…Huh. So I knew that I had a history of trading draft picks, but approximately every year? Really? So I felt like hey, why not do some digging and pick up a few points along the way? And the results…man, I've done a lot of trading over the years.. And by a lot, I mean a lot. So here's another, more focused trip into sim league history, with bonus commentary from yours truly.kucoach7 wrote: Sat Nov 17, 2018 9:13 pm
Shocking thing from this graph: the Wizards trade their pick approximately every year.
1990:
Nothing to see here. Of course, it's the inaugural season, but given my track record, a year without any draft-related news is a rarity.
1991:
Charlotte sends: Nick Anderson
Washington sends: Horace Grant, Nate McMillan, and a 1992 first round pick.
My first big trade. I remember being so happy when I pulled this off…then being bummed when Nick later told me that he would've accepted my backup deal, one that was more favorable to me (I keep Horace, giving me a Pippen/Grant/Anderson core). Never lead with your absolute best offer, kids.
Wizards receive:
PF Wayman Tisdale
Lakers 1993 1st (Top 10 protected)
Lakers receive:
Wizards 1991 1st (#8 - Stanley Roberts)
Wayman was aging, but a hell of a scoring big who was a great guy to have starting off. I later picked up Stanley for about a season or two, and he turned out to be a serviceable big. I don't regret this deal at all. Wouldn't have discovered some new jazz music irl if I hadn't had picked up Wayman, that was back when I looked up and learned about every player I'd get. That's something you just can't do with generated players.
1992:
-Milwaukee Bucks draft Robert Horry at #5 with Wizards' 1st
I was a bit bummed when this happened, but he ended up on my roster anyway and helped take me to the Finals a few years later, so I can't be too mad looking back on it. I miss Rob, the me of today would've used him way differently than me back then did, and I think I would've been a better team for it.
Celtics receive:
.Bucks' 1992 1st
.Lakers' 1993 1st (Top 10 protected)
.Kings' 1993 1st
.Wizards' 1994 1st
.PF Grant Long
Wizards receive:
.PF Dennis Rodman
Uggghh…on one hand, Rodman is hands down one of my favorite players, if not my most favorite player period, in league history (strange, I know). Plus, most of those picks turned out to be blah. On the other hand, he was a complete wash for me, basically giving me the same empty stats that Pippen did. I was so bad at teambuilding and gameplanning back then, though I wonder now if I just had a bad mix of guys. Anyway, most of those picks did turn out to be blah, but there was one that didn't…
1993:
Mavericks receive:
.1993 Wizards 1st (#8 overall - Bryon Russell)
Wizards receive
.1994 Bulls 1st
.1995 Magic 1st
.10 points
I should've kept this pick and drafted Van Exel. That's who I was going to pick had I not gone for this deal. I forget why I didn't, but it probably had something to do with the Magic and Bulls being fairly mediocre in terms of future outlook at that time. I later got a great PG in David Wesley, but Van Exel would've been amazing to have. Definitely a missed opportunity there. Oh, and Bryon was a career underachiever, so I actually came out nice from this deal…but I could've had Van Exel.
Wizards receive:
-PF Robert Horry
-10 points
Bucks receive:
-Bulls '94 1st
-Wizards '95 1st
-PF Tom Chambers
Oh yeah, I did flip that Bulls 1st to help get Rob. Guess that makes skipping on Van Exel worthwhile in a roundabout way. I've already said my piece about him, one of the greats as far as Wiz players go.
1994:
-Timberwolves draft Grant Hill at #1 with Wizards' 1st (was projected to be #11)
…Yeah, this is what I was talking about with the Rodman deal. This hurt like hell. Logically, it probably wouldn't have hit #1 had I kept the pick because luck is stupid like that, but it's still one of the biggest "yo, what if" moments of the early sim days for me. I'd worked so hard to keep that pick out of the top 8, and I thought I'd pulled it off…funny thing, this was almost an exact repeat of something that'd happened to me in the good ol' Pelicans Report league. You'd think something like this would deter me from wildly trading picks away, but nooo...
Raptors Receive:
.Wizards 1997 1st (unprotected)
Wizards Receive:
.SG Chris Childs
.PF Lorenzo Williams
Yeah, we're reaching the time period where I felt we were good enough as a team to the point where I was happy to trade future firsts for role players with some upside. They never really panned out, but I usually flipped them later, and sometimes managed to get them back after they'd grown a little.
1995:
-Raptors draft Fred Hoiberg at #13 with Wizards' 1st
See? I'm getting better, thus my picks are getting worse. Hoiberg didn't amount to much.
1996:
Hornets Receive:
.SG Chris Childs
.Wizards' 1996 1st (#20 - Jerome Williams)
Wizards Receive:
.SG Rex Walters
.10 Points
And here's where I flip Childs. Rex himself didn't last long either, I can't even remember who I flipped him for. Note that my pick this year was #20.
1997:
-Hornets draft Lawrence Funderburke at #22 with Wizards' 1st
#22 now. Funderburke was garbage. I'm getting cocky with trading picks.
