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Number one overall pick John Wall, and third-year center JaVale McGee will headline the 16 man roster.

The full roster is as follows:

Trevor Booker             F          6-7       240      11/25/87          Clemson Tigers

Eric Hayes                   G         6-4       180      2/26/87            Maryland Terrapins

Lester Hudson             G         6-3       190      8/7/84              Memphis Grizzlies

Abdulai Jalloh             G         6-2       190      1/10/86            Springfield Armor (D-League)

Cartier Martin              G/F      6-7       220      11/20/84          Washington Wizards

JaVale McGee             C          7-0       252      1/19/88            Washington Wizards

Raymar Morgan           F          6-8       230      8/8/88              Michigan State Spartans

Hamady Ndiaye           C          6-11     235      1/12/87            Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Kevin Palmer               G/F      6-6       205      6/21/87            Texas A&M-CC Islanders

Aaron Pettway             F/C       6-10     240      1/4/80              Ventspils (Latvia)

JP Prince                      G/F      6-7       205      7/14/87            Tennessee Volunteers

Jerome Randle             G         5-10     172      5/21/87            California Bears

Kyle Spain                   F          6-5       209      1/5/87              Passe-Partout Leuven (Belgium)

Mike Sweetney            F          6-8       260      10/25/82          Erie Bayhawks

John Wall                    G         6-4       195      9/6/90              Kentucky Wildcats

Sun Yue                       F          6-7       205      11/6/85            Beijing Aoshen Olympians (China)

The Wizards first summer league game will be Sunday, July 11th at 8pm, against the Golden State Warriors on NBATV.   The Wizards will presumably announce the final summer league roster prior to that game.

Stay tuned to Hoops Addict for more details.

Yesterday, when Booker and N’Diaye were officially introduced by Team President Ernie Grunfeld and head coach Flip Saunders, it seemed like both players would finally have the spotlight to themselves.  But less than an hour after their introductory press conference was completed, the Wizards announced a trade that sent Quinton Ross to the New Jersey Nets for Yi Jianilian and cash.

Luckily for Booker and N’Diaye, Grunfeld knows just how important both players are to the Wizards.

“We had a couple of objectives in this draft, and we wanted to get tougher.  We wanted to get players in this organization that were going to play hard every single night, be professional, and carry themselves in the right way,” Grunfeld explained.  “I think that with these two players we were able to get that.  We think they bring something special to the table, physicality, defensive presence, and an aggressiveness I think we were looking for.”

Coach Saunders shared the same sentiment.

“At the end of last year when we talked about moving forward and especially when we obtained the number one pick in the draft, we said in order to get where wanted to get and be a championship caliber team, we had to improve our competitiveness, improve our intensity, our character of our players–and knowing that every time they stepped on the floor they were going to play at an extremely high level.  Both these guys possess that,” Saunders told the media.

Booker, who says his game is similar to that of Paul Milsap and Carl Landry, led Clemson in scoring and rebounding during his senior year, by averaging 15 points and 8.2 rebounds.  But when asked what the biggest strength of his game was, he went in a different direction.

“I love defense,” Booker said confidently. “If an offensive player tries to challenge me with the ball, I’m not going to back down from anybody. It’s a big challenge for me. I don’t want anybody to score on me or score on my team. I’m going to do anything I can to keep the ball from going in the hole.”

N’Diaye, who compares himself to Ben Wallace, averaged 9.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and a whopping 4.5 blocks a game during his senior year at Rutgers en route to Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors.

While talking with the media he was very candid about his shot-blocking abilities and how he sees his game overall.

“I’ve got a long way to go.  Six years of basketball, doesn’t mean this is my best,” N’Diaye said with a huge smile.  “Blocking shots really… its a feel.  Its something that I love to do, and like Trevor[Booker] said, I don’t like when people score on me, so I will jump as high as I have to, to get that ball.”

Both  Booker and N’Diaye wowed Saunders and the Wizards coaches in their workouts.  Booker said he had a “LeBron James-like” block on one of the players he was facing and the coaches were really impressed.  N’Diaye was blocking every shot in sight during his workout, but not keeping them inbounds.

When Saunders asked him why he kept sending the ball out of bounds, N’Diaye replied: “Coach, the crowd goes crazy!”

Booker, N’Diaye, the much ballyhooed John Wall, and the other summer league invitees will participate in rookie mini-camp, before they head to the Vegas Summer League, Saunders said during the press conference.   Specific dates for the mini-camp were not given.

