Warriors apply logical draft strategy with championship clock ticking originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – There are hundreds of examples, across every major professional sport, of draft-day mistakes, of flowery self-congratulations that, in a matter of months, turn into regret and, often, an executive losing his job. .
So the Warriors on Thursday utilized their limited options in the 2024 NBA Draft to make decisions that won’t light up social media but rather make a statement about his sense of urgency.
They took steps that reaffirmed their commitment to maximizing the remaining years of the Stephen Curry era.
Golden State added three 20-somethings who bring resumes. Average age: 24.
“We’re not here just trying to recruit older guys,” general manager Mike Dunleavy said during a news conference at Chase Center. “We’re trying to recruit guys who are good basketball players. If it only takes a short period of time to assess this, or a longer period of time, we will be less concerned about age.”
With no first-round pick and therefore little chance of finding a future All-Star, Golden State has assembled players who defy the NBA draft’s trend of targeting teenagers with “advantages.” Another logical trend in what was widely considered an unexceptional draft.
The Warriors on Thursday morning traded their only pick, 52nd overall, to Oklahoma City for Lindy Waters III, 26 years olda wing who spent three years in professional basketball, 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 could compete for a spot in the rotation),” Dunleavy said. “With his skill set and the way he plays, it suits the way we play. We feel like he’s a guy we can plug in and use.”
On Thursday afternoon, they reacquired the No. 52 pick (which OKC had traded to Portland) and selected Ouinten Post, aged 24a 7-foot center who began his journey in the Netherlands before playing 124 games at two Division I colleges in the United States.
“We identify him as a guy who can shoot the ball and stretch the floor, and he has really good size,” Dunleavy said. “We think he will recover. He defended at an acceptable level at the NBA rim. Good passer. It fits a lot of the things we’re looking for.”
Less than an hour later, the Warriors reached an agreement on a two-way contract with Reece Beekman, 22 years olda 6-foot guard who started 121 of 126 games at the University of Virginia and was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year as a junior and senior.
We can’t know how much these three acquisitions will contribute to the Warriors, but the strategy of drafting “experienced” prospects is entirely logical for a franchise that invested more in 2025 than in 2030.
A franchise that is 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 the front office cites as goaltenders.
That was the plan going into the week. And it remained that way until 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 years old and last season showed enough visible improvements to become a starter. Moody turned 22 last month and has proven capable of filling a spot in the rotation.
But this draft exercise was about finding players who might not be destined for stardom, but who had a chance to contribute quickly. The three members of Golden State’s four-ring club are getting older. Curry is 36, Green is 34. Klay Thompson, if he returns, is 34. Additionally, the Warriors are maneuvering for the possibility of signing another talented veteran.
They know what they want. And they know they need additional players with salaries that make the payroll easier. This was a case of low-risk gambling, with the hope of big rewards to come. And so on.
“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 don’t do a lot of things or only do it for a short period of time.”
Waters, Post, and Beekman offer an abundance of videos for review. It reduces the element of mystery, which for these Warriors, right now, is too high a risk.
