Report: The Golden State Warriors Are Projected To Draft James Wiseman In This Year’s Draft. Should The Warriors Consider Trading This Pick Or Should They Continue Their Drafting Success?

With the Minnesota Timberwolves most likely drafting Anthony Edwards with the first pick in the NBA draft, the Golden Warriors are looking to either trade a player or trade the pick away for other assets to compete for a championship. However, with the team suffering many injuries and losing important assets such as Kevin Durant, the Golden State Warriors are no longer the NBA’s tyrants and instead are contenders in the Western Conference. Despite this team having more success with Durant, the Warriors in 2015 successively won a championship without him, which means that it is possible for the Golden State Warriors to at least be in contention. The only issue is that the competition from 2015 to the present day has almost doubled in size, considering that almost every Western Conference team is a playoff contender. From the Phoenix Suns to the Los Angeles Lakers, the West is a deep conference making the NBA very competitive. With the Warriors possessing a secured foundation to build upon in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and even Eric Paschall, this team is automatically a playoff lock for the Western Conference. However, this off-season, the Warriors can create another dynasty as they possess significant trade assets and, most importantly, the second pick in the NBA draft! If the Warriors want to continue their momentum in dominance, would trading the pick be a wise decision or would drafting a player secure a new chapter for them while keeping them in contention? 

In the 2019-20 NBA trade deadline, the Warriors foolishly traded away D’Angelo Russell in exchange for Andrew Wiggins, a 2021 first-round pick, and a 2021 second-round pick. The Timberwolves were in a desperate situation to attain some better players around Karl Anthony Towns and, as a result, revamped their entire roster! For the Warriors, the only logical reason for them to trade D’Angelo Russell as early as they did is to grant them a high pick in this year’s draft, which ended up working out in their favour. However, the Warriors lost this trade by a considerable margin as they traded away an All-Star calibre player for a role player who needs 20 shot attempts to average just below 20 points per game. If the Warriors waited until the draft order was announced, the Warriors would have still ended up as one of the worst NBA teams considering how injury-prone D’Angelo Russell was. With the Warriors having the worst rotation this season, having Russell as the primary option would have changed nothing due to how competitive the Western Conference is. 

The only positive outlier that results in this transaction for the Warriors is the Timberwolves’ draft picks. Even though Minnesota revamped their entire roster, the chances of this organization making the playoffs next season are incredibly slim, considering that other teams such as the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings are slowly evolving to viable playoff threats. The Timberwolves have a lot of work to do, regardless of attaining the first pick in this year’s draft. Whether they decide to trade it away or draft a player to develop, this team needs a few more seasons and pieces to become a threat to other teams. This trade for the Warriors did provide a worse player in Andrew Wiggins but, it also offered them some trade bait for other teams meaning that these picks can be packaged with a player to get better assets or even another All-Star. Regardless of what the Warriors decide on doing, they are in a comfortable position to pursue anything they desire, considering that they still possess a three-headed monster in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. This trio in 2015 won a championship against LeBron James while changing how basketball is played. With all these assets that they have attained this season, the Warriors can create a new dynasty while keeping their current one intact! That’s a scary thought to think about, and with their possession of the second pick in this year’s draft, the Warriors will enter a new chapter of their dynasty and will become the next San Antonio Spurs of the NBA if they use this pick right. Here is why the Warriors should look to either trade away the pick or draft a player. 

The Golden State Warriors Continue Their Drafting Success

When rewinding the clock to 2009, the Golden State Warriors would look to draft the second-best point guard ever to touch a hardwood floor! This guard, who was projected to be a bust due to his size and skill set, would become a three-time champion and the first unanimous MVP in NBA history. This so-called “bust” would change the way basketball is played and became the first successful team to incorporate three-point shooting in their championship endeavours. Furthermore, the Warriors in 2011 would draft Klay Thompson, who would be regarded as the modern-day Scottie Pippen, a defensive wing that can knock down three’s with ease while being the ideal sidekick to Stephen Curry. In the following season, the Warriors would also draft Draymond Green, who is regarded as one of the greatest defensive players in the NBA today while winning a defensive player of the year award in 2017! 

