2023 Dub Nation HQ Draft Tournament
Results updated here, the master index for the 2023 Dub Nation HQ Draft Tournament.
Results
The results combine the article poll votes plus the 10x weighted comment votes.
Second Round
Jett Howard (1) vs Noah Clowney (9)
Jordan Hawkins (2) vs Kris Murray (10)
Dereck Lively II (6) vs Sidy Cissoko (14)
First Round
Jett Howard (1) vs Brandin Podziemski (16)
Jett Howard 54%
Brandin Podziemski 46%
I didn’t vote, but I would have rolled the dice on Podz. But I didn’t want to be the guy overriding the popular DNHQ vote. Picking Podz is the kind of high-risk stab I approve of, as his competition level and athleticism are a question but his effective creativity seems to follow in the footsteps of Santa Clara alums Steve Nash and Jalen Williams. Jett’s defense seems uncertain enough that to make me worry he can’t be part of a championship team.
Jordan Hawkins (2) vs Trayce Jackson-Davis (15)
Jordan Hawkins 76%
Trayce Jackson-Davis 24%
You know it’s not a complete fix, because here are two of my favorite prospects matched up in the first round. I’m obviously very interested in TJD since I stuck him in as a Wild Card. The playmaking, the poise, the court vision, the defense. The Warriors even invited him in for a workout. But in the end, three-point shooting wins in this league, and I would bet on a shooter who’s proved his skill on the biggest stage (he completely swung the NCAA Tournament game against a Saint Mary’s team I was pulling for, the bastard).
Jalen Hood-Schifino (3) vs Sidy Cissoko (14)
Jalen Hood-Schifino 38%
Sidy Cissoko 62%
Our first upset. In the past Cissoko might have been my kind of guy, but an Okongwu and Garuba later, I no longer trust my love of athletic guys with feel and no jumper. I’ll go JHS, sharing all the concerns about flaky shot and lack of athleticism.
G G Jackson (4) vs Bilal Coulibaly (13)
G G Jackson 3%
Bilal Coulibaly 97%
The random draw might have shafted Jackson by matching him against a similar high risk young player who seems a little more dependable and a lot more stashable abroad to develop. DNHQ really did not like GG’s youthful run-ins with his coaches and immature defense. Coulibaly continues to throw down occasional highlights in the French pro leagues.
Brice Sensabaugh (5) vs Colby Jones (12)
Brice Sensabaugh 15%
Colby Jones 85%
Wooof, DNHQ is in a two-way mood this year. Anyone with a whiff of bad defense gets extra scrutiny and anyone with That Dog Within on defense gets extra love.
Dereck Lively (6) vs Leonard Miller (11)
Dereck Lively II 71%
Leonard Miller 29%
A lot of affection for both these players with multiple people saying they would be happy with either one and that it was sad that the true finals are in the first round (that’s luck for you… see below on the seeding process).
Lively definitely has the edge for me. He seems to be coming in pretty ready on defense — though with a big fouling problem — and I’ve learned from my aforementioned Okongwu / Garuba affections to be less enthused about no-shot athletic power forwards.
Rayan Rupert (7) vs Kris Murray (10)
Rayan Rupert 49%
Kris Murray 51%
Well that was close. The poll vote was a landslide for Murray, but the comments tilted slightly to Rupert. Tilt your head and you can dream that Rupert, budding defensive ace, turns into a Kawhi Leonard type. I’m intrigued, but I’m still not sold on the predictability of the Australian pro league, and he’s VERY VERY raw on offense.
Dariq Whitehead (8) vs Noah Clowney (9)
Dariq Whitehead 41%
Noah Clowney 59%
Very little appetite to take on a potentially long injury rehab for Whitehead, and Dub Nation is high on defense right now. But the discussion in the comments was very evenly divided.
Original Announcement
1. Yes, we are having a Draft Tournament
Yes, we are still having our FOURTH annual DNHQ Draft Tournament, where Dub Nation gets to vote on whom the Warriors should draft via head to head showdowns.
The draft will happen on Jun 22 2023, 5pm.
If the Warriors end up trading the pick, I’ll end the draft tournament early.
2. TL; DR. Here is the Final Field
Jett Howard (1)
Jordan Hawkins (2)
Jalen Hood-Schifino (3)
G G Jackson (4)
Brice Sensabaugh (5)
Dereck Lively (6)
Rayan Rupert (7)
Dariq Whitehead (8)
Noah Clowney (9)
Kris Murray (10)
Leonard Miller (11)
Colby Jones (12)
Bilal Coulibaly (13)
Sidy Cissoko (14)
Trayce Jackson-Davis (15)
Brandin Podziemski (16)
3. Deciding the field
It’s impossible to predict the exact players that will be available at the Warriors draft slot #19. Instead I took a number of well-respected mock drafts
and excluded all players which were drafted no later than #19.Excluded Players (all mock drafts have them gone by #19)
Victor Wembanyama
Scoot Henderson
Brandon Miller
Amen Thompson
Ausar Thompson
Jarace Walker
Taylor Hendricks
Cam Whitmore
Anthony Black
Cason Wallace
Gradey Dick
Kobe Bufkin
Keyonte George
Nick Smith
Our Tournament Field
Here are all 11 players remaining whom at least one mock draft selects at #20 or earlier.
Brice Sensabaugh
Colby Jones
Dariq Whitehead
Dereck Lively
G G Jackson
Jalen Hood Schifino
Jett Howard
Jordan Hawkins
Kris Murray
Kyle Filipowski- back to DukeLeonard Miller
Rayan Rupert
Wild Cards
I added 5 players that were the highest ranked player not listed above from some interesting draft analysts. Naturally, I did also select for players that are interesting to me…
Sidy Cissoko (Adam Spinella)
Trayce Jackson-Davis (also Crow @bballstrategy)
Brandin Podziemski (Dean on Draft)
Noah Clowney (Hollinger)
Bilal Coulibaly (Givony, ESPN)
Seed Order
Finally, I seeded them in the order of their average ranks in the mock drafts.
Warriors Pre-Draft Workouts
Wasserman B/R 4/4, SB Nation 4/4, The Ringer 5/14, Vecenie TheAthletic 5/14, Givony ESPN, 5/17