John Wall: Will You Marry Me?

I'll try not to get too carried away, but John Wall is off and running after carrying the Wizards to a 4-0 record in summer league (he sat for the 5th game that we lost) and being named the Most Outstanding Player in the Vegas Summer League Tournament. Wall got it done statistically, with his 23.5 ppg and 7.8 apg leading the league, in the W column with a perfect record, and most importantly in the leadership and maturity category. While a lot of you might be excited that he won an ESPY for best male collegiate athlete (despite not even being the best in his own sport......sorry, Evan Turner was better), you may not know that Wall skipped the ESPYs to practice. In Wall's words,

"Basically I don't want to miss practice or anything like that, feel like I'm bigger than anybody," Wall said Wednesday afternoon. "The ESPYs were a great chance, I would love to be there, but there's more time down the future to get there. Right now I'm a rookie, so I need to be with my teammates, trying to get better every chance that I can. If I would have left, then they maybe would have looked where I was or I asked where I was. It wouldn't have been the right place and the right situation. So I told the ESPN people thanks for the nominations, and thank God, but I had this and this is more important. This is my job. That comes secondary to what I'm trying to do."

Wall clearly knows his role as a leader and his #1 priority is becoming the most valuable player he can be. I am not sure man-crush goes far enough to describe how I feel about this. Marry my sister? Marry me? I mean seriously, it's summer league practice! What 19-year old passes up parties, beautiful women, and fun for a morning summer league practice?!? The last face of Reebok clearly would have made the ESPYs.

Seriously! Not a game, we talkin' about practice. Maybe you can blame the scheduling, but Wall's maturity was echoed throughout the games; he just isn't wired the same way as other guys. As Bullets Forever noticed, in the 2nd game of the summer league, Wall scolded Javale McGee after a nice fadeaway jump hook because the Veil of Cashmere didn't throw down a dunk on Wall's initial lob, and later gave Young Sushi no love for hitting dumb 3-pointer. You would think that 3 years in the league would give McGee and Young Sushi a huge maturity edge over the 19-year old, but Wall is the one who 'gets it'. He is already the best player in the Vegas Summer League, but knows he has a lot to learn, recognizing that he expects more from himself. Not only does he continue to emphasize a need to improve and learn in every interview, but he is showing a high basketball IQ, and strong leadership qualities.

I know, he had a lot of turnovers, a 4-19 game, and Marco Bellinelli torched summer league, but Wall is going to be great. I never had concerns about his upside, but seeing and hearing how he is wired is something special. Kobe and MJ have a competitive drive and view towards basketball that is different from other players and that is why they are both so great. I am not sure that Wall has the competitive at all costs mentality of those two, but he clearly is wired in a way that makes him more likely to reach his potential than almost any other player in the NBA. I knew we had something special on our hands when we won the lottery, but didn't realize how special.

(Image courtesy of 3.bp.blogspot.com)

Charles Barkley Joins Redskins Nation

Legitimate fanship or just Charles being Charles? Who cares; anything to piss off Eagles fans.



(H/T Hogs Haven)

Capitals Development Camp Fights

Posted this on SBNation DC, but good things come in pairs, right? Right. Or, I'm just lazy.

Okay, so neither are Stephen Davis v. Brian Westbrook or even Tracy Murray vs. Rod Strickland. It's hockey. Fights are (relatively) commonplace, even during development camp.

But let's take two quick looks at what's "okay" and what's "Not okay. At all. EVER."

Okay: two tough guys dropping the gloves, getting their squads fired up, and proving their worth to the coaching staff:



Not okay. At all. EVER: Braden Holtby allowing a goal and then slashing 2010 first round pick Evgeny Kuznetsov in the back of the ankle.



Frequent Japers' Rink commenter Fehr & Balanced put it best:

Whatever Kuznetsov said it was totally inappropriate for Holtby to react like that. He’s one of the guys that knows exactly where he will be playing next year no matter how this week goes. The contact before that wasn’t bad and it looked like he was just frustrated. Not cool.

