WASHINGTON (AP) - For the second year in a row, the Washington Wizards did not make a pick in the NBA draft.
Until last year, the franchise had never sat out the proceedings entirely.
Washington went into Thursday night’s draft having traded away both of its 2017 picks.
The team sent its first-round choice, which wound up being No. 22, to the Brooklyn Nets at the trade deadline in a swap that brought Bojan Bogdanovic to the Wizards. Washington’s second-round pick, the 52nd overall, was traded Wednesday night to the New Orleans Pelicans for backup guard Tim Frazier.
“A boring draft night for us, huh?” coach Scott Brooks said after the first round concluded. “It’s kind of strange that it worked out that way. But we’re excited … with Tim - with trading away our pick to get Tim.”
Brooks added about Frazier, who has played in three NBA seasons with three clubs: “I like developing players, but we had a chance to get a veteran guy that’s kind of worked his way into the league.”
Said team president Ernie Grunfeld: “We made our move last night.”
The Wizards went 49-33 last season, their first under Brooks, and made it to the second round of the playoffs, losing to the Boston Celtics in Game 7.
Brooks said that Frazier and holdover Tomas Satoransky, a second-round draft pick in 2012 who joined the Wizards as an NBA rookie last season, would be in the mix for playing time as a backup to All-Star point guard John Wall.
Starting shooting guard Bradley Beal also could get some minutes in place of Wall at the point, Brooks said.
“Definitely, that spot is open,” Brooks said. “We have some good options.”
Notes: F Kelly Oubre Jr. is back to working out on the court after having offseason platelet-rich plasma injections in his right knee. “That knee was bothering him a little bit throughout the end of the season, but I thought our staff did a good job of making him ready for every game,” Brooks said. “It’s good that he got the treatment successfully and he’s back on the court and (will) be fine going into training camp.”
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