The 2012 NBA Draft is Thursday night, and mock drafts continue to connect erstwhile St. Louis prep star Bradley Beal with the Washington Wizards at No. 3 overall—about as good a position as Beal could have hoped for after coming out of his freshman season with Florida looking like a late-lottery pick. Draft momentum is a crazy thing—a week ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers might have looked aggressive going after him with the No. 4 pick; now we're reading stories about how the Cavaliers might miss him without making a trade.
The Wizards, meanwhile, having attempted to solidify their frontcourt with Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza, could lock down their young backcourt by pairing Beal with John Wall. It's got to be a pleasant thought, at least, for the Wizards, whose per-game scoring leaders of late have included the likes of Nick Young and post-hibachi Gilbert Arenas.
We'll see what happens on draft day, but leading up to it it's looking like all those suggestions Bradley Beal would be a lottery pick were either selling him short or insufficiently specific about the kind of lottery pick he'd be.