The 18th pick in this years draft is one that surprisingly holds a lot of value in a thin draft. Higher picking teams may use it to trade back because they may think they’re able to acquire a player with the same level of talent with a lower pick. Lower picking teams may package a player and a pick to move up to get a certain elite young talent. But, i think unless there is a very good offer, the Wizards will likely hold and get a pretty talented player. With those post, i will discuss some of those candidates talents and how they would help the team.
Markieff Morris, 6’9 241 21 years old, PF – Kansas
He’s not the greatest offensive threat in the world, but this is a completely safe pick to make. Markieff would immediately step in and be a solid rotation player. He’s good at essentially everything, he just won’t get too much better than he already is. Solid pick and pop, good shooter, just doesn’t have very good handling/physical nature to draw fouls like you would hope from a player like him.
Chris Singleton, 6’9 230 21 years old, SF/PF – Florida State
I have a bit of a high on Singleton. If he’s available at 18, i see absolutely no way we don’t draft him. I think there’s also a strong chance we could package our 18 with this years second or next years second to trade up and pick him. He is an elite defender, and he will be able to guard essentially every player in the NBA. He’s also an incredible athlete, which attributes to his defense really, he jumps in passing lanes, swats shots, and throws down some incredible dunks with ease. He has a fairly decent jump shot. His post moves and overall offensive skills are really where he is lacking, but he has room to develop i believe. Not going to be a superstar by any means, but he could very well be one of the best defenders in the league one day.
Tobias Harris, 6’8 223 18 years old, SF/PF – Tennessee
Tobias has a really nice jumper, but he’s nothing more than a project. Project players aren’t always the best picks, but they have high rewards. He’s actually pretty good at everything, and has awesome potential. The only problem with him is the blend of him being undersized at PF, and he lacks the quickness to beat/be able to defend SF’s, which could be a huge problem.
Obviously, there is a wide range of other players that could be picked here as well, but i decided i’d examine the options that are best for us. I think Singleton is the clear cut pick at 18 if available, but the other two are not in the least bit bad options.