Wait, is the NBA draft this week?
That’s what a lot of Warriors fans are definitely thinking after the Dubs won their fourth championship in eight years last Thursday and then celebrated it with a championship parade on Monday. But yes, the draft is already here and the Warriors have the No. 28 pick in the first round, along with the No. 51 pick and the 57th pick in the second round.
While the Warriors have been successful with the selection at the end of the first round before (Jordan Poole was ranked 28th in 2019 and Kevon Looney was selected 30th in 2015), they could Bob Myers and Co. decide to change the selection this year?
Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated reported Monday, citing sources, that the Warriors are “working to change” the No. 28 team given their sizeable payroll and the “need to integrate James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody into the rotation this season. coming”.
Woo’s report goes into his simulated draft, where he links Milwaukee striker James Baldwin to the Dubs at number 28 if they keep the selection.
“Baldwin still has a taste for his injury history and his frustrating year in college, but he continues to attract first-round interest in terms of size and potentially his three-point elite shot. “, writes Woo.
Negotiating the selection for a future asset would not be a surprise. As Woo points out, the Warriors already have a record payroll and want to integrate their recent lottery election into a veteran rotation that will fight to defend their title.
The Warriors know with 100 percent certainty that Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green will return. While key players Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins are eligible for the extensions, they both have a contract for next season independently. They will come back too.
It has been reported that Golden State will try to get free agents Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II back, while Wiseman, Moody and Kuminga will have a chance to show what they can do with more minutes.
There are 10 places on the list already counted, not to mention the additions of free agent or the returns of the incumbents Andre Iguodala, Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damion Lee, some of whom could certainly return.
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While adding a young asset to a veteran core has worked for the Warriors in the past, they might decide it might not be worth it for this season given their list compilation.
Regardless, we’ll know soon, with the 2022 NBA Draft at 5 p.m. on Thursday from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
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