Washington, DC--
Say it isn't so, but the Washington Wizards may have found just what they were looking for in tonight's 2008 NBA Draft, a big man in JaVale McGee..... Yes that is right they finally have found a 7 footer that can probably come in and help the Wizards where they have lacked for so many seasons.
Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld seemed happy with the outcome after trying to find ways to trade up or down to find something else that might help the Wizards in the 2008-09 campaign. One thought was Hoyas Center Roy Hibbert, who was picked 17th, one slot ahead of McGee.
"We rank our players through a four-, five-, six-week process and the highest-ranked player on our board, we pick," said Grunfeld. "If the best player on our board was a 6-foot-5 player or if one of the point guards slipped down to us, we would have taken them. We looked at all of those players. This is just how the draft played out for us."
McGee, hails from Flint, Michigan, and attended a high school in Chicago as a senior, made the decision to come out of Nevada as an early-entry candidate once it became clear that he stood a decent chance of being selected in the first round.
With the 47th pick in the second round the Wizards selected Bill Walker from Kansas State, but later dealed him to Boston for cash considerations.
“Earlier tonight we added a player in JaVale McGee who has a chance to become a very solid player for us,” said Grunfeld. “By trading the rights to our second-round pick we were able to add to our flexibility going forward.”
