Now that Diogu,Monta, and Taft are warriors.. Thoughts??

Impersonally am VERY excited about our draft.. EVEN THOUGH

when Green slipped to us i was highly upset we didnt pick him, forget about the fact we have j rich and pietrus.. this kid is going to be an All star, and i feel we should have drafted him

On Diogu, this kids a beast.. im goign out on a short broken limb and gonna say he will Average 20/10.. in 3 years.. i wouldnt be surprised to see him get around 8/8 this year though, as he will probably be the #1 option off the bench.. MAn look at the secound unit we have man.

Baron/Fisher/Monta Ellis
J Rich/Pietrus
Dunleavy/Pietrus/Zarko
Troy Murphy/Ike
Foyle/Biedrins

Thats going to be a pretty INSANE second unit for years to come.. and the fac tthat IMO Ike is the next Elton Brand, bodes well for our starting unti to.. because when Mully grows tired of seeing Troy get bullied on by Brian Scalabrine we got the pitbull Ike coming out the Yard..

Monta Ellis.. Ive only seen the kid play in the Mc'Ds All star game BUT.. from what ive seen, hes a very explosive Point guard, gets others involved, and he can shoot, which is rare for high schoolers coming out (normally).. the fact that we didnt have to "waste" a second round pick on a college senior is EVEN BETTER, we can just put monta in the D league, and wait for him to get ready, trade fisher or something.. maybe use that new trade clause to release him, and BAM we have ourselves a very YOUNG exciting point guard.. IM NOT Mad at all..

Congrats to the Warriors first ever HS player Monta Ellis

Taft: well well well, lookie here, No heart taft fell into our lap, i dont see this kid being anything, because he is a headcase, mully took a chance on him, because he, as well as a few other GM's feel that if he EVER lives up to hig potential he will be pretty good (supposedly).
He really Hurt himself this year, as he seemed not to even care when he was onm the court, .. not demanding the ball. hanging his head. not playing defense. showing no emotion.. I will nickname him the Tin Man, until he finds a Heart.

All in All, iIMO i think we did very good, I'd give us a B-.. Only because we should have drafted Green, I dont care if we have J rich and pietrus, Green will be better then both. (IMO)

 

I echo the same sentiments on passing on both Green and Granger. A few people always fall, but not when they're universally regarded as good picks such as both players were.

We didn't work out Green, but there should have been enough out there for us to take a chance on him. No doubt that he's not going to be a key player for any team for 2, 3 years, so I guess the Warriors wanted more help now. As for between Diogu and Granger, it appears that Mullin felt there was too much of a crowd at the wing positions.

Once again, worst pick appears to be by Toronto. Sorry, Raptors fans.

I was surprised by all the undrafted guys, too. Too bad the Warriors roster has no flexibility, or I'd like to see Mullin try to get some guys into camp, like Kennedy Winston, Dwayne Jones, Matt Walsh, Randolph Morris, and the rest of the guys who got let down. There's a virtual trove of talent there because so many guys didn't withdraw from this draft. None of them are going to be high impact players, but young role players are good, too.

 

I'll give this draft a B.

The 2nd Round was a steal. Ellis and Taft were projected as 1st round picks. Mullin picked 2 good low risk, high reward players.

As for Diogu, I don't know. Not that he is a bad player or anything. But better options were avaliable. It's obvious that the #9 pick wouldn't decide whether we make the playoffs or not, so there would be time to develop a guy like Green.

I'm not sure why Green slipped. Maybe he needs a lot of time to develop, so people looked at it as a high risk, high reward type thing. I still would have went with him.

But Diogu is a Warrior, and it's my job to root for him. So I hope he does well!

 

Diogu was a monster in the Pac-10. After watching him for the past 3 years, I'm really happy with the pick. I was a bit disappointed when I read that Mullin only worked Granger, Warrick, and May right before the draft, but apparently that was a workout providing those 3 one last chance to shine.

I was hoping that Nate Robinson would drop to the W's in the 2nd round. He's exciting and with his hops and bay area family members, he would have been a crowd pleaser. With Granger and Green dropping, there must have been something about the 2 of them the Mully along with the other GMs recognized as drawbacks.

Overall, I'm happy with the draft. Adding 2 "bigs" to the mix is definitely and upgrade, and it also allows Monty to run a few sets that he wasn't able to last year, yet the run and gun style is still feasible.

