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Wizards trade back (twice) in Bullets Forever mock draft

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2022 NBA Draft Combine
After a couple trade downs, the Washington Wizards selected Santa Clara’s Jalen Williams with the 14th pick in a Bullets Forever mock draft. | Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/NBAE via Getty Images

The NBA Draft is two weeks away, and the Wizards currently have the 10th pick. Four of us at Bullets Forever — Matt Modderno, Osman Baig, John Heiser and me — joined forces for a full mock draft. First and second rounds, plus some trades.

There were a few surprises along the way, one of them being that some of the prospects discussed for the Wizards at 10 — Shaedon Sharpe, Dyson Daniels, Jeremy Sochan, Bennedict Mathurin — went in the top 9.

Acting for the Wizards, Modderno traded back with the Oklahoma City Thunder, swapping the 10th pick for picks 12 and 30. He then traded back again, dealing the 12th pick for picks 14, 39 and a future 2nd round pick.

When the dust settled, Washington came out of the draft with the following:

  • 14 — Jalen Williams, a talented wing from Santa Clara
  • 30 — Jake LaRavia, an interesting and athletic wing prospect from Wake Forest
  • 39 — Ryan Rollins, a 6-3 guard from Toledo
  • 54 — John Butler Jr., a slender 7-1 prospect at Florida State, who will probably play on the wing in the NBA…if he makes it.

As is the norm in actual NBA drafts, there were some players who slid in our exercise. Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis ranks 11th in Rookie Scale’s Consensus 2022 Draft Board. He ended up going 16th to the Memphis Grizzlies, who traded picks 22 and 29 to take him.

Other sliders:

  • Mark Williams, C, Duke — 13 —> 18
  • Malaki Branham, W, Ohio State — 17 —> 23
  • TyTy Washington, G, Kentucky — 16 —> 27

The Wizards weren’t the only team to make trades. The Atlanta Hawks sent John Collins to the Portland Trail Blazers for Josh Hart and the 7th pick, and then used the pick to select Dyson Daniels.

The fourth pick nearly changed hands — the New York Knicks made a good offer moments after the Sacramento Kings selected Paolo Banchero from Duke.

The most brutal moment for the Wizards came when I used the 9th pick to select Mathurin for the San Antonio Spurs. That triggered the trade backs, which netted the extra picks for Washington.

Here’s how the draft went:

  1. ORL — Chet Holmgren (Kevin)
  2. OKC — Jabari Smith (Matt)
  3. HOU — Jaden Ivey (John)
  4. SAC — Paolo Banchero (Oz)
  5. DET — Keegan Murray (Kevin)
  6. IND — Shaedon Sharpe (Matt)
  7. ATL via POR — Dyson Daniels (John) — TRADE: Collins to POR; Hart and 7 to ATL
  8. NOP — Jeremy Sochan (Oz)
  9. SAS — Bennedict Mathurin (Kevin)
  10. OKC via WAS — Jalen Duren (Oz) — TRADE: 10 to OKC; 12 and 30 to WAS
  11. NYK — Ousmane Dieng (John)
  12. CLE via WAS via OKC — AJ Griffin (Matt) — TRADE: 12 to CLE; 14, 39, future 2nd to WAS
  13. CHO — Tari Eason (Kevin)
  14. WAS via CLE — Jalen Williams (Matt)
  15. CHO — Ochai Agbaji (John)
  16. MEM via ATL — Johnny Davis (Matt) — TRADE: 16 to MEM; 22 and 29 to ATL
  17. HOU — Kendall Brown (Kevin)
  18. CHI — Mark Williams (Matt)
  19. MIN — Blake Wesley (John)
  20. SAS — E.J. Liddell (Oz)
  21. DEN — David Roddy (Kevin)
  22. ATL via MEM — Marjon Beauchamp (Oz)
  23. PHI — Malaki Branham (John)
  24. MIL — Jaden Hardy (Oz)
  25. SAS — Kennedy Chandler (Kevin)
  26. DAL — Dalen Terry (Matt)
  27. MIA — TyTy Washington (John)
  28. GSW — Nikola Jovic (Oz)
  29. ATL via MEM — Walker Kessler (Kevin)
  30. WAS via OKC — Jake LaRavia (Matt)
  31. IND — Peyton Watson (John)
  32. ORL — Christian Braun (Oz)
  33. TOR — Justin Lewis (Kevin)
  34. OKC — Bryce McGowens (Matt)
  35. ORL — Patrick Baldwin Jr. (John)
  36. POR — Josh Minott (Oz)
  37. SAC — Keon Ellis (Kevin)
  38. SAS — Christian Koloko (Matt)
  39. WAS via CLE — Ryan Rollins (John)
  40. MIN — Wendell Moore (Oz)
  41. NOP — Gabriele Procida (Kevin)
  42. NYK — Jaylin Williams (Matt)
  43. LAC — Jean Montero (John)
  44. ATL — Yannick Nzosa (Oz)
  45. CHO — Michael Foster Jr. (Kevin)
  46. DET — JD Davison (Matt)
  47. MEM — Leonard Miller (John)
  48. MIN — Andrew Nembhard (Oz)
  49. SAC — Julian Champagnie (Kevin)
  50. MIN — Ron Harper Jr. (Matt)
  51. GSW — Dominick Barlow (John)
  52. NOP — Caleb Houstan (Oz)
  53. BOS — Alondes Williams (Kevin)
  54. WAS — John Butler Jr. (Matt)
  55. GSW — Matteo Spagnolo (John)
  56. CLE — Aminu Muhammad (Oz)
  57. POR — Trevor Keels (Kevin)
  58. IND — Dereon Seabron (Matt)

NOTE: Milwaukee and Miami each forfeited a second round pick this year, which means there are 58 selections instead of the usual 60.

We’ll surely do at least one more of these before the actual NBA Draft. How’d we do? What do you think of the Wizards mock trades and selections?