As they approach the June 22 NBA draft, the mission for the Warriors ought to be distilled to two words: No teenagers.
OK, maybe three words: No more teenagers.
We say that with the absolute assumption that 19-year-olds Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson will be long off the board before the Warriors select their first-round pick, No. 19 overall.
If Golden State makes a first-round pick it plans to keep, adding another project would collide with the logic applied by the franchise four months ago. And every 19-year-old entering the league a project.
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Back in February, at the trade deadline, the Warriors traded a project for a known commodity. Center James Wiseman, 21 years old, was shipped out. Gary Payton II, a 30-year-old utility player and a significant force on their 2021-22 championship team, was reacquired. They swapped someone who eventually might contribute for someone they knew could help them once healthy.
That move reduced the herd of teenage first-round picks from four – all selected in three consecutive drafts – to three. Still on the roster are Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Patrick Baldwin Jr. A fifth teenager, Ryan Rollins, also remains on the roster but was selected in the second round.
Not one was a mainstay in the rotation.
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Not one was ready to contribute on Day 1. Or Day 50.
The last three drafts were made with both eyes on the future. That much was made clear when the Warriors revamped their player-development staff and went all-in on youngsters with undeveloped skills and little, if any, college experience.
When Golden State chose Wiseman with the No. 2 overall pick in 2020, he was seen as a promising 7-footer with high athleticism and a soft shooting touch who would need at least two or three full seasons to make an impact. J-Wise got 60 games in the NBA before being handed a ticket to Detroit, much to the lingering chagrin of CEO Joe Lacob.
They see in Kuminga what they saw upon choosing him two years ago, a marvelous athlete with high “upside.” He still is discovering the subtleties required to succeed in the NBA. He ranks high on the highlight scale. His on-ball defense is good with the potential for great. His shot is released gradually but is improving. There are fewer moments when JK seems in a different city than everyone else on the court.
The Warriors see in Moody enough to believe is salvageable. He’s not particularly smooth, nor is he an elite athlete. But he possesses a sense of where he should be and what he’s supposed to be doing. He projects not as an All-Star but as a solid rotation player.
Baldwin, drafted in 2022, is not far behind Kuminga and Moody. Indeed, there is a decent chance he will get meaningful minutes. His length and shooting ability are greatly needed. The door is open.
It’s clear that Golden State’s front office, after missing the playoffs in consecutive seasons, glanced at the team’s veteran core – Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, all well into their 30s – and set out to build a team that could compete in 2027.
Then that veteran core recovered and won a fourth title. That was a welcome surprise to every coach and player on the roster.
When I asked outgoing general manager and president of basketball operations Bob Myers a few months ago if that was a “look-what-we-found” championship, he laughed.
“I don’t know that I’d put it that way,” he said. “We thought we had a chance. We hoped we could do it. But we really didn’t know what we had.”
Now the Warriors know precisely what they have. Curry can still bring it at an All-Star level. Thompson led the NBA in 3-point makes. Green remains a singularly formidable figure on defense and still can summon what’s needed to raise his game as the stakes increase.
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Seeing that explains why they shed a piece of the future (Wiseman) for a piece of now (GP2). And why the youngsters mostly sit and watch.
The move to maximize the remaining years of the core leaves the Warriors open to trading the pick, which by rule can only be done after selection because they owe their 2024 pick (top-four protected) to the Memphis Grizzlies. That’s an option.
But if they select a player for their roster, their current strategy indicates it is someone with three or four years of college experience. They’re available, too.
The roster, as is, has enough projects.