(HT: Japers for both videos).

Spilling Snyder's Kool-Aid - Skins Worst Young Team in NFL

I have been in a state of confusion since Matt Capps was the winning pitcher in an All-Star game, and the NL won the midsummer classic despite their horribly chosen roster (just wait 2 years from now when you'll see that and say 'Matt Capps was an All-Star?'). Then Football Outsiders came and threw a nice glass of ice water in my my face with their article on ESPN.com ranking all NFL teams in terms of their under-25 year old talent. For those of you without Insider Access, well firstly you should get it, but I probably don't have to tell you that the Redskins finished dead last at #32.....shocker.... In Bill Barnwell's words,

"Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan have inherited a wasteland from Vinny Cerrato, who used his draft picks to acquire "has-beens" and "never-weres." As a result, the Redskins only have four "young" starters, and two of them (wideout Devin Thomas and safety LaRon Landry) have been professional flops. Outside linebacker Brian Orakpo was extremely effective last year, and rookie tackle Trent Williams should start on the left side from Day One. The only notable young players behind them are tight end Fred Davis and backup linebacker H.B. Blades."

But we got Orakpo still right? The good news is that FO also released their list of top-25 prospects, which only ranks players that meet the following criteria:
• Be in the second, third or fourth year of their pro career
• Have been drafted in Rounds 3 to 7 or signed as an undrafted free agent
• Have started fewer than five career games in the NFL
• Still on their rookie contract

Sure enough, Justin Tryon is #5, as in the 5th best 'prospect', wow. In FO's words,

"...While DeAngelo Hall allows countless completions and LaRon Landry overruns play after play, the team unearthed a bona fide starting corner in the fourth round of the 2008 draft. Tryon only started two games during his second year in the league, but he played like he belonged in the Millionaires' Club. According to the Football Outsiders game charting project, Tryon allowed 5.8 adjusted yards per attempt, nearly a half-yard better than any other Redskins corner. Despite spending time in the slot, Tryon didn't allow receivers to get open deep; passes at him were only thrown an average of 7.8 yards away from the line of scrimmage, the lowest figure -- by far -- among Redskins corners. He took Fred Smoot's job away during the year, and while he has to beat out Phillip Buchanon for the nickel job in camp (spoiler: he will), he may have Carlos Rogers' starting job in his back pocket by the end of the season."

Too bad Tryon is 26 and doesn't count in FO's team rankings....That said, I am not sure how much stock to put into current under-25 talent as a predictor of future success. The clearest example is the San Diego Chargers, who are considered to have an extremely desirable roster (particularly by FO's metrics), but come in at #31 in this list thanks to trading away a few recent draft picks. I think the problem is that we are drawing an arbitrary line at age 25, and overlooking the roster turnover in the NFL. The NY Jets are another team that seems to be building for sustained success, but they only came in at #23, partly because Nick Mangold and D'Brickashaw Ferguson just miss the age cutoff in this relatively absurd exercise. The article is simply titled 'Organizational Rankings', which makes this list appear to be something much more significant than it is, and another reason to hate the piece despite my love of FO.

The bottom line is that I don't need some metrics to tell me that the Skins suck, I know we suck and need to do some serious building (not rebuilding, because Snyderrato never built anything). Having the Redskins at the bottom of the 'Organizational Rankings' is no surprise and I know our lack of young talent is a major issue, but showing me that the Skins suck is easy, there are millions of ways to do that.

(Image courtesy of realredskins.com)

What Is Our LeBron Equivelant?

LeBron's a douche.

See, doesn't that feel good? Say it out loud. One, two, three, maybe even four times.

I don't know what it is about LeBron. Maybe it's because he beat the Wizards in three consecutive playoff series, or that he complains more than my little sister when it's her time of the month, or that he created his own three-step "crab dribble" which was eventually adopted by the NBA and put into its rulebook. You know, just for him.

