Warriors implement logical NBA draft strategy as championship clock ticks – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

SAN FRANCISCO — There are hundreds of examples, across all major professional sports, of misjudgments in the draft, of flowery self-flattery that, within months, turn into regret and, often, an executive losing his job.

So the Warriors used their limited options in the 2024 NBA Draft on Thursday to make decisions that won’t set social media ablaze but that demonstrate their sense of urgency.

They took steps that reaffirmed their commitment to maximizing the remaining years of the Stephen Curry era.

Golden State added three players in their 20s with resumes. Average age: 24.

“We’re not sitting here trying to recruit older guys,” general manager Mike Dunleavy said during a news conference at Chase Center. “We try to recruit guys who are good basketball players. If it takes a short time to assess this, or a longer period, we worry less about age.

With no first-round picks and, therefore, little chance of finding a future All-Star, Golden State has assembled players who defy the NBA draft’s trend of looking for teenagers with “potential.” Another logical trend in what was widely considered an unexceptional draft.

On Thursday morning, the Warriors traded their only pick, 52nd overall, to Oklahoma City for 26-year-old Lindy Waters III, a wing who endured three years of professional hoops, the last three in the Thunder system.

“I don’t think we would have traded for a guy using a draft pick if we didn’t think (he can compete for a spot in the rotation),” Dunleavy said. “With his skills and the way he plays, it fits the way we play. We feel like he’s a guy we can plug and play.

On Thursday afternoon, they picked up that No. 52 pick (which OKC had traded to Portland) and selected 24-year-old Ouinten Post, a 7-foot center who began his career in the Netherlands before playing 124 games at two Division I colleges in the United States.

“We identified him as a player who can shoot and stretch the floor, and he has very good size,” Dunleavy said. “We think he rebounds. He defends at an NBA level. He’s a good passer. He fits a lot of the things we look for.”

Less than an hour later, the Warriors reached an agreement on a two-way contract with Reece Beekman, 22, a 6-foot-2 point guard who started 121 of 126 games at the University of Virginia and was the ACC’s defensive player of the year as a junior and senior.

There’s no telling how much value these three acquisitions will bring to the Warriors, but the strategy of drafting “experienced” prospects makes perfect sense for a franchise that’s more invested in 2025 than it was in 2030.

A franchise trying to fill the gaps between at least two decorated veterans, Draymond Green and Curry, and the four youngsters – Trayce Jackson-Davis, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski – that management lists as guards.

That was the plan at the beginning of the week. And it stayed that way through the end of the draft.

The Warriors, you may recall, selected five teenagers in the three drafts ending in 2022. James Wiseman (2020), Patrick Baldwin Jr. (2022) and Ryan Rollins (2022) were traded. Only Kuminga and Moody remain.

Kuminga is 21 now and showed enough improvement last season to break into the starting lineup. Moody turned 22 last month and has shown himself capable of carving out a spot in the rotation.

But this draft exercise was about finding players who might not be destined for stardom but who would have a chance to contribute quickly. All three members of Golden State’s four-ring club are aging. Curry is 36, Green is 34. Klay Thompson, if he returns, is 34. Plus, the Warriors are maneuvering for the opportunity to add another accomplished veteran.

They know what they want. And they know they need additional players with salaries that don’t weigh heavily on the payroll. It was a low-risk bet, with the hope of big rewards ahead. And soon.

“For me, as an evaluator, the more things a guy can do well, the more I like him,” Dunleavy said. “Unlike some of these guys who haven’t done a lot of things, or have only been doing it for a short time. »

Waters, Post and Beekman offer a multitude of evaluation videos. Reduce the element of mystery, which for these warriors, at present, constitutes too high a risk.

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