“This trade is a good opportunity to add a skilled seven-footer with significant NBA experience who was the sixth overall pick in the draft just three years ago,” said Grunfeld.  “Yi fits in very well with our ongoing plan of building towards the future with a core of young, talented players.”

For the Nets, this move clears more salary cap room as they continued their quest for LeBron James and the other major free agents of 2010.  And according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Yi’s skillset did not exactly fit in to new Nets coach, Avery Johnson’s plans.

In Yi, the Washington Wizards gain a player who can play both the small and power forward positions, and he gives them a bit of insurance while Andray Blatche recovers from foot surgery.  Salary cap wise, this still allows the Wizards flexibility since Yi has a player option that the team has the option of picking up at the end of the 2010-2011 season.

Yi was originally the sixth pick of the 2007 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, where he averaged 8.6 points and 5. 2 rebounds.  He was traded to the Nets before the 2008 season, and in two seasons there, he averaged 10.3 points and 6.2 rebounds a game.

The Wizards acquired Ross along with Josh Howard and James Singleton on February 13th of this year as part of the trade that sent DeShawn Stevenson,  Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler to the Dallas Mavericks.  He played sparingly for the Wizards averaging just 1.5 points in 25 games.

The acquisition of Yi, is one of the several moves the Wizards have made this offseason.  During last Thursday’s NBA Draft, they took John Wall number one overall, along with Trevor Booker and Hamady N’Diaye.  The Wizards have also reportedly added former Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich and Kevin Seraphin from France, and Washington Post beat writer Michael Lee is reporting that an qualifying offer will not be made to Wizards guard Randy Foye, thus making him a free agent.

Stay tuned to Hoops Addict for more information on the Washington Wizards.

Download audio file (062710mobley.mp3)

There was a plaque from Adrian Fenty, Mayor of Washington D.C., declaring Friday, June 25th, 2010, John Wall Day;  There was a three minute, welcome-to-DC-John Wall video featuring D.C. sports celebrities like Donovan McNabb, Alexander Ovechkin, and Steven Strasburg;  And whether it was the banners bearing his name outside the arena, or the Wizards’ employees wearing shirts with “Wall” across the front, there was no mistake that this day belonged to John Wall.

Team President Ernie Grunfeld kept using phrases like “new era” and “character” to describe  Wall’s arrival, and head coach Flip Saunders joined in by also praising Wall’s character, and calling the arrival of the point guard “heaven sent”.  Both Saunders and Grunfeld could barely finish their sentences without  thunderous applause from the kids and fans who were also in attendance.

At that moment it was became crystal clear to me that the pressure on John Wall would exceed that of a normal number one draft pick.  He isn’t just expected to be the starting point guard on a team that has designs on returning to the playoffs, but Wall is being called upon to restore the emphasis on good character and behavior that has been absent since Gilbert Arenas was suspended in January of this year.

That type of pressure would arguably be easier for Wall to handle, if Arenas had been cut or traded to another team.  But according to Grunfeld and new owner Ted Leonsis, Arenas is still very much a part of this Washington Wizards team, and is expected to be in the starting backcourt with Wall. 

The opinions on whether Wall and Arenas can play together seem to vary greatly.  On draft night, ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy and Fox Sports Radio contributor Stephen A. Smith seemed to think they would fare quite well together, but he  seems to be in the minority with that opinion.  Most people whose job it is to follow these things, like ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption co-host Tony Kornheiser and Yahoo’s Adrian Wajnarowski seem to think that it is mistake to combine the two players, and tension will be in the air as a result.

Not only do I agree with Van Gundy and Smith, that Wall and Arenas can play well together and thrive, I believe that these players need each other to have a successful 2010-2011 season.

Arenas needs Wall to deflect some of the well-deserved criticism and questions, that will come the minute he sets foot on the court for training camp.  Even though he’ll attempt to lean on the tried and true ”it’s all in the past” cliche’ for comfort, Arenas will have to explain his gun incident, his halfway house stay, his feelings on Leonsis, Grunfeld, Saunders and the possibility of him being traded. 

Last season, just the return of Arenas from injury, caused a frenzy in the Wizards locker room, and there were crowds of media camped out in front of his locker for answers.  There was no other story and no other player to deflect the attention away Arenas.  This changes with Wall’s arrival, because no matter what Arenas is doing, saying or not saying, there will always be a number one draft pick in the same locker room who commands the same if not more attention.

