Thursday, June 26, 2008

The Washington Wizards took one last up-close look at prospects for the NBA draft yesterday when they hosted forwards Darrell Arthur (Kansas) and Novica Velickovic (Serbia). The Wizards hold the 18th and 47th selections in tonight's draft.

The 6-foot-9, 225-pound Arthur, who left the national champion Jayhawks after his sophomore season, is projected to be selected somewhere between the 14th and 20th picks, while the 6-9, 240-pound Velickovic, who played in Belgrade last season, could be a second-round selection.

Washington has hosted approximately 40 prospects for individual workouts, and Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld said Tuesday he is exploring several options regarding the first-round pick, including trading up or down, trading the pick completely, or keeping the pick and selecting the best player available.

It's possible that the athletic Arthur, who averaged 12.8 points and 6.3 rebounds at Kansas last season, could fit the bill for the Wizards because he's a skilled player who has been compared in style to Wizards forward Antawn Jamison, a two-time all-star.

However, selecting Arthur also would give the team yet another young developing power forward to go along with Andray Blatche, who will be entering his fourth season, and Oleksiy Pecherov, a rookie last season.

-- Ivan Carter