Washington Wizards: Top 2015 NBA Draft Prospects

As the offseason is underway for the Washington Wizards, attention has now shifted to the 2015 NBA Draft. The Wizards’ front office has done a fairly good job evaluating talent to add to their organization through the draft, as long as the player is coming from college in the U.S.

Some organizations in the NBA thrive off drafting players from overseas, such as the San Antonio Spurs with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, but the Wizards have failed in that category.

John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Otto Porter were all selected and developed by the Wizards. Fans are now starting to see them come into their own and help Washington become a contender.

This past season is considered as a disappointment for the Wizards since they had such high expectations, but it was evident where they have weaknesses, and those weaknesses can be addressed in this year’s draft. Since they have the 19th pick overall, there will still be plenty of talent to choose from.

Here are the top three prospects the Wizards will be after:

1. Trey Lyles: Kentucky

According to DraftExpress.com, Lyles in projected to go 17th overall, but as we have seen many times, players can always slip past their projection. Standing 6’10” with a 7’1″ wingspan, he could come in for the Wizards an address their weakness at power forward. The Wizards struggled tremendously guarding athletic and stretch power forwards all season.

Lyles averaged 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 23 minutes per game at Kentucky. Although his high projection, many draft analysts still have question marks around Lyles because he was forced to play small forward for John Calipari. This could work out great in Lyles’ favor though, because it means he had to stay in front of smaller, quicker players.

He is very smooth handling the ball for a player of his size. With his athletic ability combined with the ball handling, it will allow him to take power forwards in the NBA to the basket.

One ability that Lyles displayed at Kentucky was offensive rebounding. The Atlanta Hawks crushed the Wizards on the boards in their playoff series and it was a big reason why they ultimately won. The freshman averaged just under two offensive rebounds per game, which isn’t a number that jumps out at you, but it was the way he relentlessly crashed the boards that was impressive.

If Lyles slips in the draft to the Wizards, they should pull the trigger automatically on him because he can fill the hole of matching up with stretch power forwards that the Wizards desperately need.

2. Bobby Portis: Arkansas

Portis is another guy who should be high on the Wizards’ list. At the combine, he measured 6’10.5″ with a 7’2″ wingspan. Along with Lyles, Portis is just 20 years old, which means he has potential and time to grow into a really effective player in the NBA. The SEC Player of the Year averaged 17.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game for coach Mike Anderson at Arkansas.

Portis is known for being a high-energy player with a never-ending motor. Simply because of his effort, Portis will be a productive player for any franchise. For his size, he has great ability to shoot the ball as his two-point percentage was 54.1 percent for the year. Even though he rarely shot threes for Arkansas, he has the ability to do so, which he proved by finishing 46 percent from long distance.

Although Portis did not guard quick players like Lyles did, he showed the ability to stay in front of potential stretch power forwards of the NBA because of his energy and work ethic. John Wall would work extremely well with Portis because they both love to get out on the fast break.

The only red-light on Portis is is defensive rebounding. For a guy with his build and motor, he should have dominated the SEC on the defensive glass. Athletically, he isn’t great so putting his body on opponents to box out should’ve been his No. 1 priority.

However, for some reason Portis struggled with doing so and that will be a concern on draft day. Nonetheless, if Portis drops to 20th and Lyles is gone, the Wizards must select him so he can learn from the big men on the team like Marcin Gortat and Nene.

3. Kevon Looney: UCLA

Each year in the draft, there are young athletic players with a ton of upside that NBA franchises fall in love with. Looney has potential to be one of those guys.

Most mock drafts have him falling into the Wizards’ lap at 20, and it wouldn’t be a horrible thing if he did. Looney is just 19 years old and stands 6’9″ with a 7’3″ wingspan. Young legs and long arms mean Looney can play well above the rim as he showed the nation at UCLA. He averaged 11.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game for the Bruins under head coach Steve Alford.

Looney’s length and athleticism will allow him to be an effective defender in the NBA, especially against stretch power forwards. Similar to Lyles, Looney has tremendous ability to crash the offensive glass. According to DraftExpress.com, he averages 4.2 offensive rebounds per 40 minutes.

Compared to the other two players in this article, Looney is the best long-range shooter, which is also what the Wizards are lacking. Last season, he shot 41.5 percent on 53 shots from three. This allows the Wizards to be versatile with their pick-and-roll sets as Looney could roll hard for an lob, or pop for an open three.

Overall, any of these three players will help the Wizards finally get a stretch power forward that the rest of the NBA teams seem to have. All of these guys also have great ability to rebound and run in the open floor. Even though they also need to address their hole at shooting guard, power forward is the No. 1 concern with Nene only having one more year left on this current contract.

I pray that on draft night, I do not hear a foreign name come out of Adam Silver’s mouth when announcing the Wizards’ pick, simply because they have never developed in the organization. If Silver says Lyles, Portis, or Looney, I would be extremely happy and optimistic about the Wizards finally making the Eastern Conference Finals next season, and eventually the NBA Finals.

Next: Golden State Warriors: Western Conference Finals Preview

More from Hoops Habit

Home/Washington Wizards