The Warriors, almost every season since attaining Stephen Curry, have successfully drafted the right players. From Eric Pascall to Harrison Barnes, the Warriors have consistently drafted players that would be key essentials to their rotation. Golden State created their dynasty through the draft, considering that they had no other options at the time. In the present day, the Warriors are among the most valuable teams in the NBA due to how well they developed players and constructed their dynasty. 

The Warriors having the second pick is a shock but a blessing for this team’s future. With this team being arguably the best in drafting players, the chances are that Golden State will draft the right player to continue their dynasty’s flame. As the media continues to create this narrative of having an elite center, the Warriors have proven that having a dominant center isn’t needed when winning a championship. In other words, the Warriors are projected to draft James Wiseman, who is a superb center that can rebound the basketball while having freakish athleticism. However, due to the Warriors play style and direction, drafting James Wiseman does not make any sense because small ball basketball is how they became a dynasty in the first place. Even though this team is projected to draft James Wiseman, the Warriors are an intelligent organization and will most likely select a player like Obi Toppin, who is an incredible athlete that can shoot the ball and posterize the best player on the court or Oneyka Okongwu, who can’t shoot the ball but can do everything else on both ends of the floor. For the Warriors system and how they play, drafting either those two players would be much more successful than James Wiseman. Although Onyeka is a terrific player, the Warriors should trade their pick down in the draft and select Obi Toppin, who not only exhibits experience but also fits the timeline for the Warriors dynasty as he is one of the oldest players to come out of this draft! His skill set would be the perfect fit for the Warriors as he would have a Harrison Barnes role but more versatile. 

Trade The Pick For Another All-Star

With the Warriors still in contention for a championship when healthy, they have all the right assets to trade for a fourth star! Throughout this season, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been rumoured that he would join Golden State next season when he would become a free agent, which would ruin the NBA’s competitiveness. The reason why this season was so exciting for most NBA fans was due to how competitive this season was as there is no clear winner for the NBA championship. In the last five seasons, the Warriors were always projected to make the finals and win it all, but thankfully Toronto and Cleveland made the NBA interesting. However, with this draft pick and young players that this team possesses, the Warriors have an opportunity to reach the status of contention once more. If the Warriors trade this pick and some young assets, the possibilities are endless for what this team can trade.

The only viable trade that the Golden State Warriors could offer to attain an All-Star calibre player is to trade away Andrew Wiggins and the pick due to salary constraints. For example, if the Warriors would want to target Khris Middleton, the Warriors would have no choice but to trade away Wiggins and another player making 10 million dollars just for the trade to be accepted. However, what player should the Warriors target? 

After his disgraceful loss in the first round of the playoffs, Joel Embiid has been rumoured to be traded away this off-season. Embiid is a tier-one center and arguably the best center in the NBA; the Warriors would strive with Embiid. He has proven to be an above-average three-point shooter at his position while also being a great defender. However, his only weakness in his game is the lack of dominance as Joel, at times, appears to be afraid to post-up players who are significantly smaller than him. An example, Embiid rarely challenged Daniel Theis in the first round and instead submitted himself to shoot the ball from behind the free-throw line. Theis is a 6’8 center while Joel is a 7’2 center, which should have been an easy match-up for Joel, but instead, Embiid struggled and ended up getting swept by a much smaller Boston Celtics team. Why is this relevant? Despite his lack of dominance inside the paint, Embiid is a solid shooter, which would be ideal for the Golden State Warriors to incorporate. With the way their system is built, Embiid would be a rebounding machine that will defend the paint against other centers and forwards like Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic while also being a shooter for the Warriors. Embiid has all the tools to become the best center the NBA has seen in the last 15 seasons; however, his dominance inside is what’s propelling him away from that title. Depending on the Warriors trade for Embiid, the best offer on the table would be Andrew Wiggins, Eric Paschall, the second pick in this year’s draft, and the Timberwolves pick that Golden State received in the D’Angelo Russell trade. This would work for both teams as the 76ers can revamp their roster and finally build around their right process being Ben Simmons while the Warriors can continue to dominate the Western Conference!