Warriors might pick someone with familiar skills
A handful of prospects linked to the Warriors, who have the seventh and 14th picks in Thursday’s NBA draft, have a similar skill set to rising thirdyear guard Jordan Poole. But general manager Bob Myers isn’t worried about a perceived redundancy on the roster.
Speaking at his annual predraft news conference Monday afternoon, Myers said Poole showed enough in 202021 to be considered a lock for next season’s rotation — regardless of whom the Warriors select.
Asked if the Warriors could nab players better than Poole, Myers said: “You’re drafting seven and 14, and I’m happy that we like Jordan enough to pause at that kind of question. Whoever we take, I hope he works as hard as Jordan, because he’s a good story of a guy who really didn’t do much and was pretty criticized and not thought much of. He turned it around, and I credit Jordan and the coaching staff.
“If somebody does, then that’s a good problem. If somebody comes in and beats him out, that means that person is pretty good.”
Poole, who’s listed at 6foot4, 194 pounds, orchestrated a mindchanging 202021 after returning from a demotion to the G League bubble
near Orlando. From March 4 to May 16, he averaged 14.7 points on 35.4% 3point shooting.
Playing in a comboguard role at the start of the return stretch, he had just two turnovers in a sevengame span and started to show the ability to get his teammates involved in pickandroll action, while continuing to be a willing scorer.
On Sunday, Poole put up big numbers in two games at Jamal Crawford’s “The CrawsOver
ProAm” event in Seattle. In the first game, Poole had 36 points, 11 rebounds and six assists; in Game 2, he scored 32 points and had seven assists.
OK, maybe they couldn’t do exactly that, but Connecticut’s James Bouknight, Arkansas’ Moses Moody, Baylor’s Davian Mitchell and Oregon’s Chris Duarte — all in consideration for the Warriors at either No. 7 or No. 14 — have some comparable traits.
At 65, 190, Bouknight is one of the best pure scorers in the draft, having averaged 18.7 points during his sophomore year. Like Poole, Bouknight is a crafty playmaker, active off the ball, and is sometimes overconfident in his shot selection. His 3point shooting dropped from 34.7% as a freshman to 29.3% last season.
Moody is a little bigger at 66, 210 and with a frame that appears will hold more muscle as his 19yearold body matures. He’s a good shooter, averaging 16.8 points on 35.% 3point shooting as a freshman, but he didn’t often get the chance to create his own shots at Arkansas.
The best defender of the group is Mitchell, but at only 61, that might be a tough transition in the NBA. His offensive game invites comparisons to Poole’s because Mitchell quickly grasped the ballhandling responsibilities in pickandroll sets — either finding teammates or taking open shots (51.1% from the floor, 44.7% from 3point range).
Two years older than Poole, Duarte (66) is a gifted scorer (17.1 points, 53.2% shooting, 44.7% on 3pointers) and he has the ability to defend either guard spot. He has yet to establish that he can take primary ballhandling responsibilities in a crunch.
“Even if you get another player exactly like (Poole), and he turns out to be really good, you can use those guys,” Myers said. “I don’t think any player is exactly alike. If you draft a player that some would say is like him, I think that’s fine.
“I think what you more look at is: Can this player play with him? How complementary are they or not?”