-Wizards trade 1998 1st to Hawks for Lorenzen Wright
Lorenzen is a classic example of the kind of big I'd always end up with. Solid potential, but would ultimately fail to live up to it, I've never quite been able to shake that curse.
Bulls Receive:
.C Thomas Hamilton
.Wizards' 2000 1st
Wizards Receive:
.C Matt Geiger
See? Way too cocky with the pick trading now. Geiger is another example of a chronic problem I have - trading picks for short-term gambles in order to reach the playoffs. They usually end up a wash for both me and the team I trade with, especially these days, which only serves to encourage the same behavior.
1998:
-Lakers draft Matt Harpring at #18 with Wizards' 1st
Another lame player drafted with a low Wizards pick, thus making me all the more willing to throw my picks away.
1999:
Wizards Receive:
·PF Rashard Lewis
·Pacers' 1999 1st (9th overall - Lamar Odom)
·Grizzlies' 2001 1st (Top 1 protected)
Grizzlies Receive:
·Wizards' 1999 1st (3rd overall - Shawn Marion)
This is the best damn trade in my entire history. The choice was: Draft Steve Francis at #3 and revel in the fact that I'd created another hometown superstar story (the first was Joe Smith), or play the numbers game and flip the pick for #9 and Rashard Lewis. As I'd already scorched the earth during my first and only tanking year, I figured starting over with two young guys was better than one. I chose option #2, and picked Lamar Odom, who I liked a lot, but not nearly enough to snag at #3. Back then, I thought Odom was going to be the star, and Lewis a solid second option. I legit would've rather come out of that draft with Odom/Kirilenko than Odom/Lewis. But as it turned out, Odom was murdered by TC right as he was about to hit the next level, and Rashard absorbed every bit of what Odom lost and became arguably the second-best player of the mid-2000s. Unfortunately, Odom's death was just one of the many things that kept us from going all the way with Rashard, but man were those some fun times.
2000:
-Houston Rockets draft Hedo Turkoglu at #11 with Wizards' 1st
So you all know the story of how I whiffed on #2 in an already bad draft by picking Jamal Crawford, right? What you may have not known is that:
1. That pick was supposed to be in 2001, not 2000. That was back when we'd all pretty much given up on keeping track of pick protections, and since the worst picks often belonged to teams with a high GM turnover rate, mistakes were sure to happen. I basically had to flip some things around with protections to keep an even bigger mess from occurring. Good news? I picked up 20 points in total. Bad news? I ended up in this weak-ass draft.
2. Not only was Stephen Jackson my original choice for #2 (insert single tear), but I had a deal set up that would've given me him anyway. It fell through because time ran out before we could really get talks finalized, but yeah, I lost Stephen Jackson twice during that draft.
3. #2 did not belong to me. My actual pick was #11, and it belonged to the Rockets. They picked Hedo Turkoglu. Hedo Turkoglu was not a good player. The streak continues.
Kings Receive:
C Tony Battie
Wizards' 2002 1st
Wizards Receive:
C Keon Clark
PG Randy Brown
5 points
Still trade-happy. Battie was a failed product of my first attempt to rebuild post-'96 Finals. It was him, Ron Mercer, and Brevin Knight, teaming with the centerpiece, Joe Smith (Juwan Howard was there too). They all failed. They were all traded as soon as I could find a willing partner. Keon was basically a more consistent Battie. He never really eclipsed him, having the same annoying habit of never really improving, but he was consistent, and I liked that.
Wizards Receive:
·SF Jerry Stackhouse
·2001 Grizzlies' 1st
Magic Receive:
·SF Dennis Scott
·SG DerMarr Johnson
·2001 Wizards' 1st
As you can see, I clearly don't give a crap about picks at this point, and I'm technically still in a rebuilding phase. Don't do this, kids. Anyway, this is a solid deal. Stackhouse helped anchor the team during Lewis & Odom's developing years, and basically helped kickstart the brief period where we were a bit of a threat in the East. I do not regret trading this pick at all, and you will see why soon. What I do regret about this deal is trading DerMarr Johnson. DerMarr never really became a star, but he was a very solid two-way combo guard. Oh, and he was 6'9". I spent at least two seasons in the mid-2000s plotting ways to get him back, but I never could. Somewhere in an alternate universe, there is an early 2000s Wizards team that features 6'10" Rashard Lewis at SF, 6'9" DerMarr Johnson at SG, 6'8" Stephen Jackson at PG, and 6'10" Lamar Odom backing up all 3 positions. I…I think I'm going to go lie down for a bit… (insert multiple tears)
2001:
-Milwaukee Bucks draft Troy Murphy at #8 with Wizards' 1st
This is why I don't regret trading that '01 1st, because not only did Troy Murphy turn out to be average, he was on my team before the year was out! Anyway, Troy was another one of those guys who REALLY WOULD'VE BEEN A VALUABLE PART OF A CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM HAD HE ACTUALLY TURNED OUT TO BE EVEN A LITTLE BIT BETTER THAN A BASIC ASS ROLE PLAY- ahem, sorry about that.
2002:
-Boston Celtics draft Chris Wilcox at #18 with Wizards' 1st
Ah, we're back in the late teens with Wizards draft picks, and the cycle continues. Wilcox was actually a quality bench player for a bit, I probably could've used him. Oh well.
Wolves Receive:
·PF Terry Mills
·Wizards' 2005 1st
Wizards Receive:
·8 points
·Timberwolves' 2003 2nd
So by now Rashard and Odom look like they're ready to wreck shop, and I'm thinking "man, how am I gonna afford both of these guys?" Rashard had just gotten paid, and Lamar was about to. To make sure that I had the cash to pay Odom, I traded Terry Mills, who…was an expiring….um…what?
Again, kids, DO NOT do any of these things. They are bad and I should feel bad. I don't, I feel more confused right now than anything else, but yeah. I can't make sense of this at all. I'm obviously thumbing my nose at the sim lords at this point. Moving on.
Wizards Receive:
·PG Earl Watson
Mavs Receive:
·Wizards' 2003 1st
·Timberwolves' 2003 2nd
Aaaaand there goes another one. Earl Watson was a solid backup PG who I didn't keep around long enough to let him make any sort of impact. See, I have another chronic issue: PG play. Outside of Wesley, I've never quite had a franchise PG. So, I'm always either trying to chase the tall PG unicorn (Lamar Odom, Tyreke Evans, Don McBurney), temporarily filling the hole with decent guys who I usually keep longer than I probably should (Jarrett Jack, Paul Webb), or picking up project PGs who I dump before they even get a chance to prove themselves (Desus Mero, Earl Watson). Honestly surprised this trope hasn't popped up more often during this retrospective.
Wizards Receive:
·3 points
·C Chris Mihm
Hornets Receive:
·SG Chris Robinson
·C Wang Zhizhi
·Wizards 2005 2nd
·Wizards 2004 1st
And speaking of tropes, here's that mediocre Wiz big trope popping up again! In all honesty, Mihm was a solid pickup who would've been more fondly remembered had the teams he was on performed as strongly as I'd hoped. I was often frustrated with the constant struggles my role players had when it came to helping out Rashard, and Mihm was no exception.
BREAK TIME:
So I just want to stop for a second. So far, 2002 is peak Xist/J2 in terms of what I've become known for. I've traded three picks in 1 year, and essentially mortgaged my future for a project PG, a ho-hum big, and a big pile of nothing. This is coming immediately after I just exited a successful rebuild, and am entering into a transitional phase into a sleeper contender. Fortunately for me, I was correct in assuming that my picks wouldn't be worth much, as Rashard was about to come into his own. Still, this is low-key insane, especially that Terry Mills nonsense. You won't see any deals for the next few years, because I simply can't make them. I am locked into my current plan, and you never want to be locked in unless you're 100% sure you're moving in the right direction. Again, don't do as I did/do y'all.
2003:
Chicago Bulls draft Steve Blake at #21 with Wizards' 1st
Yawn. Actually, Blake turned out to be a solid backup PG. Feels like we're building up to a major "you blockhead" moment.
2004:
Milwaukee Bucks draft Sasha Vujacic at #24 with Wizards' 1st
…Or maybe not. Vujacic was merely okay, probably given more chances than he deserved.
2005:
Seattle Supersonics draft Sarunas Jasikevichus at #29 with Wizards' 1st
…I was 63-19 that year. That should've been the year. That was not the year. The year never came.
Sonics Receive:
·Wizards 2008 1st
·5 points
·DeSagana Diop
·Vincent Yarbrough
Wizards Receive:
·Josh Howard
After the letdown that was the end to last season, I guess I returned to my comfort zone…trading picks like Pokémon cards. This time around I was looking for actual talent, and I got it with Josh Howard…or at least I thought I did. In reality, Howard turned out to be a less-good version of Gerald Green, a later pickup who would make an impact in the future. We were about to enter the post-renaissance era of Wiz basketball, where Rashard would spend a couple of years trying and failing to single-handedly lift a group of scrubs and near-scrubs to a title before finally being booted out to Seattle. He didn't win there either. Or in Orlando. Or ever. Poor Rashard.
2006:
Bucks send:
5pts
#21
Wizards send:
#17 (Adam Morrison)
I…never learn, do I? This is the first time in a long time that I've made it to the draft with my pick in hand, and I ship it off for nothing (spoiler alert: I trade #21 too). Morrison somehow had a decent career, too, which is both surprising and a shame.
I'm gonna stop right here for now. So far it's nearly been twenty years without a single player drafted by a pick I've earned through my own team's play. It's both sad and impressive that despite this fact, and a horrible start to my PBSL career, I was still able to reach the Finals in the 1990s and build a short-lived contender in the 2000s. Nevertheless, this is a great example of what you shouldn't do to succeed in this league, so I don't really encourage looking at this in a super-positive light.
Y'know, now that I've begun digging, I'm kinda curious to see who the first-ever official Wizards draft pick turns out to be. I have an idea of who it might be...but damn, I really hope it isn't him. Stay tuned for Part II!
