The Wizards have shown just how enthusiastic they are about the prospects in Thursday’s NBA Draft — by extending qualifying offers to restricted free agents Othyus Jeffers, Hamady Ndiaye, Larry Owens and Nick Young.
Better to start the summer of labor uncertainty with known quantities such as Jeffers and Owens. The draft is full of unknown ones such as Klay Thompson and Alec Burks, both of whom have some of Young’s skills but not all of them.
Ndiaye is still valued since he was a draft pick, as are fellow rookies Trevor Booker, Jordan Crawford, Kevin Seraphin and John Wall, who all had the third-year options on their contracts picked up.
It’s a safe play for the Wizards, who know the 2012 draft should be stacked.
“There is a depth of good players [this year], guys that can come into the league and play and be pieces to good teams and maybe rotational players,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said in a conference call last week. “But I don’t see a ton of guys that really excite you.”
