Washington has right to draft star PG Wall
Abe Pollin performed one final magnanimous act before his family relinquished control of the Washington Wizards, bestowing on his team a winning combination of ping pong balls in the 2010 NBA Draft Lottery.
The result is the first overall pick in the NBA Draft in June, which the Wizards are likely to use on Kentucky freshman guard John Wall, making him the centerpiece of an immediate rebuilding effort after an utterly disastrous season.
Six months after Pollin’s death, his widow, Irene Pollin, represented the Wizards in Secaucus, N.J., wearing her husband’s 1978 Bullets championship ring. Washington was handed the No. 1 pick despite owning just the fifth-best odds (10.3 percent, or 103 chances out of 1,000).
“His spirit was with her, and it was a very moving time for her, which was great,” said Wizards president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld, who also carried a lucky charm in his pocket, a gold chain with a ball attached that he was given by his father at age 6. “It’s an end of an era and the beginning of a new era. Ted Leonsis, our new owner, was there, and he got to enjoy it, and what better way to start a new era than with the No. 1 pick.”
Leonsis is nearing completion of a deal to purchase the Pollin family’s 56 percent stake in the team.
It is the third time the Wizards have claimed the top pick in the draft, and the first since 2001, when they chose Kwame Brown, who remains one of the most disappointing overall No. 1’s in NBA history. Washington chose Walt Bellamy with the top pick in 1961.
This time, the likely top pick is Wall, the 2009-10 Southeastern Conference player of the year, who led the Wildcats to the NCAA East Region final in March.
“I think he’s an outstanding player,” Grunfeld said of Wall. “A very competitive, outstanding defender, plays with high energy, and he’s a winner.”
Pollin’s death was one of many difficult circumstances the Wizards faced last season, in which they finished 26-56 despite being predicted to be a playoff contender. The year was also marred by the suspension and conviction of Gilbert Arenas for bringing guns into the locker room at Verizon Center.
With the season in tatters and the team’s sale underway, the front office dismantled the team, setting in motion the trades of cornerstone players Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, gifting Leonsis with $21 million in cap space this summer.
Pollin apparently had one more present to cap his unforgettable legacy.
“I was just so happy, and it was almost disbelief when our name came up,” said Grunfeld. “But I was very happy. I had a double fist pump when they announced that Washington has the first pick.”
