THE Washington Wizards used its total selection n ° 43 in 2025 NBA draft To pick out the Florida State Wing Jamir Watkins, strengthening its rear space with a participant recognized for his physique, his versatility and maturity. The selection, acquired by way of a enterprise with Utah Jazz which additionally concerned exchanging selection n ° 18 for No. 21 and extra belongings, made Watkins the third addition to the Wizards 2025 draft class, Be part of the perfect decisions be Johnson (N ° 6) and Will Riley (n ° 21).
Watkins comes out of an distinctive final season in Florida State, the place the 23 -year -old recruit collected a mean of 18.4 factors, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 interceptions per match on 32 appearances. He pulled 42.7% within the subject and 32.1% of the three-point seashore, profitable the honors of the second All-ECC workforce in 2024-2025 after an honorable point out of the pinnacle of the earlier yr. His two -year -old passage with the Seminoles adopted a mandate of three seasons in VCU, which included a missed yr attributable to a knee harm.
The Director Basic of Wizards Will Dawkins expressed For the habits and strategy of Watkins, declaring: “I might say that he’s as mature and as aggressive as a participant as we have been gone by means of the constructing. It had a mix uncommon sufficient for us from physics at each ends…. He’s in measurement. It has a size.
Standing 6’5 ″ and weighing 215 kilos with a 6’11¼ ”scope and a 37 -inch vertical, Watkins brings a bodily profile which, in keeping with the scouts, is prepared for the NBA, particularly on the defensive.
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Categorized n ° 34 on Jonathan Wasserman in 2025 NBA Draft Massive Board, Watkins is taken into account a participant with a excessive flooring attributable to his defensive instruments and his secondary recreation capability.
Defensively, Watkins impressed the scouts by its capacity to maintain a number of positions and disrupt the video games on the ball, a talent offered throughout the mixed scrums in Could. Nevertheless, questions stay on his coherence of photographs and if he can translate his type of assault from downhill in an efficient rating on the skilled stage. Throughout his two years at FSU, he had a mean of 17.0 ppg, 5.9 RPG, 2.6 APG and 1.6 SPG, signaling coherent productiveness.
Watkins is now becoming a member of a listing of Wizards that completed 18-64 final season, positioning it for quick alternatives. With the workforce in a reconstruction section and needing inexpensive and impactful gamers, the second spherical has a robust likelihood of profitable an ordinary NBA contract and contributing early, particularly with its defensive presence and its capacity to ascertain contact with the sting.
His choice was additionally the twentieth and final selection of restoration of the NBA underneath the time period of the long-standing head coach of the FSU, Leonard Hamilton, including a symbolic finish be aware to the legacy of Hamilton and bringing Jamir Watkins to the one NBA Hamilton workforce as soon as skilled.
