NBA: Wizards put Obi Toppin and Precious Achiuwa in a fake draft

Recently I was asked to participate in a group simulation in which each franchise had its representative. All thirty participants were enrolled as if they were the general manager of that franchise. Yours truly represented the magicians.

Everything was organized by Richard Stayman of MavsDraft. Stayman has identified an editor who covers each team to ensure that choices would be made to accurately reflect the needs of each franchise.

He used Tankathon to simulate the lottery equally and decide the order. Based on these results, the Mages were scheduled for the tenth round in the first round. In a draft that isn’t particularly heavy, I wasn’t crazy about the prospect of choosing the late one in the lottery.

On the same day, we interviewed Gilbert Arenas on Bleav’s Wizards podcast and made what I found to be a compelling argument for writing the best available player. In his view, Mages too many times have recruited less talented players to fill a need and avoid position redundancy.

Arenas and Larry Hughes both thought that players were better able to understand any perceived position overlap than they get credit for. Plus, you can always swap someone later if necessary. Arenas also spoke quite well about the USC center Onyeka Okongwu, which was already off the table when it was Washington’s turn.

With this idea in mind, I decided that if there was still someone on the board that I thought was more talented than the rest of the people left I would have taken them regardless of position. This ended up being timely advice because that’s exactly how our fake draft went.

By selecting the tenth, I still hoped that a highly touted center or a small forward option would fall to Washington. This almost happened but, unfortunately, Devin Vassell and James Wiseman left the board with the two choices right in front of the Magicians.

I quickly considered my options available. Kira Lewis Jr. is one of the most talented point guards on the project. He has an incredible speed that maybe John Wall could help him take advantage of.

I’m not as high on Tyrese Haliburton as most people, but I still see the value it provides on and off the pitch. And a lot of other teams crave it which would at least make it a negotiable asset.

Yes, wizards have just drafted Rui Hachimura. Yes, they plan to open their wallets for Davis Bertans. I’m taking all of these factors fully into consideration, but Dayton’s 6-foot Obi Toppin seemed too talented to let it go.

When John Wall is your guard, you can never have too many elite finishers running the fast break with him. And while there are definitely some question marks with Toppin, nobody can argue that he is a high-level finisher.

Many essay experts will tell you that Toppin’s age (22) is negative. In my mind, it makes it more ready for the NBA. In today’s NBA, how many good players sign multiple contracts with the teams that initially enrolled them?

It seems that most of the teams that draw up a project end up seeing them leave for another team when they develop enough to actually produce on the field. Knowing also the huge improvement Toppin has made since he was in kindergarten, I’d be willing to bet he’s late and still has untapped potential.

Maybe he has “high hips” and plays too much on defense. Maybe he has a slow release on his jump shot. I am choosing to focus on its positive aspects. He is an explosive athlete with enough sensitivity for the game to adapt well to Wall and Brad Beal. This is the kind of guy I’m willing to bet on and will understand how to help move the needle for this team.

In the second round, with the 37th pick, I was able to steal the precious Achiuwa from Memphis. The 6 and 9 foot forward had inexplicably fallen from the first round where it appears in most simulated drafts.

Achiuwa is another great athlete probably best suited to playing forward in the NBA. But in the second round, he had too many advantages to pass him. Whenever you can get a player with lottery talent in the second round you have to catch them. And who knows, maybe he can go onto the pitch like a small ball in the center of the bench.

Looking at the draft and who else was available when the wizards were at the clock, who would you get? Someone I really got lost on?

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