Wizards' Recent History Developing Second-Round Talent

The Washington Wizards officially selected Jordan Clarkson with the 46th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, one of the better ones they've made in the 21st century. The Missouri guard remains an NBA fixture over10 years after his draft night, a model for how to make yourself valuable as a veteran scorer.

Unfortunately for Washington, Clarkson would go on to perform the entirety of his Sixth Man of the Year-winning career in other jerseys. The Los Angeles Lakers immediately traded for him after the Wizards made their pick, kicking off a decade-long second-round talent drought in the nation's capital.

That's important to note, given the Wizards own a Phoenix Suns second-round pick at No. 40 overall in this upcoming draft.

That specific development dearth is mostly due to a lack of reps picking in that range, with Washington only picking up four other second-rounders in the eight drafts that directly followed the Clarkson move. Of that quartet, only one, Vit Krejci, went on to actually check into an NBA game, and he, like Clarkson, has gone on to carve out a stable career on multiple other non-DC teams.

If there's one indicator of the team's scouting department moving in the right direction, however, it's been Tristan Vukcevic, Washington's young center who broke that second-round dry spell.

He's broken into the Washington sports vernacular as a regular for the Wizards, appearing in 45 games over his two years in the league as a seven-footer with soft touch as a pick-and-popper. His shot, one of his calling cards as a prospect, took a big leap between his first two seasons, jumping all the way up from 27.8% as a rookie to 37.3% in 2024-25.