- Aug 12, 2004
- 9,737
- 205
"so you're telling me there's a chance!!"
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Originally Posted by acidicality
didn't work. those goddamn bulls
Originally Posted by acidicality
yeah....that team is gonna be crazy. Tyrus Thomas is gonna get some nice alleyoops
if they draft Rose and Hinrich becomes expendable, I wouldn't mind having him here as a backup PG.
Originally Posted by Paul Is On Tilt
Dang, I just got home and I found out that we got the 14th pick. That damn 0.5%.
[h1]Warriors stay put, get No. 14 pick in NBA draft[/h1]
By Geoff Lepper
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched:�05/20/2008 07:04:03 PM PDT
In the absence of a pingpong-ball miracle Tuesday night, the Warriors received the 14th pick in the 2008 NBA draft.
Now the question is, do they actually want to keep it?
Golden State was the NBA's third-youngest team this past season, and coach Don Nelson said after the finale that his team relied too much on inexperienced players to try and fill the void left by the trade of star guard Jason Richardson.
In addition, executive vice president Chris Mullin guaranteed that restricted free agents Andris Biedrins (22 years old) and Monta Ellis (also 22) will be retained, and said he expects rookies Brandan Wright (20) and Marco Belinelli (22) to be part of the team's playing rotation in 2008-09.
Under those circumstances, adding another mid-range first-round pick might be the last thing the Warriors need. Recent picks in the No. 14 spot have been a mixed bag, including promising wing players such as Al Thornton (Los Angeles Clippers, 2007) and Ronnie Brewer (Utah, 2006) but also such duds as Mateen Cleaves (Detroit, 2000) and William Avery (Minnesota, 1999).
That said, director of player personnel Mitch Richmond, who represented Golden State at the drawing in Secaucus, N.J., said last week he feels the team will be able to find someone at No."'14 who can provide help.
"Sometimes, it never falls the way you think it's going to fall, and we feel pretty confident that the crop of guys we get (to choose from) will help our team," Richmond said. "So we're looking forward to it coming down to that."
Of course, the situation would have been vastly different if the Warriors had managed to hit their 1.81 percent chance of leaping from No. 14 into one of the top three spots in a draft that's expected to be headlined by freshman stars Michael Beasley of Kansas State and Derrick Rose of Memphis.
Instead, it was Chicago which moved from No. 9 to No. 1. Miami, owner of the league's worst record and the most chances in the lottery, will go second, followed by Minnesota.
The remainder of the first round will go in inverse order of record: Seattle, Memphis, New York, the Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee, Charlotte, New Jersey, Indiana, Sacramento, Portland and the Warriors.
For his part, Richmond sees no problem with bringing in a draft choice that drops Golden State's average age down lower than before.
"I think if you look around the league ... that's where the league is going," Richmond said. "I don't really care too much about how old or young a guy is. If he can help what we can bring and add another dimension to our team, I think it'll help. And I think we'll look at all opportunities to help our team first before we even think about moving someone."
| Golden State | Position: C Height: 7-0 Weight: 255 Age: 20 School: Texas A&M |
[h2]Post-lottery Mock Draft: Beasley 1, Rose 2, Brook Lopez 5… and Westbrook to the Warriors[/h2]
By Tim Kawakami
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 9:51 pm in College basketball, NBA, Stanford, Warriors.
This is guaranteed to be wildly, incoherently wrong, not just by draft night (June 26) but long before that. Everything changes. Nobody knows what's happening.
We don't even know if all of the underclassmen will stay in the draft. (Pull-out date for the test-the-water guys: June 16.)
Yet I'm such a fool for dumb things,why not toss out an NBA mock draft only hours after the first 14 slots were determined by the lottery? (Wrote a column about the Warriors' post-lottery off-season options for tomorrow morning's paper. They stayed at pick 14-getting 1-2-3 would've solved a lot of things… but oh well.)
Right to it then, and please mock the mock. That's what it's there for…
1. Chicago…. F Michael Beasley, Kansas State.
-Comment: Bulls had a 1.7% chance to land the top pick and they have a 0% chance to get this wrong, choosing between landmark PG Derrick Rose and a guaranteed pts-reb man in Beasley.
They just invested in Hinrich (wisely or not) and could use post-offense, so despite already having Thomas, Noccioni, Noah and Deng, I'm guessing Chicago goes with Beasley and then goes wheeler-dealer with all their extra forwards. There will be bidders. Rose would be a great pick, also, obviously (then they'd offer Ben Gordon or Hinrich in deals).
2. Miami…. PG Derrick Rose, Memphis.
-Comment: When No. 2 is almost better than No. 1. Miami could use Beasley, but Rose is the answer to so many other problems-Rose, Wade, Marion… yep, that works for me. Tanking works!
3. Minnesota… PG Jerryd Bayless, Arizona.
-Comment: Could go Brook Lopez, but I don't know if you want to pair him with Al Jefferson down low. I wouldn't. Bayless isn't a pure point and neither is Randy Foye, so maybe you put the two of them together on the floor and just let them make plays.
