught up in the wash dude, I know that part isn't your fault. Finally, he is French and after that horrific World Cup performance his countrymen had, well, one has to hope he didn't get sportsmanship lessons from the same gym teachers as those guys.
The Who The Heck Knows Decision
Hamady Ndiaye (56th draft pick via Minnesota): Ndiaye is from Dakar, Senegal, and played center at Rutgers. He's the reigning defensive player of the year for the Big East and blocks a lot of shots. Basically he is a really tall, defensively gifted but offensively challenged individual. He could be the next Ben Wallace, he could be Dikembe Mutombo or he could even be Theo Ratliff. Sadly, it is likely he has an extremely good chance at being none of those guys and just disappearing into the night like most players picked 56th in the draft tend to do. Toss a coin in the air, this one could go either way.
So that's what I think, what do you think?