<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Most of the Warriors' front office and coaching staff is enjoying its final days off before diving into the hands-on portion of the annual NBA draft blitz. Monday marks the first day of workouts in Oakland and brings a senior-laden group that includes Maryland guard D.J. Strawberry, the son of former major leaguer Darryl Strawberry, and Rice swingman Morris Almond. Others scheduled in next week are potential second-round picks Alando Tucker, Curtis Sumpter, Reyshawn Terry, and Bobby Brown -- but the action really kicks up the following week, when candidates for Golden State's first-round pick are expected in. Colorado State underclassman Jason Smith, who is testing the waters and has not hired an agent, is scheduled to workout for Golden State on June 17. USC swingman Nick Young will be in June 20, along with Nevada's Nick Fazekas and Syracuse's Demetris Nichols, and Duke's Josh McRoberts will be in June 21, according to their representatives. The Warriors, who currently own the 18th pick in the first round and the 36th and 46th overall selections in the second round, have kept tight lips about which players they bring in and will again conduct closed-door sessions. The Chinese Connection: Expect to hear more about the Warriors and draft prospect Yi Jianlian of China. Vice president Chris Mullin flew overseas this year to scout the 7-footer during the Chinese Basketball Association finals, and the interest is mutual as the Bay Area's large Asian population would be attractive to Yi. Golden State, though, would have to engineer a trade up to select Yi, who is projected to be a lottery pick. Atlanta and Boston, who own the third and fifth overall picks in the draft, have reportedly already seen Yi work out privately in L.A. Going global: At least one mock draft also has the Warriors selecting Rudy Fernandez, a 6-6 guard from Spain. While Fernandez isn't participating in Reebok's annual Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy, from June 9-12 -- his club team is still in the Spanish league playoffs -- most NBA teams are expected to have representatives there. </div>http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...SPGMPQBLSI1.DTL You can discuss directly about the article here or talk about the draft in general here: http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70824 I love Janny Hu! She is the woMan when it comes to Warriors basketball reporting.
Ford just updated his blog. Two things of note: 1. Portland (if they can trade Randolph to the Bulls for the #9 pick and salaries), Boston, Atlanta, and Phoenix (trading Marion to Boston for the #5, Ratliff's expiring contract, and West) are all teams that are taking hard looks at Yi. 2. Glen Davis just worked out for New Jersey and Philadelphia. He measured at 6' 7 3/4" in socks and 298 pounds. The shocking think is that he also measured at having only 12% body fat. My God! You want someone who can defend Boozer? There you go.
<div class="quote_poster">wtwalker77 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Ford just updated his blog. Two things of note: 1. Portland (if they can trade Randolph to the Bulls for the #9 pick and salaries), Boston, Atlanta, and Phoenix (trading Marion to Boston for the #5, Ratliff's expiring contract, and West) are all teams that are taking hard looks at Yi. 2. Glen Davis just worked out for New Jersey and Philadelphia. He measured at 6' 7 3/4" in socks and 298 pounds. The shocking think is that he also measured at having only 12% body fat. My God! You want someone who can defend Boozer? There you go.</div> It almost seems like there's very little chance in landing Yi without breaking up a big piece of the team that helped us get to the playoffs. Too much hype on him and the media gives the feeling that GMs are willing to take a chance on him because he's a unique player who could also be very marketable to a national/international audience. The warriors probably won't break up the pieces that made the team successful enough to first make the playoffs and then beat the first seed in the playoffs (lowest seed to do such in history in a 7 game series). I think the impression from most fans is that Yi might not be ready to play right away because of the body strength issue and maybe some language barrier regarding plays called in the timeout. Also, his rebounding won't or might not be as dominant with the best bigs in the world challenging him. I still think he's an interesting enough player to risk somebody like Harrington or POB and one future first rounder. But I'd hate to give up a sure thing for a mystery guy that might not be all he's cracked up to be. ... and Glen Davis, I like Glen Davis. Some say he can't play the Don Nelson style because he's too heavy and slow, but I think we need more big bodies that have the inside/outside skill. I like his potential as a 2nd rounder despite being very short for power forward and not having very much wingspan to make up for it. He's pretty quick for the amount of body weight he's carrying and he's one strong dude. He's built like an NFL player. Plus, he's got quite the personality. I also like his nickname. Big Baby. Maybe he could fill a certain role in the way Don Nelson employed Danny Fortson, only Glen Davis has more inside/outside offense.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Going global: At least one mock draft also has the Warriors selecting Rudy Fernandez, a 6-6 guard from Spain. While Fernandez isn't participating in Reebok's annual Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy, from June 9-12 -- his club team is still in the Spanish league playoffs -- most NBA teams are expected to have representatives there. </div> Curious, anyone know about this kid? Is this the same kid that was playing in the world championshps with Gasol last year? If so, he can play. Not to say that we need any 6-6 guys, but I'd be curious to see where he goes.
