Mock Drafts June Update: whom will the Warriors draft?
A complete roundup plus players we missed in the Draft Tourney
Mock Draft Selections for the Warriors
Here is a look at all the major draft analysts and who they chose in mock drafts for the Warriors at #19. You can’t expect any draft analyst to precisely predict draft picks outside, say, the Top 5, so this is not about prediction accuracy. This is about what different analysts think is a good match between prospect and Warriors team needs. A link to each original mock draft is provided.
I’m pleased to say that if you’ve been following the Draft Tourney, you have seen scouting on almost every player mocked to the Warriors…
Not yet scouted in our Draft Tourney
Ben Sheppard. Wasserman, B/R (2023.06.02). Holy crap, Sheppard has been shooting upwards on the mock drafts.
James Nnaji. Givony and Woo, ESPN DraftExpress. (2023.06.05)
Kobe Bufkin. Krysten Peek, Yahoo! Sports. (2023.06.05)
When setting the field, Bufkin was considered out of our range. His rank has been drifting downwards ever since.
Kobe Bufkin. Givony and Woo, ESPN DraftExpress. (2023.06.05)
Trey Alexander, Boone, CBS Sports (2023.06.03).
Trey Alexander withdrew from the NBA Draft. This pick was, to put it mildly, a serious long shot from an analyst who I’ve found to be quite out of step with what actually happens on draft night.
I will add Ben Sheppard, James Nnaji and Kobe Bufkin to a special Out of Competition chapter of our Draft Tourney.
Already scouted in our Draft Tourney
Brice Sensabaugh, NBADraftRoom.com (2023.06.05)
Colby Jones, O’Connor, The Ringer. (2023.06.06).
Dariq Whitehead. Spinella, The Box and One (2023.06.05)
Dereck Lively II. O’Connor, The Ringer. (2023.05.16).
A big favorite in Dub Nation, but his stock may have risen out of range of #19.
Dereck Lively II. Parrish, CBS Sports (2023.06.03)
Dereck Lively II. NBADraft.net (2023.06.01)
Dereck Lively II. Heery, Yardbarker (2023.06.05)
Dereck Lively II. Kalbrosky, USA Today (2023.06.02)
Jalen Hood-Schifino. Vecenie, The Athletic. (2023.05.16)
Jalen Hood-Schifino, Byrum & Hughes, NBC Sports. (2023.05.27)
Jett Howard, RookieWire, USA Today. (2023.06.05)
Kris Murray, Finkelstein, CBS Sports (2023.06.03)
Another big favorite of Dub Nation.
Kris Murray. Babcock, SI. (2023.05.23)
Noah Clowney. Cobb, CBS Sports (2023.06.03)
Rayan Rupert. Givony and Woo, ESPN. (2023.06.01)
How have mocks changed since we set the Draft Tourney field?
I re-did the selection of the Draft Tourney using only June Mock Drafts (BR 6-2, Givony ESPN 6-2, The Ringer 6-6, Yahoo 6-5) just to see how much things would have changed. It’s too late to change the Tourney, but I’ll post at least one supplementary round for the key players we missed.
Players mocked to not fall to #19
Victor Wembanyama
Brandon Miller
Scoot Henderson
Amen Thompson
Cam Whitmore
Ausar Thompson
Jarace Walker
Anthony Black
Taylor Hendricks
Gradey Dick
Nick Smith
Keyonte George
Dereck Lively (sorry folks)
Cason Wallace
10 players mocked in our range
Bilal Coulibaly (14.8)
Jalen Hood Schifino (14.8)
Kobe Bufkin (16.5)
Jordan Hawkins (17.3)
Leonard Miller (20)
Brice Sensabaugh (24.5)
Jett Howard (24.5)
Maxwell Lewis (26.3)
Rayan Rupert (27.8)
Ben Sheppard (28)
These are players who were mocked by someone to go at or above #19.
The next 13 Reaches by average rank
Kris Murray (23.8)
Noah Clowney (24.5)
Dariq Whitehead (26)
G G Jackson (28.8)
Brandin Podziemski (29.8)
Jaime Jaquez (30.3)
Olivier Maxence Prosper (31.5)
Colby Jones (31.5)
Bobi Klintman (32.8)
James Nnaji (33.3)
Trayce Jackson Davis (34.3)
Sidy Cissoko (35.3)
Amari Bailey (36)
Out of those 23, who is not in the Tourney?
Kobe Bufkin (16.5)
Maxwell Lewis (26.3)
Ben Sheppard (28)
Actually worked out for GSW on June 6.
Jaime Jaquez (30.3)
Actually worked out for GSW on May 30
Olivier Maxence Prosper (31.5)
Bobi Klintman (32.8)
James Nnaji (33.3)
Mock drafted for GSW by the eccentric Givony / Woo, above.
Amari Bailey (36)
Certain commenters’ cult favorite
I just want to say, y’all are massively undervaluing Poole who averaged 24.6 points, 4.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds with a 58 TS% in 43 games as a starter this season. With that being said, even if I prefer trading Klay, here are some interesting options for trading Poole!
Buddy Heild/Aeron Nesmith for Poole: The combo of Heild/Nesmith help us retain most of Poole’s offensive punch while giving us spacing and Nesmith played mostly PF last year despite his smaller size while playing very solid defense. The Pacers would go for it since it would net them a 24 peg scorer alongside Haliburton whose size/defense can help cover Poole’s shortcomings. While the Pacers have some interesting guard options already in Benedict and Nembhart, Benedict can play at SF and Nembhart can simply come off the bench. None of these concerns are particularly troublesome.
Grimes/Mitchell Robinson for Poole: Grimes/Robinson are excellent fits in terms of what we are looking for providing us with tough gritty defense. Grimes provides a bit more spacing while Mitchell includes shot blocking and rebounding. We won’t have as much of an offensive punch but our defense will be much better. They get a tremendous offensive duo in Brunson/Poole at the guard position and they don't have to worry so much regarding the loss of size since Barrett/Randle/Hartenstein would still be a very large backcourt.
HQ, after reading through the current crop of comments it makes me realise how crazy the predicament of the new GM apparent is! What would be some interview questions (serious or not!) you would ask them if you were the Dubs recruiting manager?