Warriors seek depth, balance
Team looks to upgrade defense with 28th pick in Thursday’s draft
OAKLAND >> As they sat together and chatted, Warriors CEO Joe Lacob and Warriors forward Draymond Green also kept their eyes fixated on the court.
The reason for their attentiveness: the Warriors finished another pre-draft workout Tuesday in hopes of finding clarity on whom they will select No. 28 in the NBA draft on Thursday. Green’s presence offered a reminder to those prospects that the former No. 35 pick in 2012 bloomed into an All-Star. Lacob’s presence conveyed the importance of the pick, even for a team with a sturdy championship foundation.
“It’s the best chance to build a team and try to shore up needs,” Warriors general manager Bob Myers said. “It has youth. It has potential. That’s how you keep your window open longer. It’s harder to do, though, when you’re
drafting late first or in the second (round). But you may get lucky and get a Draymond. You never know. These picks matter. We take it very seriously.”
The Warriors might already have All-Star talent in Green, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. But they have limited resources to upgrade their roster this offseason, including a midlevel exception ($5.2 million), a biannual exception ($3.3 million) and veteran’s minimum deals. Therefore, the Warriors’ No. 28 pick might mark their best chance to add more bench depth.
With a draft class that Myers considered “pretty deep,” the Warriors will have to weigh if they want to add more wing players after fielding six players last season who played center.
“Our philosophy is usually just to take the best guy we can. But we probably have more bigs than wings, at least young bigs on our roster,” Myers said. “That doesn’t mean it will go that direction. Some of it depends at 28, you’re at the mercy at what happens above you. What we’ve always done is we think whoever rates the highest on our board, we’ll take. If we don’t get the position we want, we’ll try to shore that up in free agency.”
The Warriors hosted pre-draft workouts Tuesday
for Xavier senior forward Trevon Bluiett, Cincinnati senior forward Gary Clark, Notre Dame senior forward Bonzie Colson, Oregon senior forward MiKyle McIntosh, Kansas senior guard Svi Mykhailuk and Seton Hall senior forward Desi Rodriguez. The Warriors will then have one last workout Wednesday with Kentucky shooting guard Hamidou Diallo, Cincinnati shooting guard Jacob Evans, North Carolina State shooting guard Allerik Freeman, Virginia shooting guard Devon Hall, Duke shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. and Central Arkansas point guard Jordan Howard.
Besides character and IQ, the Warriors consider it important that the No. 28 pick provide a few other qualities, too.
“We need a guy who is committed on the defensive end,” Warriors assistant general manager Larry Harris said. “We can’t have just a matador defender. We need a guy who at least knows in order to get on the floor with us, we can find ways to score the basketball, but you need to be able to defend your position.
“The way the NBA game is being played right now with so much switching and everything, one of the things we factor in looking at a guy is to determine what position he’s going to play and can he switch onto point guards.”
The Warriors have implemented defensive drills in their pre-draft workouts for two reasons.
Myers hinted the Warriors will make their pick assuming they will lose any combination of their pending free agents, including centers Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee and David West as well as forwards Nick Young, Kevon Looney and Patrick McCaw. The Warriors also have plenty of star players who can score, including Curry, Durant and Thompson.
“I’m the first to say we don’t get a lot of bench scoring. But we have a lot of scoring in our main guys,” Myers said. “I’d love to have both. But if a player can score and defend his position, usually they’re gone before we pick or in free agency and should get paid for what they get paid. If you can defend and you’re surrounded by scoring, you can play.”
• Green has immersed himself in the Warriors’ draft planning. In addition to maintaining a midcourt seat during workouts, Green has participated in meetings with Myers and Harris.
Green’s presence was felt Tuesday as he sat courtside.
“He just nodded his head a couple of times, when somebody said something about a cut or how you’re supposed to play defense on it and where the rotations are,” said former Oregon forward MiKyle McIntosh, one of six prospects who worked out Tuesday. “He’s been through the process, he’s been a second-round pick so he kind of knows how it goes and how you have to be a hard worker and the different things you’ve got to be.”
Green has hinted to Myers that he might be in the war room Thursday when the team ponders its 28th selection.
“Who am I to say I know more than Draymond Green about basketball? It’s probably the other way around,” Myers said. “If you want somebody who’s opinion should hold some weight … he watches college, he comes to the workout, maybe he should make the pick.”