The Washington Wizards have the ninth pick in the NBA draft for the second straight year. But it might not stay that way on draft night.
With this year’s draft less than a week away, the Wizards are rumored to be interested in moving off the pick — either up or down. The Denver Post reported Tuesday that a league source believes Washington’s ninth selection is available for teams wanting to trade up, like the Denver Nuggets.
The Ringer, meanwhile, has reported that the Wizards would actually like to pick sooner than ninth. In his latest mock draft, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor has Washington jumping to sixth in order to take LaMelo Ball, a top guard prospect who is the brother of Lonzo Ball. To do that, O’Connor has Washington sending the two picks (9 and 37) and wing Troy Brown Jr to the Atlanta Hawks for the sixth pick.
In August, Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard told reporters that he isn’t ruling out any scenario.
“I can’t say this enough,” Sheppard said. “Everything is on the table for us to get better as a franchise. So, these picks, if we can take two picks and move up and somebody wants to do that, we’ll entertain that.”
Last year, the Wizards drafted forward Rui Hachimura in the first round.
The NBA draft begins at 7 p.m. next Wednesday.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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