2009 Draft - Warriors Pick #7

Maybe the economy is expanding, all stocks are up! haha. I am guessing that a lot of people are thinking that most of these players are no good, besides the first two or so, and at these combines perhaps many of the players are showing they are better than these analysts first thought. You have players like Daye going from - should he stay in the draft? to being potential top ten pick or something like that.

As far as scoring goes. It is true that Crawford, Maggette, and Harrington can all score the ball. But you have those types of scorers, then you also have scorers like Baron Davis. Perhaps a better comparison may be JR Smith type of scorer vs. an all-star kind of scorer like Kobe or Lebron, etc. Smith, Crawford, Maggette, and Harrington can all score, especially on bad teams. But then you have players like Baron, Kobe, and Lebron who will score on any team, and most importantly they are the players when the tough gets going, you give the ball to these guys to carry the team, especially in the clutch (even watching these playoff games, we can see how critical it is to have those closers, since so many games are determined in the last 5 minutes - I remember Musselman used to focus on that doing 5 minute scrimmages, especially since the Warriors kept losing close games - which was very difficult since the team didn't have a closer or star). Curry has been that guy to carry Davidson for the last two years against great odds, especially in the clutch. It's one thing to score and carry a team (for a game or so) when no one is focusing on you. It's another thing to score when the whole opposing team's defense is focused on you. That's the thing that intrigues me about Stephen Curry: he's clutch, and he's a gamer (a closer like Kobe Bryant, or Baron Davis if you will). I remember what happens when you give Harrington the ball in tough situations. He usually does something completely dumb and worthless, like dribble it off his foot or pound the ball on the floor with his back to the basket for ten seconds). I don't think Curry's like that, he showed great ability in these situations in the NCAA tournaments (maybe not yet Kobe or Baron or any future NBA hall of famer, but he has some of that type of potential). Plus he has decent passing numbers and is basically at the top in steals/game amongst all the draft prospects. He seems to move very well without the ball as well. (I think one of the measurements had him with small arms, but the other guards they mentioned with small arms were Ellis and Iverson - all of these players are thieves, which I found to be counterintuitive).

Also who wouldn't want to see the rain come down when you have shooters like Marco, Morrow, and Curry on the floor? It would make for a fun summer league! haha.

Maybe there are some other prospects out there, the Warriors should look at. Maynor is another interesting player, as are the other PG's. It will be interesting to see how the mocks shake out 3 or so weeks from now.

 

The combine can really trick some people out. What they do there is pretty limited in their drills.

I love Daye, but it's clear that he's not ready quite yet. He'll take 2 or 3 seasons to put it together for the NBA, if he does. His inconsistency is still too much for me to handle, but when he's on, he's a fun player to watch because he just starts doing the right things. Chances are pretty high he'll end up as a solid player down the road if they treat him right. Is it worth a chance for us? Well, everyone mentions POB but I think that's too pessimistic. I think his "fail" is if he turns into a Warriors-era Mike Dunleavy, someone who was supposed to have a huge basketball IQ and could shoot and handle well, but ended up missing badly at the defensive end. Luckily, he won't have the same kind of pressures Dunleavy had, and I do think he plays better defense, though he needs more weight to avoid getting pushed around.

On the point guards, it seems likely we'll end up with one, but there are so many guys who I have no clue about that it's hard to say I would want one more than another. I have no clue about Holiday's game since he rarely played, nor Jennings because he rarely played. I'm on the side of the fence that doesn't like Evans, but the other side seems to be growing. I was iffy on both Flynn and Curry before, but they both are getting rave reviews. So, it's just making me question myself in that maybe I'm not seeing something or putting it together.

 

Measurement is out

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/

Evans has SG's body with extremely long arms.
Holiday has tweener's skill and body. Decent arm length.
Curry has Kevin Willis' arm.
Mills, Lawson and Flynn are rather small. But then, they are bit smaller than Paul.
Both Rubio and Jennings are in Europe (I assume).
Daye has a body and arm length like Biedrins, Wright and Anthony. Daye is actually 5 pounds lighter than Anthony in measurement...

 

I'm hoping more and more that we can move the pick.

I really do not watn Daye, I think MDJ is best case scenarion for him. I'm intrigued by Evans and think he would be a good fit size-wise. I'm really scared off by those turnovers and if his D is as bad as I'm reading then his size is kind of worthless.

I'd lean toward taking Jennings or Curry. But then again, Jennings seems very high risk/reward (from what I've read and seen on youtube) but the chances of him being a bust are much better than being a star. Curry I think will be decent. I would love to have more of a 3 pt threat and no, I didn't forget about Morrow. I don't know what it is about him (Morrow) but when I watch him I just don't think he's a legit NBA player and I'll be happy if he can be pushed out of the rotation. As it is, I think he should be behind Marco and Azu on the depth chart. The only problem I have with Curry is that him and Monta would be a very small/thin backcourt. Other than that, I think he'd fit into our offense perfectly.

 

It funny that you say that, because of all the bench guys (Buike Included, not including Randolph) I think Morrow has the most complete game and the attitude to stick around in the league for years and years to come. What about his game don't you like? His handles are getting better, he has an incredible touch, he hustles on D (Obviously he can improve here) I think Bellinelli has it in him to take that next leap if he can keep improving his defense and effort the way he did. Buike's pretty much capped out in my opinion.

 

I think as far as his scoring contributions go, he may be capped out. He's a reliable 12 - 15 ppg guy off the bench and as a spot starter.

This may be irrelevant in the context of this conversation, but I think Azubuike's got a lot to improve (as well as most of the Warriors). There are so many intangibles to learn, which is usually a slow process over the course of a player's career. I'm not saying every player has it in him to learn these, but Buike seems to be one of those players that continue to improve on the little things. As harsh as I've been on his passing, I could tell he was making an effort in trying to improve that towards the end of the season. It didn't result in anything spectacular, as he usually sticks to what he's good at - scoring - but I think his attitude is that he wants to get better at everything.

He will be a really good pro in the league for many years to come. I'm not sure though that his contributions, big or small, are what the Warriors desperately need. He seems more like a luxury to have on a decent team; something the Warriors use to be for a couple years.

 

I just don't see a role for him where he can get consistent minutes and play for long stretches, being a shooter just isn't enough. He tries on D but he's not strong or athletic enough to guard SGs and not quick enough to guard PGs. His lack of athleticism is probably my biggest problem with him. He doesn't show the playmaking or passing ability of Beli and I don't think he will be able to fill a backup PG role. He has rebounded well and that is very surprising to me, looking at him you wouldn't think he'd be a good rebounder and I'm not sure he's going to be able to continue to do it.

Like others have said, he's a luxury that I'm sure many teams would like to have. If we want to keep him as an 11th or 12 man just to fire up 3s that's fine, but when I'm building a depth chart, I don't want to have to count on him to play 15 or 20 minutes every game.

 

Points taken. Let me clarify. I see Morrow as a slightly shorter modern-day version of Dale Ellis. That's the kind of guy that will stick around in the league for a very long time (Maybe even as a starter on a decent team one day). I think he could be an integral piece on a championship contender. Belli has the potential to be a starter on a good team if he focuses on the right things. He could also be a careen 12th man as well. Buike will be a career bench player or starter on a bad team, IMO.

 

That's the thing with the Warriors. They have a lot of good pieces, but not the players to be strong contenders. If they have good management they'd be able to turn these pieces into a winning team IMO. The Warriors have a lot of options with the amount of serviceable NBA players it has on its roster (everyone on this roster, from top to bottom could fit on any team's roster - maybe not starters but definitely productive players off the bench and emergency starters if there's an injury or two). Seeing how/where the management decides to take the team this offseason will be most interesting. In my judgment, in order to start contending you need a good PG, bigs who can rebound (and other things as well), and go-to scorers. The Warriors really don't do well in these categories. But I believe they have the pieces to make some deals to move in this direction. On the other hand if Wright and Randolph can improve to be much more of a force on the defensive glass consistently, and the Warriors come away with a PG with strong leadership skills, then maybe we can see this team looking to contend. But those may be big IFs, but with a draft with so many PGs and young bigs as Wright and Randolph are, maybe this team is not that far away. It's really hard to tell...

Just please no more PR wasteful deals like the Maggette signing.

 

Yup.

If the current roster could be tweaked in a way where Beli gets a shot at playing 20 mpg, he may be a contender for being a starting PG for us. There's all this talk about finding a starting PG. Perhaps he's it!

Take away his flashy passes, you still have a smart player who can thread the needle. His awareness of his teammates is better than Azubuike, Morrow, and Monta. I'd say it's on par with Stephen Jackson's but Beli's not as deliberate as Jax.

Would you rather have Jamal Crawford or Belinelli as a PG, if those were our only choices?

 

http://www.nba.com/warriors/fanzone/2009_draft_blog.html

By looking at the players invited to the Warriors Pre-Draft workout, it seems as if they are looking to trade down. A lot of these players aren't really high lottery picks from what I've been gathering. Maybe this is different from individual workouts that they may otherwise hold though? Or what's the deal?

 

As I understand it, those collective workouts are set by the NBA and are for all interested teams, thus, even though they are taking place in Oakland, should not be considered a reflection of anyone the Warriors specifically are looking at.

 

Thanks for the clarification HiRez.

 

BJM, I could maybe get excited about Holiday, especially if we can trade down to get him. He's a tough one to predict, I've seen him going anywhere from 6th to 18th in mock drafts, with the consensus seeming to be around 9-12, although he seems to be on the rise lately. T-Will I'm not too familiar with, what does he bring? I think almost every mock still has the Warriors taking Evans or Jennings. The good news is there's a lot of talented guards in this draft, the bad news is none of them a surefire locks to be legit NBA players.