The Washington Wizards selected 20-year old SG Tomas Satoransky out of the Czech Republic with the 32nd overall pick (2nd round) of the 2012 NBA Draft. Satoransky is 6′7″, 210 pounds. He was a backup overseas last year as he only averaged 16.9 minutes, 4.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.6 steals per game. Satoransky shot 50% from the floor last year, but only 27.3% from three point range. A lot of scouts like Satoransky’s game, but he’s likely a couple years away from playing in the NBA…..if he ever does.

The Washington Wizards took 19-year old shooting guard Bradley Beal out of Florida with the 3rd overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. Beal is 6′3″, 207 pounds and he likes to drive to the rack. He played in 37 games for Florida last year (his only year in college) in which he averaged 34.2 minutes, 14.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Beal only shot 44.5% from the floor and 33.9% from three point range last year, so he has some things to work on. He did shoot better as the season went on. Beal will have a really good shot of starting right away for the Wizards.

The Wizards have acquired 29-year old center Emeka Okafor and 26-year old small forward Trevor Ariza from the New Orleans Hornets for 32-year old small forward Rashard Lewis and the #46 overall pick in this month’s NBA Draft. Okafor will take over as the starting center in Washington with Nene’ sliding over to power forward. Okafor played in 27 games (all starts) for the Hornets last year and he averaged 28.9 minutes, 9.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. He has now played in 511 games (507 starts) in his first 8 years in the NBA and he is averaging 32.6 minutes, 12.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game. Trevor Ariza will likely also step right into the starting lineup at small forward for the Wizards. Ariza played in 41 games (all starts) for the Hornets last year and he averaged 32.9 minutes, 10.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He has now played in 499 games (239 starts) in his first 8 years in the NBA and he is averaging 25.6 minutes, 9.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game. The Wizards also got a $1,703,491 dollar trade exception from the Hornets in this deal and they will have one year to use it or lose it.

Rashard Lewis was a big waste in Washington. He played in 28 games (15 starts) for the Wizards last year and he averaged 26.0 minutes, 7.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Lewis played in 60 games (42 starts) in his two years with the Wizards and he averaged 29.1 minutes, 9.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

The Wizards took on a lot of salary in this deal, but it’s going to make them a lot better basketball team right way. With that in mind, I like this deal for the Wizards as Okafor, Nene’ and Ariza is a pretty solid frontcourt heading into the 2012-13 season.

The Wizards have five free agents heading into free agency, but no big names. Maurice Evans, Cartier Martin and James Singleton could be brought back for the bench, if they are willing to return at the Wizards’ price. They are likely going to let Brian Cook and Morris Almond go though, as neither of them showed much last year for the Wizards. This puts the Wizards in good position to revamp the bench for the 2012-13 season.

The Washington Wizards are going to be looking to add some firepower in the 2012 NBA Draft. They have the #3, #32 and #46 picks in this month’s NBA Draft. In my mock draft (found on bloglockers.com), I have the Wizards taking small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist out of Kentucky with the #3 pick. That would fill a big hole for the Wizards. In the second round, I see the Wizards nabbing shooting guard William Buford out of Ohio State (#32) and small forward Terrance Henry out of Mississippi (#46). This would be a really nice haul for the Wizards.