Grading the Warriors' Draft

by Fantasy Junkie on Jun 27, 2008 11:37 AM PDT Comment 27 comments

Went digging around a little to see what people thought of the Warriors' draft picking up Anthony Randolph and Richard Hendrix.

ESPN Draft Grades

Grade: A

Analysis: Randolph has as much upside as anyone in the draft not named Beasley or Rose. But as with the huge upside guy they took last year, Brandan Wright, it might take Randolph a while to realize it.

I'm assuming down the road they'll play Wright at the 4 and hope Randolph develops into a 3. Along with Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins, Wright and Randolph could form a nice young core for the time when Baron Davis, Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson move on.

As for Hendrix, he can be a solid role player -- a good get at No. 49.

Tim Kawakami at Talking Points: Warriors take Anthony Randolph… hey, sometimes it’s NOT a smokescreen

Just saw Don Nelson, who was smoking cigars with his coaches and they had big smiles. I popped over and just asked him if he got his guy with Anthony Randolph. “That’s the guy I wanted,” Nelson said. There ya go.

For more, hit the jump.

CNN-SI:

Grade: C

P Chris Mullin and coach Don Nelson can't seem to get enough of forwards with proverbial upside. They picked up another one in LSU string bean Randolph, one year after acquiring slender North Carolina forward Brandan Wright in a draft-night deal. Hendrix was a big rebounder at Alabama, an area of need for the Warriors.

NBA Draft.net

Anthony Randolph
This marks the third year in a row the Warriors come out of the draft with a very long, very young, and very thin big man (Patrick O’Bryant and Brandan Wright the last two years). If these guys all blossom, the Warriors have a bright future. Like O’Bryant and Wright, Randolph probably won’t get much time as a rookie, especially with Golden State contending for a playoff spot.

Richard Hendrix

Hendrix is a tremendous athlete who plays with a high energy level. He's rather raw, but could establish himself as a productive role player in the right situation.

DraftExpress

Teams that lost ground:

-Lottery pick Anthony Randolph is purely a project, and Golden State once again is taking a chance (Patrick O’Bryant, Ike Diogu). Golden State’s future is a little dimmer today, though they slightly redeemed themselves by selecting Richard Hendrix in the second round.

Drop any grades or links to Warriors draft analysis in the comments.

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Comments

CBS Sportsline

Parrish’s quick take: I’ve long been a believer that at least two players drafted besides Rose and Beasley will develop into a future all-star, and this could be one of them. Randolph has a long way to go physically, but he’s got top five talent, and he’s a good pick for Golden State.

by Hac Man on Jun 27, 2008 11:44 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Hendrix

is going for the number of W’s legends Brian Caridnal and Eric Dampier, 35

by FoyledAgain on Jun 27, 2008 1:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

You Beat me to it

I was just logging in to answer this.

by Golden Boy on Jun 27, 2008 1:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Grade B

I give the Dubs a grade of a solid B, but hope that it turns out to be an A+. Hopefully both players will play and contribute…

by The Hendrix Experience on Jun 27, 2008 2:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Prototypical Nellie Big Man. More so than Brandan since Randolph shoots from outside and truly pushes the ball up like a guard. Late-comer to basketball. 8th grade? Unbelievable. Military parents mean that he should respond to discipline and veteran leadership. Brandan is going to pushed hard, but this is an awesome pick up at 14. This guy has KG potential.

Now, for immediate impact, Hendrix is an awesome combination of banger, bulk, height and effort. I hope this guy doesn’t go Lasme. Summer league is gonna be awesome with last year’s guys and this year’s guys.

"We're Menudo," -BB

by eshock on Jun 27, 2008 3:12 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Let's change that to a B

After reading the lowdown from an LSU fan, Randolph doesn’t seem to be the player the highlights showed. Still looks like he can run the floor extremely well, but if he is pouty and not mentally strong, he will be a 5 year project, no thanks. We got POB for that.

"We're Menudo," -BB

by eshock on Jun 28, 2008 4:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

B-

Is my grade for now.

My reasoning is that Anthony Randolph was indeed the selection that makes a lot of sense. It doesn’t seem like there was a great deal on the table for the Warriors to acquire something via trade for a vet or down in the first round. There’s also a lot of variables that go into this pick as it is definitely not a given that Randolph becomes a star.

I like the Hendrix pick with the 49th. I think he’ll bring something to the Warriors that we’ve lacked since Marc Jackson, Clifford Robinson left town.

