The Washington Wizards, like many teams established in the last 60 years, have undergone many changes. In that span, the franchise is bound to have a colorful draft history.

The franchise first started in Chicago, later transferred to Baltimore, and has since went to Washington, where it has been since the 1970's. The team has seen it all in the draft, from players who went on to become stars like Wes Unseld and John Wall, to others who didn’t live up to their potential, like Kwame Brown and Jan Vesely. 

Right now, the Wizards have Wall and his co-star Bradley Beal, who were both selected by the team in the draft. They hope that the ninth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft this October will give them another young player to pair with their talented backcourt. Wall and Beal are just two of the best players taken by the franchise from the draft.

Here are the best draft picks made by the Baltimore/Washington franchise in its history: 

5. Jeff Malone (1983)

Malone was selected by the Bullets with the 10th overall pick in the 1983 Draft, and he immediately proved that he was worth the high pick. He averaged 12.1 points on 44 percent shooting to go with 1.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists during his first season, and was named to the All-Rookie First Team in 1984. The shooting guard out of Mississippi State would only improve from there, and he was eventually named an All Star in 1986 and 1987. 

Washington reached the playoffs in five of his seven seasons with the team, but they never made it past the first round as the Bullets had the misfortune of running into powerhouse teams like the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons early in the postseason. In his seven seasons with the Bullets from 1983-90, he averaged 20.2 points on 48 percent shooting along with 2.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 548 games, with his productive stint enough to earn recognition as one of the team’s best draft picks. 

4. Bradley Beal (2012)

Two years after selecting point guard John Wall with the first overall pick, the Wizards were looking to complete their backcourt. With this in mind, they selected Bradley Beal out of Florida with the third overall pick. Beal immediately proved that he was worthy of such a high pick, finishing his first season with per game averages of 13.9 points, 3.8 boards, and 2.4 assists. His promising first season in Washington did not go unnoticed, as he was named to All-Rookie First Team in 2013. 

With Wall and Beal running the show, the Wizards were able to content for the playoffs early in the past decade, as the team made the playoffs four times, including runs to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2015 and 2017. When Wall went down with a ruptured Achilles in 2019 and missed an entire season, Beal continued to play well, and was named an All-Star in 2018 and 2019. This season, he finished with averages of 30.5 points on 46 percent shooting, 4.2 rebounds, and 6.1 assists as the team’s leader. Beal is still only 27, but he’s shown that he can still elevate his play to another level, proving him as a bona fide star and one of the Wizards’ best draft selections. 

3. John Wall (2010)

The Wizards didn’t have a good track record with the first overall pick, given that it was Kwame Brown that they last drafted when they had the top pick. But Wall quickly proved that his success in his freshman year at Kentucky would translate in the NBA. He showed his talent to the rest of the league right out of the gate, averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 8.3 assists in his first season, and was named to the All-Rookie First Team. 

Aside from being one of the game’s fastest and most athletic guards, Wall has also shown a knack for sharing the ball as well as being a capable defender. He currently holds the franchise records for most assists and steals, and even proved his athletic prowess by winning the Slam Dunk Contest in 2014.

In nine seasons with the Wizards, Wall has averaged 19 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 9.2 assists. But aside from his on-court impact, Wall also gave Washington a star and a face for their franchise after the team was mired in off-court issues and losing seasons before his arrival. Injuries may have slowed him down in the last couple of seasons, but his achievements for the Wizards in his nearly decade long stay with the team are enough to prove that they were on to something they selected him on draft night in 2010. 

2. Earl Monroe (1967)

Only two players on this list were able to win titles during their NBA careers, and Monroe was one of them. However, he won his only NBA championship while playing for the New York Knicks in 1973. But that doesn’t mean that his stint with the Baltimore Bullets wasn’t memorable, as “Earl the Pearl” was responsible for giving the franchise its first taste of success since entering the NBA in 1961. Taken by the Bullets with the second overall pick in 1967, Monroe was phenomenal in his first season, averaging 24.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists, later on being named as the Rookie of the Year. 

Monroe didn’t only win personal awards in his four seasons for the Bullets, as he led the team to playoff appearances in three of those campaigns. The peak of his time in Baltimore came in the 1970-71 season, when the team reached the NBA Finals. But even though they were swept by Lew Alcindor and the Milwaukee Bucks, Monroe was still impressive in the series. Unfortunately, Monroe would leave the team the following season, but his four-year stay for the team, where he averaged 23.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.6 assists puts him as among their best draft picks. 

1. Wes Unseld (1968)

If Monroe gave the franchise their first taste of success, it was his teammate Wes Unseld who actually took them over the top after he departed the team. With Monroe putting up impressive numbers in his first year, the Bullets selected Unseld with the second overall pick in the 1968 draft to pair with him. The big man out of Louisville showed that he was more than worthy of the pick, averaging 13.8 points, 18.2 rebounds, and 2.6 in his first year. By the end of the year, Unseld won not just Rookie of the Year honors like Monroe, but also bagged the MVP trophy, becoming only the second NBA player to pull off the feat after Wilt Chamberlain. 

Despite the accolades, however, the team suffered heartbreak after heartbreak in the postseason, losing in two Finals before finally breaking through in 1978, when they beat the Seattle Supersonics in seven games. As expected, Unseld was the Finals MVP of the series. The team tried to win back-to-back titles, but were thwarted by the Sonics. Unseld’s NBA career ended after just 13 seasons, which were all spent with the Baltimore/Washington franchise. But by the time he hung up his sneakers, Unseld had won almost every award, including five All-Star appearances and an All-NBA First Team selection in 1969, making him the clear choice as the team’s best draft pick.