Last night I wrote about Ernie Grunfeld‘s fascination with international players. It was reported that Nikola Radicevic is going to work out for the Washington Wizards before this month’s NBA Draft. Of course, that immediately caused some to have flashbacks of Grunfeld’s failed picks throughout the years.

Grunfeld’s biggest failure was perhaps his decision to pick Jan Vesely sixth overall in 2011.

Vesely came into the league with virtually no skill-set and he was destined to become a bust.

Really, it was extremely tough to make a case for him going that high in the draft.

I’ve always wondered if mock drafts play a factor in teams’ decisions to pick players, and it’s evident they certainly do.

Vesely struggled to adjust to the NBA game and never became good at anything, to put it bluntly. His length and jumping ability made him a better fit on a volleyball court than on a basketball court.

The Airwolf was eventually traded for a 50-something year old Andre Miller. The Denver Nuggets opted to let Vesely return to Europe, where he currently plays in Turkey. Four seasons and nearly four points per game later, Vesely is out of the NBA and will probably never return.

That horse has been beaten to death, though. After teams draft busts, it’s normal for the fans to look back on players they passed on. Klay Thompson was picked 11th overall in 2011.

Washington needed to address plenty of needs, so Thompson would’ve been a good fit. But, did the Washington Wizards ever consider taking the sharpshooting guard?

According to Flip Saunders (via Grantland), who coached the Wizards at the time, they did: