Rules: You are the Warriors GM. (You pick who you want, not who you think the Warriors will take.) Griffin, Rubio, Thabeet, and Harden are all off the board. Washington is on the clock for the #5 pick. For whatever reason, you can't or won't make a trade (up or down). No trades. Take into account the recent confirmation that Nellie wants to keep Monta, and that Monta will play PG. Now what's your Top 3 ranked players for the Warriors to pick, in order of preference? No need to go beyond 3 because you're guaranteed to get one of them with only two more picks in front of you. Mine would be: Curry Evans Hill ------------------------------------------------------------ Just for fun, I'm going to extend this and keep a running score with the following rules: 3 points for first choice, 2 points for second choice, 1 point for third choice. Hopefully this will give us some kind of composite. Through post #11: Tyreke Evans: 15 points Jordan Hill: 14 points Stephen Curry: 9 points Brandon Jennings: 7 points Jonny Flynn: 4 points Demar DeRozan: 3 points Terrence Williams: 2 points
I honestly have no idea who I want but in order of who I think will be taken, assuming we can trust the reports about the Nellie-Monta meeting are as follows. 1. Jordan Hill (if he makes it to pick 7) 2. Terrence Williams 3. Tyreke Evans Ford re-vamps the T-Will rumors that arose just after the season started. Adam Laudrisen just put out a great piece on Nellie's draft history and it showed that he really prefers experienced college players. I put Jordan Hill at the top because hes a junior with an NBA ready body and Nellie told him hes got a good shot of being taken. My gut feeling tells me that Nellie's gonna dump Beans or Wright or both and Hill can produce a little immediately plus has upside and will come on a rookie contract. Terrance Williams is right behind him for similar reasons though, hes a four year senior with an NBA body. Hes kind of a glue guy, passes, plays good defense, can shoot it. Seems like another Josh Howard type pick for Nellie. He'll contribute immediately and have potential, Nellie can trust him more than he would one of these freshman players. Nellie and Riley seem to always say they want an experienced player from this draft so I think these guys have the edge, maybe we even see a draft day trade to move up (for Hill) or down (for Williams). Tyreke is third based on potential, tools, ability, and PG skills in a SG body. Hes a little too wild and unrefined for what we're looking to draft now though. I wouldn't be that surprised by Curry since hes also experienced and can really shoot. Doesn't seem like that muich of a Nellie guy and I'm not sure I buy us picking him assuming Monta was assured the PG spot.
I wrote the question thinking of who you would personally want, from the Warriors perspective. Imagine you are the GM. I'll put that into the original post.
1. Tyreke Evans 2. Brandon Jennings 3. Demar DeRozan Hill and DeRozan was a coin flip for me for the third pick.
Curry Evans Jennings Because Ellis is never going to be a PG and the Warriors need someone to start the engine; SJax dribbling down court after a made basket is not a PG. You need Ellis and someone else to run the wings and a PG to take it and bring it hard down the middle. (Unless you've got Gasol and Kobe, then you just need someone to shoot 1-9 then hit a 3 with 4.6 secs left.)
1. Hill 2. Flynn 3. Jennings It was kind of a coin flip with Jennings and Holiday because they're both so unproven.
Not exactly an exciting draft, because either players have so-so upsides or have major flaws to overcome. Then, whole Monta thing made this draft even harder. Anyway... 1. Jennings: Because, I think he has the best upside out of remaining players. 2. DeRozen: Good athleticism, NBA body, work ethic, and defense are good mix to have, and those players rarely become busts. Although it would be a long way for him to be an offensive force. 3. Hill: Can't say I am crazy with Hill, mostly because we have Randolph and Wright, and I would choose both of them over Hill. But then, he seems to be a good player, and quality big man is always attractive in trading market...
I'm going by youtube videos and pre-draft measurements: 1. Jordan Hill 2. Tyreke Evans 3. Jonny Flynn