 

On the Green and Granger topic, you have to wonder why both guys fell. You can criticize the W's, but 7 other teams passed on Granger, 8 more teams passed on Green after we drafted, so to say we blew it...there is something we don't know.

Some things on Green: Green wouldn't workout for the W's, and many scouts think he's a 2. As talented as he may be, we don't need a 2. If he was going to be a true 3, maybe.

Also, he's really skinny and weak (192 lbs). He may never be strong enough to dominate in the NBA, he certainly won't help any time soon.

Finally, he refused to work out against other players, which makes him harder to evaluate, and also raises a red flag.

Granger, I don't know...

 

Very interesting draft, and hard to understand from some team's perspectives. The overall thinking of this draft going in was that there weren't many stars in it - at least not without developing - but there were a lot of players with "potential", and there would be some very good value in the second round. That's basically what happened. Very hard to come up with any draft grades now. This draft will take years to evaluate.

For the Warriors, Diogu seems like a reach at 9, especially since they probably could have had him later in the round. Perhaps there weren't any willing trading partners high enough to where Mullin thought he would be assured of getting him. As players, I would've prefered Granger or Green when they fell, but it looks like Mullin's going to resign Dunleavy now. Perhaps with Diogu and Taft in the second round, along with all the other big men on the current roster Mullin may try to move Murphy in the not too distant future if it looks like he has a replacement.

In the second round, it seems like a lot of people think Ukic was one of the steals of the draft, and the Warriors bypassed him for Ellis. I don't know much about Ellis, wasn't talked about much before the draft. He is a great high school player, good scorer, in Mississippi. The NBDL probably a realistic destination for him.

I like the Taft pick, good value in the second round. There's almost no risk with him there and if he ever had something to prove it's by going so low in the draft. I thought the Warriors needed at least one PF/C to develop in this draft. I thought they'd have to trade down to the 20's to get a good look, yet they had their pick of a couple guys in the 40's.

I think workouts were a key factor for a lot of teams. I think that's why Blatche, Green, Andriuskevicius, Taft, etc. all fell. Some players deciding not to have many, others not going against other players, and others just looking very bad. Nobody it seemed was getting by with what Robert Swift did last year, by just not working out. The only player who didn't really seem to be hurt by bad workouts was Vazquez, perhaps because of his age and where he played.

A lot of teams probably got a better value out of their second round picks than their first, which is completely predictable given this kind of draft. Guys who fell had more question marks, but no less potential. Most of the first round was almost all about finding contributors, with some reaches (with exampes like Villanueva and perhaps Diogu) and some exceptions like Korolev (who probably would've fallen without a guarantee, but then probably wouldn't have remained in the draft without one) and Green. In the twenties there was some potential-picks with Petro and Mahinmi...but San Antonio does it for a strategic reason because they've got a back log of players internationally that they'll bring over at a later date, with Scola this year and perhaps Koroulev and Sanikidze after that. For the most part, the first round was all about guys who can play right now and wouldn't have to be developed. The second round had a lot of talent, but will need to be developed.

 

I give you guys a B with your draft choices even though I wish you guys picked Vasquez with your 1st pick but all the players you drafted are going to do good.

 

I rather generally agree with all that's said above,well,maybe except a few details. I have been the biggest Diogu fan around-and even I just about freaked-We're gonna getGreen? ....uh..no..But we do get Ike. Green has a better deep J than Webster-He averaged 60% on his 3's this year-which is beyond Salim or Kyle Korver numbers. He was unreal at the McD slamdunk,and in the game. That Toronto got wierd-again-with their pick upset everyone's pattern. At least Charlie V was ony taken maybe 8 slots early-The Knicks-Warriors -Lakers stayed with their main plans,havng some sense of team needs-then Orlando and the Clips got real nuts,Vazquez was a big reach at 11 IF Green-Granger were gone,and Korolev...who knows..except he's a "future" much farther away than Green,with less upside.and just a small F. McCants? undersize 2g-a bit of a headcase,and weak D.
Granger had a minor sore knee lately,but that should not have added up to much

Round 2,Blatche was hanging there at 40,42 and we instead took a couple of guys who had slid 20-30 slots below their early projections. Blatche may not have Garnett talents but it appeared evident his BB-IQ,skills were quite good for his age-best case scenario he can be a quality starter,whether as a middleweight PF or adding muscle in time-as a C. He is taller,quicker,more energetic than Taft-plus has a SF's ball handling and shooter's touch.
Taft may learn from his draft-day dis and start to get it going. I'm having trouble coming up with who his "Best Scenario" would be like,he does not have real quick reflexes,he is strong with decent speed and some agility. Not real big,about Foyle-sized. I sense some limitations court awareness,reaction time,that will kind of slow-mo his game even if he is giving it his max. In that aspect,its a bit like Dampier. You can do fine with that but need to execute well. The best case-Taft becomes an enforcer,pretty good D,Boards,some post up game and decent transition . Worst case-he looks like a bad pick at 42.