It could be any one of those things but in all likelihood it's every one of them, combined with the self-fellating ego-maniacal spectacle that was last night's traitorous announcement to the world that "The Chosen One" would be taking his talents to South Beach.

Before he made his announcement I didn't really care what team he'd select. I was so LeBronned out after a week of LeBronning by ESPN that I just couldn't take it anymore.

But of course I watched. I mean, everyone and their infant baby watched, and I'm sure the ratings for the announcement were sky high. And when he announced he was leaving Cleveland, doing so in that fashion, on prime time national television and dragging "The Decision" out like it was a goddamn "American Idol" episode starring Jim Gray as Ryan Seacrest, it struck a cord in me.

D.C. is a depressing sports town. We've gone over its merits before. But Cleveland? They haven't won a title since the Browns brought home the bacon in 1964. That's unheard of.

And to have their hearts and souls ripped out from them by this 25 year old arrogant prick wearing a picnic table button down shirt because he wanted to go play with his buddies in Miami - which effectively ruined his legacy - was just too much to take.

It got me thinking: what would be our equivalent to what LeBron did to Cleveland fans last night? Nothing really compares, but I have some ideas.

• John Wall demands a trade before the season starts, holding the Wizards hostage and refusing to show up to practices. Contract be damned! The kicker: he's demanding to be traded to Miami.
• The year is 2016. Stephen Strasburg has won two straight MVP's and is easily the best pitcher in the land. He spends his free agent summer being courted by every team out there, but anyone who knows anything can tell you that there are really on three options: staying with the Nationals, signing with the Yankees, signing with the Red Sox. Knowing full well the Lerners aren't stupid enough to fork over the kind of dough that Boston and New York are glad to (ballpark estimate ~ 10 years $790 million), he could put Nats fans out of their misery early by making his priorities clear. Instead, he inspires hope, says it's not about the money, only to bail at the last second in a nationally televised one-hour special devoted to him for a star-studded team that can carry him to the promise land. What a nightmare.
• Alex Ovechkin demands a trade, but only two teams make his list: the Flyers and the Penguins. And he does so immediately after we win a Stanley Cup, and then leads the team he's traded to to five consecutive Stanley Cups.
• Daniel Snyder murders a small child for complaining about the price of hot dogs at Fedex Field and gets away with it by framing John Riggins, who spends the rest of his life in prison paying for a crime he didn't commit. Are you still with me, or did I take it too far?
• Joe Gibbs comes out of retirement to sign a life-time contract with the Dallas Cowboys. If you didn't think it could get worse, it does. After winning several championships with the Cowboys, he withdraws from the Hall of Fame completely, only to get nominated a few years later as coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He is elected first ballot, and they erect a shrine of Joe Gibbs in all his Cowboys glory.

Ever been kicked really hard in the nuts? That's what those bizarre hypothetical scenarios feel like. I can't even imagine how Clevelanders feel this morning. I'm assuming 90% of the workforce called in sick. Or just angry.

ESPN Knows DC is The Most Depressing Sports City

I already posted on this subject on Bullets Forever, but ESPN released their Ultimate Team Standings for 2010 a few days ago and the results are about as nice as today's 106-degree weather for DC. For those who haven't heard of these 'Standings' before, ESPN ranks every pro franchise across the four major American sports yearly, 1-122, by using using a nationwide survey to determine aspects of a franchise such as 'affordability', 'fan relations' and 'winning titles'.

I didn't notice this article posted online before receiving my ESPN The Magazine, and like any DC sports fan, had the following reactions when I saw the Standings mentioned on the cover:

• I know my teams suck, and don't need rankings to tell me they suck
• Because my teams suck, I have no desire to skip to the rankings

To top it off, once I got to the rankings, I automatically scanned downward to work from the bottom-up to find the DMV teams. You know your teams suck when you start from the bottom and it didn't take long to find our boys......the Nationals, Orioles, Redskins, and Wizards come in at #s 94, 102, 105, and 120......out of 122 teams! Fortunately, the Caps are #11, and as we all already know, the 1 shining light in the DMV these days.