The reason why i give it a B- though, is due to Chris Cohan’s cheapness or Chris Mullin’s inability to pull a Pritchard and buy a pick. There were quality guys waiting to be taken in the late first or early second! You cannot tell me that the Warriors couldn’t use a guy like Mario Chalmers, Bill Walker, or Chris Douglas-Roberts. I honestly believe these guys will be better than any guy we get for cheap on the veteran minimum contracts.

Frankly the Warriors swung and missed (or didn’t even swing at all!) on upgrading the talent.

Warriors, Stupidest franchise in the league.

by kenntoe on Jun 27, 2008 4:13 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Agree

I was thinking the same exact thing. I think that they made the right choices, but dang man, when teams are selling off first round picks and you need depth you’ve gotta get in on that action. CDR or Chalmers could really help this team next year, unlike AR.

As far as how Randolph is going to fit on this roster, I don’t know. Is he a 3? a 4? We’ll see. He seems to be neither at the moment which is fine by me. He will have to spend next season riding the bench and either bulking up or working on his outside game or both. Monta, AR, Wright and Andris could be a very interesting core in a couple years, if they can develop like we all hope they do.

"...OlympicMike is clearly the Barack Obama of GSoM"-Sleepy

by olympicmike on Jun 27, 2008 5:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Grade: Incomplete

If Wright and Randolph turn out to be the next decade Kevin Garnett clones, we’ll be sitting pretty.

by YaHeard on Jun 27, 2008 4:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Upside & counting

if I have to read “upside” much more I’m going to upchuck

upside = hasn’t gotten to the high levels needed for being an NBA caliber player and may need several years to get there, upon which we will likely be on our second post-Don Nelson coach and Baron will be on the …. Bucks

our next staff addition should be a nutritionist who will put some bulk on the thunder sticks
(it’s gotten so bad I’m quoting Ralph, who also makes me want to upchuck regularly)

Mullin is clearly in love with skinny lefties – we just drafted BWright 2.0 – faget about KG 2.0 we have two KG 0.5’s (actually, if either of them were half of KG maybe we’d call that a success!)

KNBR’s afternoon crew are calling our 2nd round pick the “key” to the draft, the guy who will step in and help right away. Excuse me, but isn’t that backwards? Shouldn’t the 1st Rd pick be ready and then “reach” on the 2nd Rd pick?

for those of us (anyone else?) who wanted to contend for the 2009 playoffs, unless there is a lightning strike at the O, we will be left counting and wondering wether Baron will be traded by Valentines’ day and Nelson will re-retire by St. Patrick’s day – counting? Counting how many more until we reach another 13 years.

Glad Nelson could smoke a stogie, and Mullin could tell everyone we got the guy we wanted, but really, do you think they’d say anything different if say, they had gotten Rush? Wouldn’t they have said and done the same then? Noooo, of course not, the stogie would have been stashed and Mullin subdued …

Wonder how the lack of using the TPE will get spun Monday – “gee, we couldn’t go over the cap” & whether any media “experts” will have the cojones to ask why it wasn’t used to get us into THIS year’s playoffs? Na, obviously I’m dreaming.

Sure hope I’m wrong, sure would LOVE to be wrong, but this isn’t looking like a recipe for contending for quite some time ….

by hardcore on Jun 27, 2008 6:06 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

TPE

I’ve been saying this since day one “The Warriors will not being using the TPE. We received the TPE to shed some money not to pick up more at a later date”

by Psion on Jun 27, 2008 8:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ar is more like

The next coming of scottie pippen. He is 6-10 dood that handle the ball like a guard and creates his shots and play D’s with his wingspan.If he play his cards right, he will be the next coming of one of the grea sf to played the game. Brandon Wright havent shown any sign of being as good as KG. Got no handles or shots. So, I would leave that KG 2.0 label off his name.

by warriorfan4life on Jun 27, 2008 9:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pippen was my thought too

His body type and athleticism mage me think this as well. If he ends up being even half as good its a good pick. He says he loves blocking shots so maybe he’s going to be like AK47 as well. As for BWright, its too early to say what he can and can’t do. Monta says he’s going to be a Bosh type – again, if so it is a great pick.
Imagine this roster:
Baron, Monta, AK47, Bosh and an improved Biedrins – could this be the dubs in two years? ahhhh, to dream….