 

The reason why guys like Green and Granger fall isn't necessarily because all the GM's who passed on them don't think they're good. Once a guy has slipped passed the teams he's worked out for, he'll start to free fall because teams either don't want to take a guy they haven't worked out or they've made a promise to another guy.

All that being said, I was more surprised the team passed on Granger than Green. The Warriors worked out Granger and were supposedly high on him. I don't think they made a promise to Diogu because he wasnt' invited to the green room. If I was a reporter, those would be the questions I'd be asking Mullin right now.

 

Just prior to the draft hthere was-can't recall where,a Mully interview and while I can't quote-this is the general idea. They look for Murphy to play more at the C role,to polish up some parts of his game this summer with that in mind. This at first sounds a bit shaky,but think about the Centers in the west,and the Power F's. There are a few real gifted C's,and a lot of gifted,quick,PF's. Ike gives us a D upgrade at the 4,yet we still have Murphy's rebounding-shooting on the floor. Murph has BB-IQ,hands,experiance,and I expect he is working hard on getting a bit more athletic,having a better inside game. Likely Murph still plays some 4,with Foyle and Biedrens still getting plenty of action at C. Pietrus obviously will have plenty of minutes. He may share SF,and back J-Rich at the 2,He may win the main SF job-with Dunleavy becoming a 6th man. Zarko will also be in the mix,as was the case last year-and a bit more perhaps. His job will be to be a mismatch in our favor at whatever frontcourt slot. Taft basically will have to prove he can help in some context. Monta E will likely get some NBSL time to get his game up to a useful level. White and Cheaney are not in the master plan. They are minor 1 yr contracts. I hate to guess what the chances are we'd deal them for whatever.

 

The Warriors had a great draft. Major kudos to Mullin for having the balls to grab Ike Diogu in the top 10. I love Diogu. He's a great fit for G.S, as he can run, defend and rebound, all things that they need in their uptempo style. Ellis is a good developmental pick, and Taft could surprise. I had thought that the Warriors were well on their way to being playoff contenders next year before the draft, and now their chances are much better. Great job by their front office, they should be a really fun team to watch next year...

 

I'm not suprised we took Diogu because he literally destroyed everyone in his workouts and left Mullin no choice but to take him. I am suprised we took him at nine. It really doesn't even matter because anyone who we drafted we would have reached for at that point. Green, Granger, Warrick all slipped. We didn't lose out on any prospect filled with potential except for Bynum but passing Diogu would not be worth it. This draft was weak but we came out of it with a strong pick.

I heard this morning on KNBR that Diogu used to work out against Amare Stoudamire. That's insane!

Ellis in a year or two can come off the bench. Good pickup considering he was projected to go in the 20's. Getting Taft at 42 is a steal! After his workouts people projected him to go out of the lottery but the 2nd round? There must be something to this because a lot of teams would take a flier on a kid with that much size and upside. Good for us, bad for them...

 

I was surprised Diogu was picked that high. Well, make ASU and it's fans proud Ike!

The Warriors will fight for a playoff spot this year.

 

The deal with Taft was that teams had begun questining the upside part. Come workouts-you'd figure a guy who was in his situation would really give it his max for a couple of hours-and maybe what happened was his max just lacks that zip,and if so-the upside may be less. Taft should be a guy you can polish and develop-up to a point. You have,as an example,Adonal,who we know works to get better-but has limitations in some areas. Taft may also have limitations that will mean IF he works at it,he can become a decent NBA player-but never that mid-lottery stud they used to project him as.

 

The perfect scenario would be if Mullin would trade Dun and one of those 2nd round picks to LAC for that 12th pick and grab Green! It Would be A++!