On the surface, nothing really surprised me except that the Wizards are below the Redskins. But reflecting on having 4 of our 5 teams be in the bottom 28 made me realize how jaded I have become. Seriously, I know we have Strasburg, and used to have Matt Wieters and Fat Albert Haynesworth (nope, still pissing me off, nevermind), but all of these teams are depressingly bad and have no championship in site. I already figured we are the worst sports city at this point when you consider the number of awful teams, and this ranking only furthers the notion.

What about Cleveland or Atlanta you say? Ha! The only city on the list to rival DC is actually NYC. The Knicks, Mets, Rangers, Giants, and Yankees, and Jets finished at 119, 107, 104, , 66, 62, and 50. I realize that the Caps pull our average ranking above that of any NYC combo, but our bottom 4 is worse, and the only reason NYC teams are so low is because of 'affordability'. Sure, I prefer that my team is affordable, but winning trumps everything and the Giants and Yankees have recent titles, and the Rangers won one about the same time as the last major DMV sports team. Making things worse is that the 'shining light of DC', the Caps, gave the DMV a collective kick in the balls by losing in the 1st round of the playoffs.

Maybe Shanahan turns things around in Ashburn, maybe Leonsis can do for the Wizards what he did for the Caps, maybe Pitching Jesus can carry the Nats, and maybe the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays will cease to exist for the sake of the Orioles. For now though, there can't even be much of a debate that we are the most depressed sports city in the country.

(Images courtesy of deadspin.com and ryanberding.com)

National Outrage: Strasburg Not an All-Star!?!

I know this topic has been beaten into the ground, but MLB is making a insanely stupid mistake by not putting Stephen Strasburg on the NL All-Star team. The game is a marketing event and Pitching Jesus is the most marketable player in the league right now, bar none; the game is for the fans, and the fans want Strasburg. In addition to upsetting the regular fans, Bud Selig, Charlie Manuel, and whoever else there is to blame, have a great to chance to draw in some new fans who are intrigued by Strasburg. Even if he didn't pitch in the game, more people would tune in for the chance to watch (although there could be mini riots if he was on the roster and didn't pitch). Then there is the fact that Strasburg is not one of the 5 players in the running for the last roster spot. As much as Joey Votto deserves that last spot, Strasburg would be the clear favorite to be voted in by the fans. I am not 100% sure who creates the 5 person list for the last spot, but omitting Strasburg is a clear sign that they did not want him in this game for lord knows what reason and that he will not be in this game as an injury replacement.

Oh, but 'This time it counts' you say? Well then the NL should put their best players out there, and Pitching Jesus is without a doubt one of the best pitchers the in the league. Charlie Manuel said:

"He got quite a bit of consideration. He is going be an All-Star for a long time. What does he have, five starts? I just felt there are other guys who have started 18 to 20 games. I just felt, 'leave him alone and let him get used to the major league level." 

'Get used to the major league level?!?' Strasburg has been an absolute force thusfar, on par with the best pitchers in the league; it is safe to say he is doing just fine at adjusting to the major league level. At least that is very sporting of Mr. Manuel to be so concerned about the development of a division rival's star talent.

The 'hasn't pitched enough games' argument is greatly hindered by the fact that Omar Infante made the NL team as a Manager's selection. Infante has only playing in 57 of this team's 82 games thusfar and does not qualify for league leaderboards. Most healthy starters have pitched 17 games, but Infante's games played % gives that his equivalent would be a SP with only 11 or 12 starts.

