2023 Warriors NBA Draft Viewing Guide and Likely #19 Pick Time

Find the exact moment you will be mad about GSW's draft selection

Jun 22, 2023

248

Before the draft

To know which player you hope will fall to GSW, check out the 2023 Dub Nation HQ Draft Tournament.

This will be in some sense the most unpredictable GSW draft since I started paying very close attention in 2020.

2020: it was pretty clear that GSW would try to trade down like everyone else and, failing that, take Wiseman.
2021: it was pretty clear that once Kuminga looked like he might fall to #7 that he would be GSW’s pick. #14 was less certain but we all liked Moody and he was mocked higher than #14, so once he was available, he seemed like the obvious pick.
2022: We knew we couldn’t predict anything at all with such a low pick or expect any great prospect. At #28 you would be delighted to get a role player. Also we were all ecstatic about the championship so there was no real time to worry about the draft.
2023: At #19, they will try to trade down (I’d be shocked if GSW trade up). If they can’t, they will probably take a more seasoned prospect (Jaquez? Kris Murray?) who can win now; or maybe a darling of statistics (Podz? Jackson-Davis?). Or… At #19 you can irrationally dream about whatever lottery prospect fell to you. If a hotshot Top 10 prospect falls to #19 (Nick Smith? Gradey D?) maybe take them; or maybe take the best shooter left (Hawkins, Howard, Bufkin); or maybe take a draft and stash flier (Nnaji?) or… And with a new GM, that makes things even more unpredictable…
So, 2023 draft night will be interesting.

If you have time to kill

Instead of having a nervous breakdown, consider listening to one of my all-time favorite podcasts from a couple of years ago. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at the draft room from someone who was with the Suns during the Devin Booker draft…

Among the revelations:

there’s a special private chat with every team where the draft runs about 10 picks ahead of the broadcast, so there is time to pull off trades that depend on players being available. No, Woj is not in the chat; it’s ahead of even Woj.
the value and non-value of workouts
so by draft week, you’ve done your evaluations of prospects and have a Big Board. Your main work is evaluating trade offers, especially scouting current NBA players and projecting team success to properly value future draft picks
on draft night, half the league sends last minute trade offers for your pick
how he got Booker wrong (undervaluing him by overvaluing on-ball defense)
how to put together a summer league around your draft pick
and more

Live List of DNHQ Draft Tourney Prospects

I will try to keep this updated as they get drafted until the Warriors make their pick.

I'm tracking the draft picks in relation to our Draft Tourney at a live updating Google Doc here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15wiXQtiOWMWub9QoTZo4vvIeVu-Bz3XMdtR7Xl6RbEE/edit?usp=sharing

The Supposed Lottery

Probably one or two will fall out of the Lottery, but will they get all the way to #19?

~~Victor Wembanyama~~ #1
~~Scoot Henderson~~ #3
~~Brandon Miller~~ #2
~~Amen Thompson~~ #4
~~Ausar Thompson~~ #5
~~Jarace Walker~~ #8
Taylor Hendricks
Cam Whitmore
~~Anthony Black~~ #6
Cason Wallace
Gradey Dick
Kobe Bufkin
Keyonte George
Nick Smith

The Draft Tourney Field

Here are all the Tourney Prospects as collectively ranked at void’s DNHQ Big Board Vote Site.

Dereck Lively II
~~Bilal Coulibaly~~ #7
Leonard Miller
Brandin Podziemski
Trayce Jackson-Davis
Rayan Rupert
Kris Murray
Noah Clowney
Colby Jones
Sidy Cissoko
Jalen Hood-Schifino
Jordan Hawkins
Dariq Whitehead
Jett Howard
Brice Sensabaugh
G.G. Jackson

Ben Sheppard (A)
Kobe Bufkin (A)
James Nnaji (A)
Maxwell Lewis (A)
Jaime Jaquez (B)
Jalen Wilson (B)
Julian Strawther (B)
Terquavion Smith (B)

How to view the draft

Date: June 22, 2023
Time: 5 p.m. Pacific
On: ABC and ESPN

It’s honestly a bit old-fashioned to (only) watch this on TV. If you want to be 5-10 minutes ahead of the televised draft, follow Woj, Shams and maybe Marc Stein on Twitter.

