John Wall, Washington Wizards Still Yet To Arrive

Daunting Initiation

Upon arriving at his first training camp as a member of the Wizards, Wall would’ve been slightly confounded by what lay before him.

Among his teammates in his rookie season were Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee and Nick Young–and, for the first 21 games of the season, the enigmatic Gilbert Arenas. To say that this represents an unpredictable collection of players would be an understatement.

As a rookie point guard and the No. 1 overall pick, the challenges he was facing on a nightly basis from opposing teams and point guards would have been daunting enough.

But when you have three extremely immature, albeit highly talented, players to work with, it doesn’t make things particularly easy as a first year player. The Wizards won 23, 20 (lockout-shortened) and 29 games in Wall’s first three seasons.

With an explosive point guard now running the show, the key for the front office was to surround him with the necessary talent to compete. However, this is where things have gone particularly awry.

Regretful Decision Making

Andray Blatche

Grunfeld followed up the Wizards’ drafting of Wall by signing Blatche to a five-year contract extension. This just one of many flawed moves by Grunfeld. Two years later, Blatche was waived by the Wizards under the league’s amnesty clause. He is now plying his trade in China.

2011 Draft

Following a terrible 23-win season, the Wizards were handed the sixth pick of the 2011 draft. With this pick, Grunfeld decided on 21-year-old Czech forward Jan Vesely. One could argue that the Wizards were drafting on the basis of need.

With Wall, Young and Jordan Crawford already on the roster, Grunfeld decided to upgrade the frontcourt with the 7-foot prodigy.

The move turned out to be a disaster, with Vesely playing a total of 162 NBA games with the Wizards and Denver. Vesely is now plying his trade in Turkey. The players still remaining on the draft board included Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson and Kawhi Leonard.

Hence, picking on the supposed basis of need instead of the best player available backfired spectacularly.

The Wizards also had another first-round pick courtesy of a trade the previous season with the Atlanta Hawks. With the 18th pick, Grunfeld decided upon Florida State forward Chris Singleton.

Players overlooked include by the Wizards included Tobias Harris, Jimmy Butler and Chandler Parsons. Again, this pick turned out a failure as Singleton played just three seasons and 148 career games in Washington. He presently is playing in Greece

2013 Draft

For the third successive year, the Wizards found themselves in the draft lottery. And for the second successive year they had the third overall pick. With this pick, Grunfeld selected nearby Georgetown product Otto Porter.

Porter has obviously been more productive than the aforementioned Vesely. But although he has shown promise this year, his counterparts from that draft have left him in his wake.

Players of the caliber of C.J. McCollum, Steven Adams and Giannis Antetokounmpo were all available when Washington had its pick.

Also to top off the summer, Grunfeld extended free-agent guard Martell Webster on a four-year deal. However, Webster was waived after the 2014-15 season due to recurring injury.