Those are just the general points as to why Strasburg should be on the team, and don't even address the fact that Matt Capps was picked over him. Going by VORP, Capps has been the 11th best pitcher on the Nationals, and they are trying to tell me he should be an All-Star over Pitching Jesus? Just amongst Nationals relievers, Tyler Clippard is significantly more deserving. Clippard as the Nats representative I could at least swallow a little easier than Capps, but the bigger injustice is Josh Willingham. Based purely on performance, Willingham should be starting in this game; he is 6th in the NL in VORP, and 1st amongst outfielders. If you are going to pass over the most marketable and possibly best pitcher in the league by the All-Star break for only having 6 starts, at least get the guy you pick over him right. I understand Ryan Zimmerman is stuck behind 2 guys having great seasons at 3B, but the Nats have 2 better and more sensible candidates than Capps, excluding Strasburg.

Keith Law called Manuel's selections 'comically bad', and I have to agree. The Strasburg omission is outrageous. Manuel deserves to lose the All-Star game and then lose the World Series in game 7 in an AL park, now that would be some sweet justice.

(Image courtesy of awesomotime.files.wordpress.com)

Welcome To DC, John Wall (The Superfan Video)

There's a video that's been making its way 'round the interwebz since Thursday, welcoming Wizards No. 1 overall pick John Wall to D.C.

That video can be found on NBA.com and, needless to say, is interesting, professionally done, and features several famous DC personalities.

That's great and all, but I'm a sucker for unintentional comedy. And on the unintentional comedy scale, these three super fans' home video might just take the cake.

Welcome to DC, John Wall.

Who Would You Trade for Stephen Strasburg?

After 4 glorious games, have we seen enough of Stephen Strasburg to annoint him as the most valued player in the world? If we put aside team need and contract, is there anyone in the league for whom you would trade Pitching Jesus? I know that some people are curious to see the 21 year old phenom against a better lineup, but this is more curiosity than a concern. Pitching Jesus is legit and the only long term concern is that pitchers are major injury risks, particularly ones throwing stinky cheese. I have been debating this all weekend with friends, and the list of guys I think are more valuable than Strasburg at this moment is short, really short. To be clear, we are doing something similar to the NBA trade value column that Sports Guy does for espn.com; we are disregarding team need and contract size, and only taking into account age, performance, position, etc. Here is the list of guys that I at least consider for Strasburg (with age in parentheses and in no particular order):

1. Matt Wieters (24) - Jokes!
2. Tim Lincecum (26) - Older than I realized, but seems a safe bet to avoid injury problems and pitch extremely well for years.
   
3. Hanley Ramirez (26) - Slightly on the old side, but plays a premium position.
   
4. Evan Longoria (24) - Younger than Hanley and without character issues despite not being as good of a hitter.
   
5. Jason Heyward (20) - The only player on the list younger than Pitching Jesus is having a monster rookie campaign. He does not play a premium position though, and has only proven himself for half a season.
   
6. Felix Hernandez (24) - Don't forget about King Felix. Healthy, young, and dominant puts him as a very strong possibility.
   
7. Justin Upton (22) - Going into the season, he was the best young hitter in the game, but has now lost that title to Heyward.
   
8. Yovani Gallardo (24) - He is proving himself this year and is still young.
   
9. Clayton Kershaw (22) - The youngest pitcher on this list and just a year older than Strasburg. His walk rate and G/F ratios are not good, but a ton of strikeouts and is keeping the ball in the park so far.
   
10. Ubaldo Jimenez (26) - The most dominant pitcher this season is a little older than I'd like, and does not have the track record to make me confident that he will continue maintain this level of performance.
    
11. Francisco Liriano (26) - having a terrific year, but age and history of arm trouble are not what I'm looking for.
12. Ryan Braun (26) - Stud hitter but a little old and plays LF.
    
13. Albert Pujols (30) - Absurd that a 30 year old can make this list, but he is just that good. He could maintain his level of performance for at least 6 more years and I wouldn't be surprised.
    
