First a little background on Young. When at Cleveland, he played AAU ball for Pump-N-Run with Gilbert Arenas Sr. as his coach. I’ll have more on that in my article that runs in the paper.

Quotes from Nick …

“It’s a great thing to go there and have someone familiar I can relate with and learn from in Gilbert. The Wizards use a run-and-gun offense that will give me the chance to showcase my game. Hopefully, we can get everyone from L.A. to watch us.”

On dropping to 16: “I sat there for a long time and a lot of teams passed me up. I was getting a little nervous. But I can’t complain. I ended up in a good situation and I love it. I’m happy to be picked this high. It’s been a great experience and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Quotes from Washington Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld …

“Any shooter that plays next to Gilbert is going to get a lot of shots, so that’s going to help his progress. He is a good player and can get his own shot. He needs to learn the pro-style game, but I think he has a great future.”

“Young fits very well with ourt team. He’s a scorer, he’s extremely athletic, long and very competitive. Having played three years at a top college program, he’s mature.”

“We went in with the mentality that we would pick the best player available, and Nick was by far the best caliber player available to us.”

“It was a very easy decision. We didn’t need the whole time to decide on Nick. … The highest player left on the board was the player we picked.”

“I think he can be a very good defensive player. He has athleticism and long arms. Every player that reaches the pro level raises their level of play, and we feel really good about this selection.”

“He shot 44 percent from the 3-point line last year in one of the top conferences in the country. He can get his own shot and, when players reach the pros, they extend their range. What I like about him is his speed, athleticism and quickness. His strength is he can get his own shot, and that is not easy to accomplish.”