By Justin Worsley
It was all but official last month that John Wall will be spending this season wearing a Washington Wizards jersey when the team won the NBA lottery last month. Announcing the pick today was a mere formality.
Wall, a 6-foot-4 196-pound point guard was one of four Kentucky players selected in Thursday night's draft, and becomes the first Kentucky player to be selected first-overall in the NBA Draft.
Drafting Wall could make guard Gilbert Arenas expendable. Arenas was released from a halfway house last month and currently under two years probation after Arenas was discovered storing firearms in his team locker room. Last week, Arenas was voted one of the most disliked people in sports according to an E-Poll Market Research.
Washington, who went 26-56 last season, receive an instant scoring threat in Wall, who averaged 16.6 points per game for the Wildcats during their 35-3 campaign last season. Washington's best scorer, Arenas, averaged 22.5 points per game in the 32 games he played in before being suspended for the remainder of the season following his arrest.
Washington is hoping that Wall does not end up like their former top draft pick, Kwame Brown. Brown, who was selected by a Michael Jordan-managed Wizards team, never averaged more than 10.9 points a season during his four years in Washington and left the team once his contract expired in 2005.
Former teammate DeMarcus Cousins went fifth overall in the draft after the Sacramento Kings drafted the center. Forward Patrick Patterson and guard Eric Bledsoe were also drafted by the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Oklahoma City, however, immediately traded away Bledsoe's rights to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for a future first round pick.
Ohio State's Evan Turner went second overall to the Philadelphia 76ers.
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