The Wizards have the No. 9 pick in the NBA draft — and lots of options for how to use it

For Wizards General Manager Tommy Sheppard, that’s the tricky part.

Washington owns the No. 9 pick in Sheppard’s first official draft as the franchise’s top basketball executive. (He served in an interim role during last year’s draft.) While it is likely the Wizards stay put and select one of the handful of players they believe suit their needs, there is also the possibility the team doesn’t remain at No. 9.

Because the draft is wide open and because Washington has fairly specific needs to satisfy its goal of being a playoff-ready team, the franchise has options.

The team knows what it wants; it’s just about how it gets there.

“You make sure you know what all the options are and you choose the one that’s best for your team. If it’s staying at nine, we’re pretty happy there,” Sheppard said during a virtual news conference Tuesday. “Depending on the cost to move up, we’re certainly looking to move up, but you could also move back and maybe end up with the same player that you wanted at nine. It just all depends on the board ahead of you, so it really helps to have real-time information, try to ignore a lot of the rumors that are out there and just have a straight line connection with everybody that’s ahead of us, everyone that’s behind us. … Right now, where we’re at, option-wise, I think we’re at a very comfortable position.”

Washington’s priority is to gain defensive reinforcements before the season starts Dec. 22. It’s looking to draft a defensive-minded player who can guard multiple positions and make significant contributions sooner rather than later; Sheppard has said the Wizards want to be in contention for a playoff spot. With franchise cornerstone Bradley Beal, a free agent in two years, having publicly said time and again the team needs to win to keep him around, Washington doesn’t have the luxury of developing its young roster at a slower pace. It must strike a balance between patience and urgency.

The Wizards, who also have the 37th pick, believe there are about 13 players in the draft who tick off the requisite boxes. They have interviewed more than 85 prospects, including mock-draft favorites Onyeka Okongwu of USC, one of the class’s most talented centers, and Auburn’s Isaac Okoro, a rangy wing and versatile defender, both of whom may be available at No. 9.

If their favorite targets are gone, trading down wouldn’t be catastrophic. While the top tier of this year’s class lacks superstars, most analysts believe there is solid talent — meaning dependable role players, not generational pieces — late in the first and early in the second round.

As for trading up, Sheppard isn’t afraid to make a flashy play Wednesday night if the Wizards could wrangle a higher pick. Washington would be comfortable taking the kind of glittery, top-tier player who could develop into a franchise bedrock in two or three years should Beal or point guard John Wall not be around.

Sheppard was asked at a news conference in August to explain his views on drafting for need vs. taking the best talent available.

“Well, you always want to draft an impact player, but if we see a guy that we think in a year or two will be a front-line player, we’re not afraid to — I’ve said this several times: Hey, let’s swing for the fences,” Sheppard said. “If it’s a guy who’s going to take a year or two to develop and he doesn’t play very much for us next year, in our heart if that’s the right call, then we have to do that.”

He reiterated his position Tuesday.

“Hope isn’t a strategy. We do need rim protection, we do have the ninth pick, but we also have free agency. We also have the 37th pick. There’s always trades,” Sheppard said. “There’s a number of things we could do to satisfy that need.”

Keeping their top executive’s philosophy in mind, the Wizards also could swerve and take a player who isn’t defensively oriented. Washington is content to gain quality depth at every position, guards included, and add defense later. Free agency, which begins Friday, could give the Wizards the option of adding a veteran defender with a more developed body as opposed to a rookie. Sheppard said Tuesday the team is trying to acquire more second-round picks.

“What I found up close and personal, when we were in the bubble — the teams we played against were basically the best teams that are all down there — depth is the key,” Sheppard said in August.

Despite their myriad options, the most obvious situation Wednesday is that the Wizards stick with the ninth pick.

All Washington has to do is pick the right player, not that there will be much time to celebrate if it does. Free agency, with a whole new slew of options to consider and decisions to make, begins less than 48 hours later.