Will Dawkins was wheeling and dealing on Wednesday night, as the Wizards ended up with three first-round picks, ending a week where the Wiz GM was burning the midnight and daylight oil.
“Definitely not (a lot of sleep), but last night was the best one, so I’m back on track,” Dawkins told the Junkies when he joined them Friday morning.
Alex Sarr came at No. 2, and as much as he wanted to land in Washington, Dawkins was happy, too, that the Hawks decided to go with Zaccharie Risacher at No. 1.
“I think for each team there's different fits, and I know for us he's someone that we definitely targeted,” Dawkins said. “Our scouts were on him early, definitely went out to Vegas for all those games there, and I made sure I went out and saw him all the way in Australia. We got a chance to see him in a workout here in DC, and the defense pops right away when you're watching the games for a young player, but then you get to see the way he moves, gets up and down the floor, and can put the ball on the ground, you see the rotation on the ball from the mid-range and you see him expanding his range to the three-point line, and you think there's something different here that you want to invest in.”
Sarr’s father played overseas and his brother is in the Thunder organization – and was actually signed while Dawkins was there – so he also has the basketball pedigree, which was also attractive to the Wiz.
“That definitely helps. When you talk to him, he has a passion for the game, but he's also taking on challenges that probably most kids at this stage in their careers haven't had the exposure to,” Dawkins said. “He realized where he was at at age 14 and wanted to go play in Madrid, one of the more challenging environments for 14-year-olds at that point, wanted to try something new in Atlanta with OTE and played a couple of years there with the American kids, and then was like, let me try one more thing and went all the way to Australia. He's well rounded, well-versed, and likes competition, and got better throughout the process. It's been great, because we've been able to track him all the way.”
The next move was the biggest of the night, as the Wiz traded Deni Avdija earlier in the day to Portland for a package that included the No. 14 pick, which they used on Pitt guard Bub Carrington. Dawkins said, when asked if the war room was high-fiving after Atlanta took Risacher No. 1, that “we were happy we got (Sarr) but let’s go see what we can do at No. 14, and make sure we try to go get Bub,” and that’s what they did.
They also then traded up from 26 to 24, giving the Knicks their second-round pick to do so, to select Miami’s Kyshawn George, and yes, there’s a reason two freshmen ended up as Wizards by the end of the night.
“This was a talented draft, and I tried to tell people when we came out of the lottery that if you have some patience, there's gonna be some good players down the line that will be in that All-Star category,” Dawkins said. “Our scouts did a really good job of this year going out early and evaluating players that fit what we created in terms of our style, what we were looking for, and both Kyshawn and Bub were guys that popped early in their college careers for freshmen. I got the quick report like, hey, when you get some time, let's make sure we swing through here, so I felt like we were playing ahead with those two guys and got a chance to really get a feel for who they are throughout the course of the season, and watch their development.”
Carrington is from Baltimore, so that’s also a nice homecoming for him.
“Being able to bring him home, that was something that I wanted to make sure he was comfortable with,” Dawkins said. “I think a week ago we met one more time just to talk about what that would be and how he would handle that, and he completely understood everything that comes with it and wanted to be a part of what we're doing here in DC. And I think it was even more impactful for him to be drafted so close to home. So we have someone that is learning to be a combo guard and can shoot the ball, can touch the paint, can defend it from the area, but also has a lot of upside and growth because he’s 18. That's someone that we identified early and stayed with.”
And as for George, well, it was a similar scenario, and while Dawkins wouldn’t bite when Bish asked him about other players they did not select, he did give this about the selections they did make:
“Each team prioritizes things differently, and for us, Keyshawn and Bub were the guys that fit what we were looking for at the time and what we asked our scouts to go identify, and then it was on our strategic team and myself and Michael to try to figure out ways to go get them,” Dawkins said.
Take a listen to the entire segment above, where Dawkins goes in a little deeper on scouting his picks, thoughts on Jordan Poole’s journey, and much more!
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