Thursday, June the 25th has officially passed as the Washington Wizards remain in a state that few could have foreseen a week ago. After months of speculation and a calamitous draft lottery, Wizards fans can relax and look at back at what has happened. No Blake Griffin, no Ricky Rubio, no 5th overall pick, no 2nd round pick. It was fun but you kind of wish Ernie Grunfeld could have let us know that all of our mock drafts and trade scenarios would be obsolete. What’s left of the Wizards roster seems to be an incomplete project… still.
You have to think that the Wizards’ brass has something else up their sleeve, another maneuver that will balance the Wizards and give its fans the expectations of a great season. I still think that the team is improved but there seem to still linger significant holes. One large void to fill down low still remains and it is perplexing why the Wizards didn’t plug it with the “largest” plug in the draft. I am talking of course about Dejaun Blair. My friend and I were contemplating the possibility of the big man from Pitt slipping to the second round. It seemed impossible and then it happened. He was sitting there, all 270 pounds of him, just waiting for the Wizards to pick him and enable him to thrive in a reserved role on a playoff team. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones. The Washington Post covered the draft later in the night, with Michael Lee acknowledging the experts were in on it to:



“When Pitt forward DeJuan Blair was still on the board after the first round, some of us reporters were fascinated by the possibility of the Wizards adding a rugged but undersized offensive rebounding machine. I still cannot believe that dude slipped all the way to San Antonio at No. 37 after he manhandled Thabeet in Big East play.”



He went on to say that Grunfeld didn’t want to hear about it, saying that they weren’t “tempted” to take anyone at that spot, even a player that was slotted to go in the first round. Others on The Washington Post staff were on the same page, as the dcsportsbog had this to say on Twitter:

“Hmmmm. Wiz draft a "scoring guard" while I was finishing resizing a DeJuan Blair photo. Guess I'll go to sleep now.”

That was what they had to say. I remember BulletsForever having Blair pretty high on their Washington Wizards wish list, much higher than he was expected to be picked. It was because it made so much sense. A guy like Blair, who may be the best offensive rebounder college basketball has ever seen, could have potential success in the right system. And, guess who picked him… the SPURS! The San Antonio Spurs, who pulled Manu Ginobli out of the second round and Tony Parker out of the late first round. Now he may have a short career because of his knee injuries or he could possibly be the perfect guy to bring off the bench and muscle the tired starters around in the lane. Who knows, we’ll have to watch how he contributes this season.

The Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon was adamant this morning that the Wizards will regret trading the 5th overall pick because of the fact that Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio fell to that spot. That’s also a great possibility, if either him or Stephen Curry or Jordan Hill becomes an All-Star, this trade may backfire. Now, I think the Wizards’ trade for Randy Foye and Mike Miller is a smart move, it looked like they maybe caught a Timberwolves front office in desparation. They now have Randy Foye, a 16 ppg guard who has improved every year in the league, and who is in a contract year. You have to think he will have as good a season as any of the rookie guards. It was a decent team makeover, however, they could have acquired a great college player, with unbelievable strength and hands, for a 2nd round price. Now, again, there is probably a method to Grunfeld’s perceived madness, we’ll just have to wait through the summer to see.



Other Draft Thoughts: 
- It was surprising to see Tyler Hansbrough get snagged by the Pacers at 12. I think he could be a solid NBA player, if in the right system and preferably on a good team. This doesn’t look good for his career in my opinion, he will be relied on too much and it will hinder his development as his weaknesses will be exposed, and early. 
- I guess it’s a little cliche to comment on the Timberwolves infatuation with point guards but apparently they didn’t think Rubio would slip and when he did they had no choice but to take him. I also heard on the radio that teams are already calling to make trade offers. I wouldn’t expect to see him in a Wolves jersey come preseason.
- I thought Stephen Curry was comparable to Monta Ellis, I was surprised the Warriors picked him. Then I saw that Amar’e Stoudemire will be going there, thought that would be an interesting combo, Amar’e and Stephen. Then I heard on Dan Patrick today that Stephen is going to the Suns, so… uh… nevermind.