Wizards Go All-In on Guards in Mock Draft

The Washington Wizards, once optimistic at the prospect of an easy pick, have some tough choices ahead of them as they enter the month leading into the NBA Draft.

Their chance at winning the draft lottery and ending up with the No. 1 pick, the one they owned a tie for the best chance of at 14 percent, went up in flames in an all-time chaotic lottery drawing. The Dallas Mavericks bounced back from three months of ridicule and shot all the way up to the top pick with near-impossible odds, while the once-favored Wizards slipped all the way to pick #No. 6.

This would have been a handy draft to come out on top of, as not every class offers a sure thing like Cooper Flagg sitting at the top of the board. The Duke phenom would have been a hand-in-glove fit with the rest of the young role-playing Wizards, an offensive connecter with the competitive spirit and intangibles to fit right into the team's blooming defensive culture, but the team now has to move on as they evaluate the next tier of prospects.

There are few players who offer nearly as much potential as Flagg in this class, with the sixth position in the draft looking wide open after the tippy-top players get snatched up by the first few teams.Bleacher Report took a stab at predicting who Washington should take with their three picks after early returns from the NBA's draft combine, proposing a guard-heavy draft for a young team with no shortage of back court talent.

They argued for Jeremiah Fears as someone for the team to take a strong look at No. 6, a distributing and rim-scoring point guard who put up big numbers as a freshman at Oklahoma.

B/R then makes the case for Egor Demin as Washington's big upside swing at the No. 18 pick, a big point guard who offers fantastic court vision and monstrous size to somewhat make up for his lack of any shooting consistency.

Duke veteran Tyrese Proctor rounds out the potential draft class with the Wizards' early second round selection as a high-IQ shotmaker.

Those picks include several combine favorites, with Demin particularly jumping up boards with an impressive jumper that wasn't anywhere near as effective during his season at BYU. That haul, impressive as it is, would put the Wizards in an interesting situation for next season.

Washington is already stacked with young guards, having recently picked up rookies Bub Carrington and AJ Johnson to add to the existing nucleus of Jordan Poole, Corey Kispert and Marcus Smart. Some of those older players likely aren't around for the long haul, but it would still make for a lot of mouths to feed on a team already extremely reliant on its young players.

This mock draft also doesn't account for some of the front court depth the team desperately needs, offering little size outside of Alex Sarr to deter centers or anyone else with muscle who wants to challenge the young frenchman.

The Wizards' front office should continue drafting by the best player available and prioritizing the same values they've honed in on through their first two drafts, with these proposed picks, as talented as they are, potentially shifting the young core from defense-first into a fight for minutes among the youth.