By: David McKinney (UWeekly.com) –

Perhaps the Washington Wizards shouldn’t start printing No. 11 jerseys with “Wall” on the back just yet. If anybody in the organization watched college basketball last year, then maybe – just maybe – they’ve heard of the guy who wore No. 21 for Ohio State.

Evan Turner won just about every player of the year award after his stellar junior year at Ohio State, but he became the consensus No. 2 pick after declaring for the NBA Draft. Maybe this is me seeing the world through Scarlet and Gray colored glasses, but Evan Turner is the best prospect in this year’s draft.

Specifically, Turner is the perfect fit for the team that holds to first overall pick, the Wizards. They already have a point guard (somebody named Arenas, but he hasn’t played for awhile), but the team is seriously lacking in scorers outside of Hibachi (remember when that nicknamed sounded cool? Yeah, me neither).

Normally, I’d tell the Wizards to get rid of a cancer like Arenas and start their franchise over with Wall as the poster boy. But since Washington has already said that it will keep Arenas and his hefty contract around for the foreseeable future, there is no way that they medications without a prescription can pick John Wall first in the draft.

Having both Wall and Arenas on board in D.C. would only hurt the growth of what could be a decent Wizards team, with a few additions. They already have a solid frontcourt with Fabricio Oberto and Andray Blatche, and Josh Howard is a nice wing who adds athleticism. Arenas will be running the point, but another scorer who can take over games is needed. Turner, who is a 6-foot, 7-inch versatile wing who can do just about anything (like I really need to tell you guys that), is the perfect piece for the Wizards.

Drafting Wall will only make more headaches for the Wizards, who already have more than enough. The team’s two best players would play the same position. Both players need the ball to be effective, making playing them together almost impossible. Wall isn’t sitting on the bench, and Arenas’ contract will give him his guaranteed minutes as well.

More importantly, Turner is a born leader who isn’t afraid to have the ball in his hands when the game is on the line. His head is on straight, and he’ll take over as the go-to guy when Arenas inevitably gets frustrated or is sitting on the bench with a towel over his head in crunch time. Turner is an NBA-ready, top-level athlete with a little bit of LeBron James and even more Brandon Roy in him.

NBA Draft scouts (well, analysts at least) always have an NBA comparison for players in the draft, and Turner’s comparisons are the aforementioned James and Roy, with the probability of him being somewhere in between the two. Wall is a player similar to Derrick Rose and his possible future teammate Arenas. Who would you rather have?

I’ve never really been a stat person, but they’re worth throwing out here. Turner had 20.4 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 6.2 apg, .519 FG, and .364 3-pt. Wall’s stats are average in comparison: 16.6 ppg, 6.5 apg, .461 FG, .325 3-pt.

Yet another pro in Turner’s tally box is his dedication. When he broke his back in December, Turner was expected to be out for at least eight weeks. He was back in four. Even with many suspecting that he’d take it easy for the rest of the year, Turner led to Buckeyes to a strong finish and became the clear-cut best in the nation.

For a 6-foot, 7-inch point forward, Turner actually isn’t half bad.

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