Mike Dunleavy's first time attending the NBA Draft as Warriors general manager should have instilled credibility among the front office, coaching staff, players and fans, and his acquisitions of Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis, along with selecting them 19th and 57th overall, gave Golden State its best draft class in over a decade.
In Coach Dunleavy's second draft, the Warriors have one pick, the 52nd pick, in the 2024 NBA Draft. They also only had the 19th pick in last year's draft. To acquire Jackson-Davis with the penultimate pick in the draft, the Warriors essentially sent Patrick Baldwin Jr. and cash to the Washington Wizards on draft night in exchange for the 57th pick.
It would make sense to employ similar tactics this year, although the strategy has been used more frequently, albeit to varying degrees, in previous years.
In 2016, then-Warriors general manager Bob Myers paid $2.4 million and the 38th pick in the draft to the Milwaukee Bucks to acquire shooting guard Patrick McCaw from UNLV. McCaw made his NBA debut on his 21st birthday. Despite being just a rookie, he recorded 18 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals in Game 2 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals, posting a plus-19 rating.
There were bright moments, but McCaw's NBA career was never a success, as contract troubles cut his time with the Warriors to just two years.
The Warriors moved up again the following year in the 2017 draft, paying $3.4 million to the Chicago Bulls to acquire Jordan Bell from the Oregon Ducks. Bell's rookie season was by far the best season of his five-year NBA career, appearing in 57 games, 13 of which were starts. Bell averaged 14.2 minutes per game in the conference finals and 13.5 minutes in the Warriors' sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Bell averaged 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in the 2018 Finals. That's a win.
Two years later, the Warriors made an infamous trade in the second round.
Their Alen Smailagic flirtation ended with them sending $1 million and second-round picks in 2021 and 2023 to the New Orleans Pelicans. Smailagic played in 29 games. The experiment, if that's the right way to put it, didn't work.
Trading up to acquire Ryan Rollins in 2022 also didn't help, but he didn't have much of a shot. The Warriors traded the No. 51 pick and $2 million to the Atlanta Hawks to move up nine spots to acquire the guard from Toledo. A few people thought highly of Rollins, but he had to have foot surgery early on and played just 12 games as a rookie before being traded to the Wizards for Chris Paul.
The process just didn't translate into results. Golden State's mindset shouldn't be taken as a negative here.
This year's draft is considered one of the worst in recent years. In terms of prospects, there aren't any obvious stars, let alone any. But you can find rotation players, probably more in their 30s than in their 50s.
Young, cheap talent is a must for the Warriors. Can they find TJD in the second round two years in a row? Probably not. But in a lower draft year, they're more likely to fill a need higher in the second round than lower.
If Dunleavy and the Warriors find a prospect they really like, there's no reason to hope something will just come their way and everything will work out.
Oakland native Keshad Johnson could be a 23-year-old forward who emerged as a shooter in his fifth year of college. Baylor senior wing Jalen Bridges (23) could be the perfect 3-point and defensive player. Cameron Christie is only 19, but the Warriors might like his 3-point shot and recruit him. Kevin McCuller Jr., 23, has an intensity that makes him an easy fit. Pelle Larson, a 23-year-old senior wing who shot 42.1 percent from the 3-point line last season at Arizona, checks a lot of boxes for the Warriors.
With the Warriors' current situation, it's possible none of those prospects are still around.
A season where the Warriors missed the playoffs may force them to take a gamble or two this offseason, once again loosening their purse strings and taking a chance on a high draft pick.
The little things matter too.
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