But still I start to think that it was for the best, not to dradt Green at #9, because he was more like cat in bag, but Diogu is the real thing. And more I read about him, them more, I start to like him allready. Forget about Boston guys, something great is about to happen in the city of Golden State!

I was comfused with Ellis pick, but then again, I started to see this picture - what if Ellis sticks with the team like Flores did, and at the same time Mullin locks him up in gym, like he did with Biedrins. And from my point of view Davis and Fisher could be great mentors for 18 years old kid, who is willing to learn more and play in NBA...

 

This team is gonna be when nba live comes out

 

Well, overall, I give this draft B. It's not too sexy, but decent enough.

Mullin clearly went for needs instead of the potential. I think Mullin was quite surprised that Green was available with 9th, and that probably caught him offguard. If he ever imagined that scenario, our 9th pick might have been different. God help us if Green or Granger ever turns into a superstar, because last thing we need is a next chapter for Smith, Fuller and Foyle saga.

That has been said, I am content with Diogu selection. He fills number of our needs including rebounding and post up. After all, his skill is never questioned. Now, if Diogu can play good defense and bring some shot blocking presence, Mullin got himself a very nice pick. However, if Diogu proves to be a defense liability, we wasted 9th pick by drafting a back up. It would be very exciting to see what kind of player he can be.

Usually, I don't bother with 2nd rounders, however in this year's 2nd rounders, I am very surprised how many third tier talents were available for us. With NBDL, we can very well park our 2nd rounders to there for next two years, since both Monta and Taft have great physical tools.

And, still there is no sign that Mullin ended his never ending love toward Dunleavy, and with the way how Mullin decide not to draft Green or Granger, Dunleavy's resigning is pretty much set. Frankly, I am very worried that Mullin will give a monster contract to Dunleavy, like Murphy type of contract. 6+ mils to Dunleavy is overpaid in my book, and we just can't take any more huge contract and hoping that we can resign Pietrus or Biedrins.

Again, Toronto surprised us with thier picks for two straight years. They got burnt badly last season. Let's see if their selections is right ones in this year. And, what in the world Bobcats are doing?

Also, many teams are starting to shy away from projects. Are they being smarter or lazier? Only time will tell...

 

I guess it's time to write into our capsule

 

We will make a capsule for the three picks, eventually (a better one than the Biedrins one we did)

Personally, I'm with REREM, Kwan, Run BJM, Goldenstfan, Cohanhater, Walker, hipokrat, upsidedownside, yayareafanatic, fansnc75, BdiddyJrich and the countless other Warrior fans here that all wanted Gerald Green and were shocked by Toronto picking a player way too early causing all mocks to be thrown out the window. Babcock you are awesome, I enjoyed the draft thoroughly!

Anyway I agree this was our shining moment, our perfect opportunity to get a player so athletic he can touch the top of the backboard jumping off one foot (also because he's extremely long). We'll be hurting if this guy turns out to be the next Michael Jordan. Since that's unlikely, given the number of two guards that have came and went since Jordan, he'll probably be a spotlight player like a T-mac or Kobe, which is nice to have, absolutely fun to watch, but not essential to winning I think. I'm not sure franchises can build their team around a two guard and go deep into the playoffs without a solid point and some solid bigs. We need some potential star bigs and I think we got them (C'mon Diogu/Biedrins don't make me look bad). I mean look at T-mac and the 2004 Magic or the 2005 Lakers with Kobe Bryant. Also what if Green doesn't produce right away and we still haven't found any way to beef up our frontcourt and get tougher? We've got Baron Davis now for a good 4 years as franchise player and we should use every window of opportunity to get tougher inside. But like Kwan said, we'll have to see his defensive impact in the post, on the weakside, in transition, and on the glass before we can gauge whether he'll have more impact than Murphy as a starter. I'm hoping Diogu will be a huuuuuge difference on both ends and in terms of toughness. He's got the same great hands as Murphy too and has better floor awareness like Dunleavy.

We've got some decent bigs who can be very effective on the defensive end, I believe, and can do all the things we drool about in most 20/10 players and more. Diogu's upside could be Elton Brand or Emeka Okafor and posessing the skills that make Murphy/Zarko so highly coveted among teams looking to stretch defenses. If Andris Biedrins, another defensive oriented player, also develops a low post game. Look the freak out! We are getting closer to the team that can do it all on both ends and is very talented, fast and strong at the same time.