4. Seattle…. G O.J. Mayo, USC.
-Comment: Sonics are haunted by recent bust center selections of Petro, Swift, Sene… Lopez actually would be a good pick to combine with Durant, but Mayo's scoring potential might be too much to resist.
5. Memphis…. C Brook Lopez, Stanford.
-Comment: This'd be a very lucky outcome for the Grizz, who could use some luck. They could slap Lopez right into the starting lineup next to Milicic, with Gay, Conley and Miller, then Lowry and Crittenton coming off the bench… if Brook plays D, that's not a terrible team. If Lopez is gone by now, Memphis could go with Gallinari.
6. NY Knicks… F Danilo Gallinari, Italy.
-Comment: Mike D'Antoni needs play-makers to get his style going in New York. He and Donnie Walsh won't be afraid to draft a young Euro and Galllinari is the right Euro.
7. LA Clippers… G Eric Gordon, Indiana.
-Comment: Clips really need guards. They need forwards, too, but guards especially. Gordon's the best one left. Could also take Randolph, Augustin or Westbrook. Kevin Love is another possibility here.
8. Milwaukee… F Anthony Randolph, LSU.
-Comment: The Bucks were one of the least-athletic teams on earth this season and Randolph is an explosive player. I don't know if he's actually any good, but he's an athlete.
9. Charlotte… F DeAndre Jordan, Texas A&M.
-Comment: Don't know if he's the right fit for a Larry Brown team, but I think MJ will like DAJ (and his last name). If D. Jordan is as good as some people think, he could cover up a lot of the Bobcats' weaknesses-and possibly replace Okafor. If Jordan isn't that good… oh well, another Bobcat weakness.
10. New Jersey… F Kevin Love, UCLA.
-Comment: The Nets have Devin Harris, might trade Richard Jefferson, and I don't know what the heck else they have there. Love is the surest bet right now.
11. Indianapolis… PG D.J. Augustin, Texas.
-Comment: How long are they going to go with Tinsley at PG? It has been about three years too long already. But if Love is still there, Bird will probably take him. Arthur's an option, too.
12. Sacramento… F Joe Alexander, West Virginia.
-Comment: You say they can't take a SF with Artest there? I say that's precisely why you take a SF. Who isn't crazy. Batum, Arthur or Westbrook could be options here.
13. Portland… F Nicolas Batum, France.
-Comment: What do you get for a team that has everything (except experience)? Batum sort of duplicates Travis Outlaw as a back-up SF, and Outlaw sort of duplicates Martell Webster… but Portland has duplicate good players at almost every position, except PG, and there's no pure PG worth taking here. Well, maybe Westbrook, but I think the Blazers will pass.
14. GSW……. G Russell Westbrook, UCLA.
-Comment: If the Warriors think he can play some PG, alongside Ellis, this could be a huge value pick for a team that needs big guards who can pass and defend (because Ellis plays small and doesn't distribute very well).
But it's possible that Nelson won't like Westbrook-he's not quite a Nellie-perfect G because he has a shaky outside J. If it's not Westbrook, or if he's gone ahead of this pick, Arthur or Robin Lopez look like very solid picks.
That would be a nice debate: Arthur is a much more polished offensive player-I think Nellie would play him immediately-but I wonder about a guy who was that talented at that size (6-9, 225) who only played 24 minutes a game last year and only averaged 12.8 points and 6.3 rebounds.
Robin Lopez's jumpshot would scare the heck out of Nellie and I'm not sure he could play with Wright or Biedrins. So you'd have young big men… basically sharing one position: Non-shooting post defender.
But Lopez could come out right away and defend some big guys: Boozer, Milsap, etc.. I think the Mullin would lean to Lopez. I think Nellie would want Arthur. Interesting.
That's why I'm giving them Westbrook.
Really, if the Warriors get any one of those three-Westbrook, Arthur or Lopez-that's a pretty good maximation of the 14th slot.
Last year's 14th pick: Al Thornton.
2006 14th pick: Ronnie Brewer.
2005 14th pick: Rashad McCants.
2004 14th pick: Kris Humphries.
2003 14th pick: Luke Ridnour.
2002 14th pick: Fred Jones.
2001 14th pick: Troy Murphy.
2000 14th pick: Mateen Cleaves.
* By the way, here's who I DON'T see the Warriors taking Any young skinny forward who reminds Nelson of Brandan Wright or Patrick O'Bryant.
That means I've eliminated: Randolph, Jordan and especially JaVale McGee… all potential low-motor, erratic but talented skinny tall players who Nellie WILL NOT PLAY.
He'll find a way to work Wright in next year after basically red-shirting him as a rookie. Nellie froze out O'Bryant for two years.
Zero need for the Warriors to see him to do it to a third highly-picked Warriors rookie in a row.