During their fourth consecutive season with a winning percentage below .318, the Wizards averaged only 93.6 points – tied for the eighth-lowest total in the 30-team league. Their horrendous .320 percentage on three-pointers was the NBA’s third-worst mark.
Although there is no shortage of reports of teams trying to trade up to No. 2 to take Beal, he could still be available when Grunfeld goes on the clock at No. 3. If the Wizards, who have missed the playoffs 19 times in the past 24 seasons, hope to complete their latest rebuilding project sometime before John Wall, their talented and clearly frustrated point guard, retires, they need to quickly gobble up the up-and-coming Beal.
Beal, who turns 19 today, has the required physical tools (he’s listed at 6 feet 4, 207 pounds) needed to become an impact-making NBA shooting guard. Beyond the “measurables” that decision-makers weigh before investing millions in teenagers, Beal also has produced during actual competition.
In his only year with the Gators, Beal was much better late in the season – his three-shooting improved markedly – than he was in the beginning. That’s the type of right-direction performance general managers like to see.
NBA people who have spent time with Beal say he’s as steady off the court as he is on it. And maturity is something the Wizards have strived to bring to their locker room while still digging out from the wreckage caused by franchise-killer Gilbert Arenas.
“He’s a high-character, high-skill shooting guard,” a Western Conference general manager wrote to me Wednesday in a text message. “The upside is, he’s Ray Allen. . . . He’s the safest guy in the [draft’s] top five.”
A retired general manager recently told me he didn’t buy the Allen stuff, simply because he doesn’t like to compare incoming players to future Hall of Famers. “But the kid is very good,” the former general manager said. “He’d help anyone that needs” a shooting guard.
In the NBA right now, the Wizards are high on that list.
They finally gave up on one-dimensional 2007 first-rounder Nick Young, trading him to the Los Angeles Clippers in March. Holdover Jordan Crawford, another first-round pick (acquired in a trade), shot 28.9 percent from behind the three-point arc and has made 39.4 percent of his field-goal attempts during two seasons in the league. If those numbers don’t improve a lot, Crawford may find himself in another line of work soon.
The Wizards, who also hold the second pick in the second round, must pair Wall with a backcourt mate capable of keeping pace with him. Wall is entering his third season, and surrounding him with talent is essential to his continued development individually and that of the team.
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