On the court, the same concept will apply.  Arenas will be sharing the backcourt with a player who is quick, can penetrate and kick,  get his own shot, and has the ability to pass the ball better than he can.   This allows Arenas to focus on the one thing he has been so good at during his nine-year career and that’s score with great proficiency.  The guilt associated with not moving the ball or not keeping the offense moving as a point guard is diminshed greatly with Wall’s presence.  As with anything, there will surely be a period of adjustment, but between training camp and the first few weeks of the season, those problems can be solved.

From Wall’s standpoint, the presence of  Arenas, who is an All-Star and a proven scorer, can only help his job as a rookie point guard.  In football, the best friend of a young quarterback is a proven running back who keep the offense out of third and long situations, and what Wall will have in Arenas is no different. 

Based on Wall’s talent and his Kentucky highlight reel, he can run an offense and mix in his own just fine, but he is still a rookie.  As good as Rajon Rondo played in the playoffs this year, when he first played with Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, he struggled with gaining their confidence as well as his own.  Luckily for Rondo, the three All-Stars were able to carry the team until he was fully ready.  In Arenas (and Andray Blatche once he recovers from foot surgery), Wall will have players who can bail him out while Coach Saunders, Assistant Coach Sam Cassell (and maybe Kirk Hinrich) teach him how to efficiently play point guard.  Once Wall learns that, Blatche, Arenas and others will only continue to compliment him and make him better.

Off the court, it would be nice if Wall had a mentor and/or a big brother figure in Arenas, but that may not be realistic.  But again, on those days when Wall has to meet with the media and answer tough question after tough question, the mere presence of Arenas will lessen the mounting pressure that’s being placed on him daily.

From now until training camp, we will continue to hear about John Wall and Gilbert Arenas separately.  Wall in be in the Vegas Summer League getting his feet wet in the NBA game, and Arenas will continue to workout in Chicago, performing maintenance on his knee.  The Wizards  braintrust will continue to sell Wall as the face of the team and Arenas’  as a valued, but very much secondary member of the team.  But by the time training camp ends and that first regular season game tips off, not only will the Wizards realize they need both of these men for a successful season, but Wall and Arenas will discover just how much they need each other.

But the Wizards were one of the busier teams on draft night, while  they made some moves that aren’t official and cannot be fully discussed as of yet such as the acquisition of Kirk Hinrich, there were two other official moves the Wizards made they hope will pay immediate dividends.

The Wizards acquired the draft rights to forward Trevor Booker and center Hamady N’Diaye from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for the rights to Lazar Hayward and Nemanja Bjelica.

Booker was drafted 23rd overall while N’Diaye was selected 56th.

“We are very pleased to add Trevor Booker and Hamady N’Diaye to our roster on an exciting night for our franchise,” said Team President Ernie Grunfeld. “Trevor is a strong rebounder and hard-nosed defender with an aggressive mentality. He is a real competitor who will bring a strong desire and physicality to our team. Hamady also plays with toughness and a lot of effort, and has an excellent ability to block shots.”

The 6″7″ 240lb Booker, who worked out for the Washington Wizards last week, averaged 15.2 ppg and 8.4 rpg during his senior year at Clemson in 2009-10, en route to earning First Team All-ACC honors.  He also was named to the All ACC Defensive Team this season.

The 6’11″, 235lb N’Diaye, who was among the first group of players the Wizards worked out back on May 13th, averaged 9.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.5 blocks for Rutgers this season, and was named Big East Defensive Player of the year.

Both players are expected to play for the Washington Wizards in the Vegas Summer League.   Stay tuned to Hoops Addict for more Wizards-related information.

Download audio file (001_A_002_ernie-on-john-wall_2010_06_24.mp3)

The day before he is expected to be the number one pick in the 2010 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards, John Wall unveiled the new basketball shoes he will be wearing during his rookie year.

This morning at Madison Square Garden, Reebok and John Wall held a press conference to unveil the new John Wall shoe, entitled “Zig Slash”.

The shoe was created by Reebok and it is part of their “Zig Tech” collection designed to give athletes more energy. The shoe is already worn by such high-profile athletes Peyton Manning, Chad Ocho Cinco, David Ortiz and Alexander Ovechkin, and Wall will be the first basketball player to wear these shoes.

Reebok will begin featuring John Wall and his new shoe during the 2010 NBA Draft tomorrow night on ESPN. Video footage of today’s press conference can be seen below.