eiffel balky: Links: Washington Wizards introduce Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza

Saturday, June 23, 2012

by Jeff Newman on Jun 23, 2012 9:30 AM EDT in Links

Saturday links:

Yesterday the Wizards introduced Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza, acquired from the Hornets for Rashard Lewis's contract, and both expect to assume leadership roles and help the team make the playoffs. Ariza, who played pickup ball with John Wall the day of the trade, also said that Wall's jump shot "is looking really, really, really good, for those who haven't seen him lately," which is encouraging, but we heard last offseason about how improved Wall's jumper looked and, well, yeah. [Washington Post]
Here's video of the full press conference, plus shorter interviews with both Okafor and Ariza.
Here's some more highlights from yesterday's presser. [Wizards Insider]
Mike ponders rumors that the Cavs might try and trade with the Bobcats for the No. 2 pick so they can select Bradley Beal ahead of the Wizards.

Evan Sidery over at Indy Cornrows, SBNation's Pacer blog, has the Wizards taking Beal in his second mock draft (Note: Pretty much every mock draft in existence has the Wizards taking Beal at this point), and also wonders whether the selection would prompt the Wiz to trade Jordan Crawford.
Meanwhile Jonathan Tjarks questions whether Beal is the best, or even second-best, shooting guard prospect in the 2012 NBA Draft. [SB Nation]
Here's a post from Ridiculous Upside, SBNation's blog concerning NBA prospect, on the draft prospects of Czech guard and Wizards workout participant Tomas Satoransky, including one nugget that I haven't read elsewhere: Satoransky will workout with the Wiz again, as will Michael-Kidd Gilchrist, Austin Rivers and Terrence Ross.
If true (and many have already wondered why the Wizards even bothered working out so many mid-to-late lottery prospects like Rivers and Ross) it could give rise to the question: Are the Wizards considering trading down from No. 3?
For what it's worth, here is the list of prospects the Wizards had worked out or scheduled to work out as of Wednesday, courtesy of Ben Standig. [CSN Washington]
If you've got nothing better to do (be honest, you don't), head on down to Pennsylvania and 13th today at 4 p.m. for the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown, where Truth About It's Kyle Weidie will be a judge. He's got the deets right here, as well as an attempt to out-link me. Grrr...
Mark Cuban pwns Skip Bayless. [SB Nation]

eiffel balky