Draft stock: steady
First and foremost, staying with the Wildcats for his sophomore stanza, and nearly carrying Kentucky to the Final Four, has done wonders for Washington. Virtually every mock draft has him going in the first round. It would shock me if, at the 2019 NBA Draft on June 20 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., he isn’t selected in the first round, although you never completely know with these fickle scenarios.
In examining a bunch of the latest mock drafts published online, I’m seeing Washington projected anywhere from No. 9 to No. 27, with an average of between No. 14 and No. 16, which is on the edge of the lottery. He doesn’t strike me as currently trending up or down with a lot of velocity.
Personally, I’m a fan of Washington, so I’d love for him to get picked at No. 9 by my hometown team, the struggling Washington Wizards. PJ Washington suiting up for the Washington Wizards simply sounds fun. Multiple mock drafts say that Washington, the player that is, could wind up with the Boston Celtics at No. 14. That, too, seems a nice fit.
Washington, who got voted on to the 2018-19 Associated Press All-America third unit, may not have a perfectly defined position in the pros, given his “tweener” label, however, as the NBA becomes more position-less, it’s entirely possible that Washington is primed for a long career as, at the minimum, a durable rotation guy.