14. Josh Johnson (26) - A little old, and some previous arm trouble.
    

That is everyone, just 13 guys that would at least make the Nationals think. Some of my friends think none of these guys make the cut for Strasburg, but I think you have to trade him for the following:

1. Evan Longoria
2. Jason Heyward
3. Hanley Ramirez

As you can see, all 3 of these guys are hitters. The biggest concern for me is the injury risk, and I think you have to play it safe with a position player in these instances. Although Strasburg has a higher injury risk than some of the other pitchers, he is younger and better than his peers and thus no pitchers make the list; the closest call for me is Felix Hernandez, but you can't make that move. I also should note that Strasburg is the biggest draw in baseball right now, and the money he is worth to a team goes beyond his contributions to winning. However, Strasburg's shine will likely wear off a bit after this season, 'Oh, just another 8 K/0 BB/0 HR performance...'.

I can understand if you put Strasburg as the #1 asset in baseball and welcome everyone's opinions, but if Pitching Jesus can maintain his performance through the end of the season, there won't even be a debate.

(Image courtesy of gallery.fotoglif.com, ages and stats courtesy of espn.com and baseballprospectus.com)

Wizards Draft Hangover

I have been getting asked about my take on the NBA draft a lot today, and a lot of people seem to think I was trying to give myself some time digest the flurry of activity from last night before posting..........not true. I was busy celebrating a great day for the Wizards by having I lost count how many John Wall Shots. Usually when a man drinks something blue and is not at the beach, questions are asked; but if wanting to spend the rest of my life around John Wall is wrong, then I don't want to be right. For those of you particularly interested, the bar I was at had to use blueberry vodka, sour mix, sprite, and maybe something else to make the shots blue. They tasted like Kool-Aid.

Round 1 of I lost count how many

My general takes on draft prospects are on Bullets Forever, with the disclosure that I watched fewer college basketball prospects this year than I can remember, so don't have the usual cutting insights (phenomenal work from last year if I do say so, other than calling it the WDE).

As far as the Wizards, I have been hearing almost nothing but complaining, but we can't forget that what really matters in the big picture is that we got Wall. As Chad Ford pointed out in his chat with Sports Guy earlier this week, each draft has 5 stars and 5 starters, and everyone else is either out of the league or just a rotation player. I know there are plenty examples of late picks turning into gold, but generally speaking, the draft is about getting a star. Wall's development is infinitely more important to this franchise than those of all the other guys we drafted our could have drafted combined. And in conclusion, we got Wall!

That Wizards hat does look good on him...

At first, I hated the Kirk Hinrich trade, but now do not see it as a problem. To be clear, we acquired Hinrich, who will be paid $9 million this year and $8 million next year, the 17th pick, and $3 million cash money for a future 2nd-rounder. All these media people are throwing around that the Wizards paid $17 million for the 17th pick and Oklahoma City paid only $2 million, but this is not exactly the case. Firstly, OKC traded the 32nd pick for the 18th, in addition to taking on Daequan Cook. Although this draft looks short on star power, it is definitely a deep one, and with the NBA finances likely tightening, the 2nd pick of the 2nd round is an extremely valuable asset. The future 2nd rounder that the Wizards gave up is significantly less valuable. Then there is the fact that $17 MILLION sounds insane, but the Wizards have plenty of cap space this season that they do not need, so the $9 million this year should not even be considered by anyone other than Ted Leonsis, as he is the one paying that money out his own pocket. The issue is all about 2 years from now, when we will be paying Hinrich again and will want as much cap flexibility as possible. The question really is whether Hinrich's contract will prevent us from making any move we want in the summer of 2011. Yes, there is a salary cap, but we can exceed it by paying a luxury tax and Leonsis is clearly okay with taking financial hits to help the team. Even if there is a situation where Hinrich's deal pushes us into luxury tax territory, then you must consider the $3 million cash we received. That money with interest, can account for us going about $2 million over the cap. That may have been confusing, but for all intents and purposes, Hinrich is only really being paid $6 million in 2011, which is not considerably more than some random Joe Blow. This is not to mention the fact that Hinrich will be 'Hinrich's expiring contract in the summer of 2011. Just ask yourself, will Hinrich's contract be what is preventing us from making a move? The answer is clearly no, although I envy Leonsis for being filthy rich enough to pay that kind of contract.

