6:00 PM: Hey gang Dave Johnson here in the Wizards draft room. It’s quiet now..only one in the row save for internet gurus Eric Hernandez and Will Fan. There is a big projection screen tuned to ESPN in front of a U shaped table and another projection screen showing the draft order for both rounds of this draft.
There is a real sense of anticipation. Team President Ernie Grunfeld has said if the Wizards keep the 16th pick overall that he is not expecting a player who will come in and have an immediate impact. When he was asked this week about the pick, he noted that there are no secrets and that you could take a look at the various mock drafts and come up with probably six to seven realistic possibilities.
There is also lots of talk on the Oden vs. Durant front. It has already been reported that the Trail Blazers have talked to Oden’s people but the team has denied that…just have to wait and see But here in this quite room it should get busy as the Wizards try to sort out what they want to do with their picks. They are excited about last year’s first round pick Oleksiy Pecherov–who is working oiut and getting ready for his rookie year—hope to be excited again.
6:35PM: Closer and closer to the start of the ESPN broadcast. Still quiet in the Wizards draft room..the guys who will be forced to make the decisions are in the building just not here in the draft room. Watching all this talk just makes me more anxious for this to actually start. Again we are in a position where it is too hard to predict.
6:55PM: Alright I am ready. Let’s just start thins thing. There is a little more activity here in the Draft room which is a board room located close to the Wizards locker room. Trainer Eric Waters and strength coach Drew Cleary just breezed by. No players here tonight although we were just talking about Gilbert being back from his Tahiti vacation. A big board rating all the players in the draft was just delivered!!! A sign we are getting close.
7:ooPM: Alright show time.. the ESPN pre game show. Still relatively quiet in the draft room. Ernie Grunfled and his staf have yet to arrive . You know just reading stuff about the draft history. Saw that Darius Songaila was the 50th pick overall in 2002…a night of possibilities…now the coaches are here.
7:15PM: Ernie Grunfeld is here along with the basketball operations staff so we are settling in for the long night and yeah like you might expect there is buzz about what other teams might do since it will have such an impact on us
7:20PM: Getting closer. Draft room has filled up. Atmosphere is relaxed. Board that rates the players is now in position.
7:33PM: Portland is on the clock..still a relaxed atmoshere as the plot will thicken later
7:42PM: Kevin Durant goes to number two as there is talk of that Ray Allen deal. Again all hands on deck here in the draft room but very much hurry up and wait
7:46PM So Al Horford goes to Atlanta and now the draft really begins. Horford to Atlanta was the feeling in this Wizards draft room. About 25 people in the room. President Ernie Grunfeld and the entire coahcing staff is here.
7:58PM: First deal of the night as we expect Jeff Green to end up in Seattle. For the Wizards still too early. You get a sense Grunfeld and compnay are just waiting to see how things develop A tremendous amount of work goes into the draft inlcluding workouts with 43 players—so they are ready for anything….did check the phones..important they work to contact New York.
8:07PM: Oleksiy Pecherov just stopped by the draft room after a work out on the practice floor across the hall. Ernie Grunfeld grabbed him and said “I have to feed the young guy”. Not yet cruch time for us…
8:14PM: Silence in the draft room as we all watched the Gilbert Arenas LIVE 08 commerical.Up to the 8th pick this is the point where it starts to relate to the Wizards but still impossible to predict.
8:29PM: Seven picks away and we get the comic relief of another Gil NBA LIVE 08 commercial.
8:39PM: With Acie Law going to Atlanta at number 11 Wizards options are probably coming more into focus
8:46PM Philadelphia’s first pick of the first round is done…more activity here in the Draft room with three picks to go before showtime.–another Gil commerical to enjoy–but this time the focus is on our pick. basketball ops staff busy on the phones
8:59PM: The phones have been busier..with just a pick to needles to say Wizards are closing in on their guy.
9:05PM: We are on the clock and Ernie was just on the phone. Positive feeling in the room.
9:15PM: It is Nick Young from Southern Cal. Wizards Assistant Director of Player Personnel Tim Connelly tells me that Young reminds him of Richard Hamilton. He has a great mid-range game..very athletic..very competitive. The Wizards worked him out and he was higher than 16 on their board. Several mock drafts had Young going before 16. On the subject of the Wizards need for a big man they did address that in last year’s draft with Oleksiy Pecherov.
9:30PM: Pecherov is still in the room soaking up this NBA Draft. Again he has been here in Washington with a Gilbert Arenas like work ethic. As I mentioned before in some ways he is a part of this draft class and with knowlede of his ability I think that impacted how the Wizards approached this draft. Young was a player the Wizards had their fingers crossed on. A sense of optimism did buid in their room right around the 11th pick as the team probably had a sense they could get one of the players high on the list
9:53PM: A great mood here in the Draft room. Eddie Jordan just finished talking to Nick Young on the phone and he was all smiles. I think the good feeling comes from getting a player they wanted–liked when they worked him out–but didn’t think they would be able to get. Young can give the Wizards a scoring lift off the bench. With the first pick down– and a guy they wanted– a reason to celebrate–but the business of the draft goes on as they work the draft board and prepare for number 47
10:20PM: Having a blast blogging. Ernie and company getting set for the second round and the quicker clock–two minutes. I know I am repeating myself but in talking to Ernie he is really pleased becasue in Nick Young they were able to draft a player they wanted but didn’t expect to be there at 16. Ernie told me that when Philadelphia selected Thaddeus Young at 12, the Wizards received about six or seven phone calls to trade their pick since at that point Julian Wright, Al Thornton and Nick Young were all still available.
10:29PM: Wizards went in this draft with confidence in the development of Pecherov and Blache both players have been here tonight. Ernie told me that if he had the tenth pick he would have selected Spencer Hawes but he was never going to fall to 16.
11:03PM: Waiting on the second pick and we get word that Nick Young will wear number one. I think there more people analyze this pick they will like it. I am excited about the aspect that he has the ability to create his own shot from what we are told and the three years in college gives him valubale experience.
11:05PM: Oleksiy Pecherov is still here in the draft room–we know that becasue he just cheered with the Philadelphia’s selection of Krylo Fesenko from Ukraine.
11:10PM: Always nice when you have something someone else wants. I can tell you there were several phone calls about our pick when it became clear that Nick Young was one of the possibilities with that pick.
11:35PM Seond round pick Fresno State Forward Dominic McGuire….Checking in with the Wizards Milt Newton–who tells me… that McGuire is very versatile…great defender..5th in the nation in blocked shots..handles ball very well..unselfish passer. coaches just checked out..high fives.. group seems pleased.
11:44PM: Hey gang that is going to do it for me.. this was fun and i hope we can do this some more.. and if you want to get a hold of me just drop me an e-mail at wizards@washsports.com……
thanks again
dave johnson
The Wizard selected 
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