Update: Woj said last week that he would not tweet the picks in advance. In 2018, ESPN appeared to tell Woj to stop spoiling the draft because his scoops undercut the whole TV show. So Woj stopped, but then Marc Stein just started spoiling the draft, so Woj went back to spoiling, while fulfilling his contractual obligation by tweeting amusing euphemisms like “Team X is lasering in on Player Y”.

So, if you don’t want spoilers, turn off Twitter and avoid this comment section. Because everyone is encouraged to post news here as soon as you have it from a reputable source.

As for when the actual picks start, it’s usually around 5:15pm. In 2020, Woj tweeted the #1 pick at 5:10pm:

Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespn

Emerging at the top of the Timberwolves draft board for No. 1: Anthony Edwards, per sources.

Each team has 5 minutes to choose for the 30 first round picks, and 2 minutes for the 30 second round picks. The time of the official pick announcement sometimes seems to be longer than that.

5:15-6:40. Picks #1 through #18.

Note: The following schedule may change completely if the Warriors pull off a trade of draft picks.

Trades happen every year, and GSW has been public about wanting to trade their picks. However, I would think that unless GSW got a no-brainer offer, they would have trades prearranged, contingent on certain players falling to their pick. This would mean the trade would be finalized right after “their” pick is announced. There is a small chance GSW could trade UP, but it seems unlikely given their difficulties with the Two Timeline approach.

6:40-6:50. Start eyeballing the draft board to see who’s left for GSW to pick

6:50-7:00. The #19 draft pick.

Woj tweeted the #19 pick at the following times in the last three years:

2022. 6:56p. Jake LaRavia
2021. 6:59p. Kai Jones
2020. 6:52p. Saddiq Bey

7:00 - 8:00. Be angry. You could have drafted better.

Furiously google about the new guy, or pray for a trade.

8:00. Second round begins

In 2020, Shams tweeted the 1st pick of the second round at 7:58pm. This round goes by faster than the 1st round.

The Warriors have NO 2nd rounders, but the Warriors habitually buy second round picks for cash. This ability will be taken away at some point by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, but it’s unclear if that affects this draft or not. The new CBA kicks in July 1, so I assume GSW can still buy into the 2nd Round.

More Key Dates

2023-24 key dates from ESPN

June 22

• 2023 NBA draft

June 29

• Last day for a team or player option to be exercised
• Last day for a player to receive a qualifying offer

June 30

• Free agent negotiations can begin (6 p.m. ET)

July 1

• Free agency moratorium (12:01 a.m. ET)
• First-round selections can sign contracts
• Minimum contracts (two years or less) can sign
• Restricted free agents can sign an offer sheet
• Third-year and fourth-year rookie options can be exercised

July 3-5

• California Summer League

July 3-6

• Utah Summer League

July 6

• Free agency begins (12:00 p.m. ET)
• Teams can sign free agents
• Trades can become official
• Rookie scale and veteran contracts can be extended
• Clock begins on offer sheets signed during the moratorium

July 7-17

• Las Vegas Summer League

July 13

• Last day to withdraw a qualifying offer

Aug. 31

• Last day to use the waive and stretch provision

Oct. 3

• Training camp begins

Oct. 21

• Last day to waive a player on a non-guaranteed contract and not incur a salary cap charge

Oct. 23

• Last day of the offseason
• Last date to sign a rookie scale or veteran extension (2 years left)
• Rosters are restricted to 15 full contracts (plus two two-way contracts)

Oct. 31

• Deadline to exercise third-year and fourth-year team options on rookie contracts