Morning after reaction to Vesely, Singleton and Mack

Nothing anyone can say will turn him into Derrick Williams, who is a better, more explosive prospect, or Enes Kanter, who might’ve been a better fit as a frontcourt player with a skillset markedly different and complementary to that of JaVale McGee.

But that doesn’t mean that eventually Vesely could win over everyone in Washington.

The combination of traits shown by the 21-year-old from the Czech Republic was intriguing enough that he could’ve been a first-round pick last year, and it’s hard to dispute the notion that the Wizards took the best player available.

“There’s going to be an adjustment period, but Jan is an outstanding athlete,” Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said. “He could be one of the best athletes in this draft. He really gets up and down the floor. He’s a good defender, plays with great energy and great intensity, and he’s played at a very high level for the last three years.”

Actually, let’s take those traits in reverse order, the way they should be valued in Washington.

First, Vesely has played at a high level in Serbia, where basketball matters, big time, for a big European club, Partizan Belgrade. Sure, his numbers don’t jump off the page, but I was told he was “the man” for Partizan during last year’s run to the Euroleague final four. This is a player who is motivated by the right objective – winning – which above all else is what drives John Wall and is what will make the Wizards competitive in the long run.

Along those lines, Vesely plays with passion and flair, and not just the kind he showed in kissing his girlfriend after his name was called. Combining his enthusiasm for dunking the ball, running the floor and defense with his personality, Vesely has the chance to really connect with fans as an NBA player and help the Wizards create an identity.

Of course, calling Blake Griffin the “American Jan Vesely” might be a bit much, but it’s too early to temper that ambition, and watching the Wizards in transition is about to become a real treat.

Actually, Grunfeld later got the order correct:

“He’s played at a high, high level for three years now, and he’s been a pro for five years,” he said. “He’s played in major competition. He has a high motor. He’s a high character guy, wants to win, and he’s a terrific athlete. It’s really the total package, and we were following him for a couple of years.”

Despite the machinations of the rumor machine, which conjured up multiple scenarios that would’ve made Kanter or Williams available, the Wizards also seemed pretty set on taking Vesely from the moment the draft lottery ended.

“We had some conversations [about trading up],” Grunfeld said. “We just felt like they never came to fruition so we felt comfortable in the position we were in.”

<p><i>Pick No. 18: <a href=”http://insider.espn.go.com/nbadraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2011&amp;id=19324″><b>Chris Singleton</b></a>, SF, 6-9, 21 years old, Florida State</i></p> <p>In contrast to Vesely, there’s nothing that needs to be talked into here. There’s simply no way Singleton should’ve been available with this pick. But there goes the NBA Draft again, where upside and potential (see: <b>Tristan Thompson</b>) and oddly specific players teams fall in love with (see: <b>Iman Shumpert</b>) always have a tendency to outweigh the ability to contribute right away – in the way that any and every team needs a contributor: with defense and rebounding.</p> <p>That’s what Singleton did for Florida State. That’s what he’ll do immediately for the Wizards, who get reluctant credit for selecting him when it was really a no-brainer. As a Twitter follower pointed out, the Wizards passed on the chance to draft <b>Stephen Curry</b> and <b>DeJuan Blair</b> two years ago, proof that the obvious move isn’t always obvious to the ones making the move.</p> <p>“We didn’t think he would be there at 18,” Grunfeld said. “We didn’t think it was realistic, but that’s the way the draft goes. Everybody ranks their players a little bit different, and we were fortunate enough to be able to get him down there.”</p> <p>The best defender in the draft, Singleton was also one of the most experienced, with three years of college under his belt. In a draft full of youngsters, the Wizards found themselves getting a relatively mature player who can put pressure on players like McGee and <b>Andray Blatche</b> in parts of their game where they’ve traditionally struggled.</p> <p>“I take a lot [of pride in defense] because it just hit me that I hate to lose,” Singleton said. “That has pushed me to get better and to be better.”</p> <p> </p> <p><i>Pick No. 34: <a href=”http://insider.espn.go.com/nbadraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2011&amp;playerId=19599″><b>Shelvin Mack</b></a>, G, 6-3, 22 years old, Butler</i></p> <p>Having satisfied their most pressing needs in the frontcourt, the Wizards got a key attribute as they help fill in a hole in the backcourt: leadership.</p> <p>Mack is a quality combo guard who can spell Wall, <b>Jordan Crawford</b> and <b>Nick Young</b>. He’s also a former team captain for the USA under-19 team. That makes him someone Wizards head coach <b>Flip Saunders</b> can trust and someone his fellow teammates are likely to respect.</p> <p>Mack didn’t shoot great in this year’s NCAA tournament, but there’s little dispute to how much he achieved in college at Butler, making back-to-back appearances in the NCAA final.</p> <p>“He played in college for four years,” Grunfeld said. “He played under the bright lights, on the big stage and he performed well. He comes from a winning environment, and winning and losing is important. Those are the type of players that we want.”</p> <p> </p> <p><i>*So, after all that gushing, the Wizards are off and running with the next step in their rebuild, right?</i> Not so fast, if you listen to Grunfeld.</p> <p>“We just hope that they can contribute, that they can fit into what we’re trying to do,” he said. “We put an emphasis on the defense because that’s something that we really want to improve on going forward, and all three of these players have shown that they’re good defenders and they’re very good competitors.”</p> <p>None of the following comes as a surprise, but it cuts into the endorsement of last night’s picks – they’re not stocks, but people, after all – and may reflect larger questions about the overall value of this year’s draft pool.</p> <p>”Our plan all along was to build through the draft, accumulate assets and get ourselves cap flexibility moving forward,” Grunfeld said. “The more assets you have, the opportunity might come along when you can put two or three of them together to get a real, real top quality player, or maybe these guys develop to the point where we don’t have to get a real established player because they’ll be the established player. But as with any young team, any rookies, it’s going to take time for them to mesh and for the whole product to come together. But in a year and a half, we’ve added some very nice pieces, and we’ve also given ourselves cap flexibility moving forward so if a good opportunity presents itself in free agency, we can take advantage of that also.”</p>