Hinrich as a player I actually think could be a nice fit next to John Wall in the '2 guard offense'. The only part of this I don't like is that I would rather have a young guy with some upside as our 3rd guard. Hinrich will cut into Young Sushi's minutes, and may force to Wizards to not re-sign Shaun Livingston. I think the success of the deal may hinge on whether Livingston leaves and if so, how he performs. Overall though I think the deal is neither good or bad, but just okay.

The Kevin Seraphin pick at #17 is fine by me as well. I have honestly not seen him play 1 second of basketball, but have heard that he's raw and possibly comparable to Serge Ibaka. My concern is that Seraphin sounds like he moved up draft boards because of Ibaka's success, which is one of those irrational ideas that leads to bad draft decisions. Ibaka's development has little or no relation to that of Seraphin. That said, Mike Prada of Bullets Forever heard from sources that Seraphin is the 'real deal' and could be here as early as next season. I don't particularly mind him spending another year in Europe, as the Wizards have a large amount of minutes accounted for thanks to Gil, Wall, Andray Blatche, and Javale McGee. With 4 picks, I have no problem with one of them staying overseas for a year. That said, the Wizards need to know what they have, and we won't know until Seraphin starts playing in the NBA. Again though, I am perfectly fine with this pick and will trust the pros.

The Trevor Booker selection and trade are where I start to wonder what the hell Ernie Grunfeld and co. were doing. I have a small problem with the selection, and a major one with the trade. I have seen him play and he was the entire Clemson team last year, seriously, but lacks great athleticism and thus has little upside. He was productive though, and has a good shot as a rotation guy. I would have preferred Damion James, who is by most accounts the better prospect, and fills a need at SF. Jordan Crawford and Daniel Orton were also still on the board and considered better prospects. I think the Wizards are in a position where we can draft best talent available that is not a PG, but I am not gaga over any of these guys. Maybe Booker proves us wrong, which is why I don't have a huge issue, although I personally would have taken James or Crawford.

The trade is the baffling part. From everything us outsiders know, Booker would have been available at #30 or even #35; Chad Ford's final mock draft had him going #44! We could have kept our 2 picks and still gotten Booker and a better prospect than Hamady Ndiaye. Even if the Wizards knew something we don't, and Booker went before #30, then we could have had our choice of 2 of the following: Lance Stephenson, Tiny Gallon, Terrico White, Darrington Hobson, Jarvis Varnado, Devin Ebanks, Solomon Alabi, or Stanley Robinson (and Hassan Whiteside was available at #30). Even if Booker and Ndiaye turns out to be great, this deal may not be a good one.

As far as Ndiaye is concerned, I do not know much about him, even though I watch a ton of Big East basketball as a Georgetown fan. He was Chad Ford's #79 ranked prospect, but I don't see a lot of other guys who excite me other than Stanley Robinson.

This draft also caps what has been a rough year for Ernie: the awful draft pick trade of 2010 when we could have taken Rubio or Stephen Curry, trading away Jamison and Butler for little in return, and now apparently botching the #30 and #35 picks of the draft. Overall though, Grunfeld will look good because we lucked into John freaking Wall, and that's the way we should all come away from tonight. Sure, Leonsis' wallet is taking a hit, and we could have guys with a better potential to make our rotation and have trade value, but we got the Great Wall and that is why I had one glorious hangover today - one that might even inspire me to buy some blue vodka.

(John Wall image courtesy of foxnews.com)