Warrior fan for life - where we are "always just a big man away" from total domination

by buttafingas on Jun 27, 2008 11:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I would like to see a reality show

where all of us would be a coach, GM, owner, scout, ...of the GSW. It’s easy to be a general after the battle!!!

by buky on Jun 28, 2008 5:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

hmmm

Ok draft i guess. not satisfied though. But are these rookies gonna contribute or play significantly the next season? u guys know y i am asking this question…..

brb, going to ORACLE

by warrior510 on Jun 27, 2008 6:25 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Anyone read Hollinger's rankings?

I remember he posted something a couple days ago about some new rating system he developed based on combine, college statistics, and position. It was pretty accurate for previous drafts and from what I remember, Anthony Randolph was the lottery bound pick that was destined to be a failure.

I know he’s not always right with his mathematical formulas, but the only one? I feel like we got another bust coming. We needed depth more than anything since I’m pretty sure Pietrus, Barnes, and Azubuike will leave for “greener” pastures since this is a business for them.

by Mdawg851 on Jun 27, 2008 9:15 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I wonder why Hollinger

has not won any rings by now or even coach an NBA club by now?

I KNOW it’s because there is a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE gap between writing about it or DOING IT!

by buky on Jun 28, 2008 5:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

Hollinger probably isn’t even that good at playing basketball!

by DustyG on Jul 1, 2008 4:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

by ejdacanay on Jun 27, 2008 9:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I write for the SBNation LSU blog, www.andthevalleyshook.com

Some of the things people say about Randolph just make me scratch my head:

Handle the ball like a guard? Maybe like a shooting guard, but that’s pushing it.
Creates his own shots? Not really.
Plays D with his wingspan? Other than blocking shots, he’s a liability on defense.
Shoots from the outside? Sometimes, but that’s not important. What’s important is that he misses them more often than he makes them, and that’s when he’s uncovered.

After the season ended the talk of Randolph being a lottery pick was very confusing. Randolph had been a pretty quiet player until the last 3rd of the season in college. If he’s so great, why couldn’t he bring LSU anywhere? Why wasn’t he the best player on our team? He wasn’t even the best NEW player on the team. That honor goes to Marcus Thornton.

He had a reputation for pouting and giving significantly less than 100% effort. He had a reputation for not playing with intensity or passion. He had a reputation for not being particularly competitive. Defensively, Randolph could not guard Richard Hendrix because he was too thin and weak. Yet, Randolph is drafted a full round ahead of Hendrix.

I heard all this stuff about upside, and I am just forced to wonder how Randolph can be considered to have all this upside if he wasn’t a dominant player in college? At least Beasley dominated. Rose dominated. Heck, Randolph wasn’t even Freshman of the Year in the SEC. That honor was shared by Nick Calathes and Patrick Patterson. Randolph was at best 3rd!

I doubt I will ever understand it.

Richard Pittman

by Richard Pittman on Jun 28, 2008 12:32 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

I agree with you.

I think our fans are being a little optimistic with the comparisons to KG and Pippen. Both Pippen and KG became VERY polished players and became arguably two of the greatest of all time. Both were also top notch defenders, while I think Randolph might only be getting steals and blocks (not necessarily playing good defense). And yeah, I also noticed his LSU team wan’t very good either.

I’m going to welcome Randolph to the Bay and hope he has a great career here, but I still really don’t like the pick for the Warriors. I read somewhere the Warriors still want to compete for the Playoffs next year, and drafting another skinny, raw forward project, a few years away from having an impact, doesn’t help us at all. I still would have liked to see CDR or Rush in a Warriors uniform.

by The Daydreamer on Jun 28, 2008 1:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Questions:

Thanks for sharing a little bit of perspective from someone who actually saw the guy play on a regular basis. I’d be interested to get your full scouting report other than just refuting the over optimistic among us.

What would you consider his strengths and weaknesses to be? What kind of pro do you think he will evolve into?

"...OlympicMike is clearly the Barack Obama of GSoM"-Sleepy

by olympicmike on Jun 28, 2008 2:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nevermind

I found it on your site. Thanks again. Here it is for anyone interested.

http://www.andthevalleyshook.com/2008/6/14/551350/nba-draft-preview-anthony

"...OlympicMike is clearly the Barack Obama of GSoM"-Sleepy

by olympicmike on Jun 28, 2008 2:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

you can't compare AR with Hendrix

because of age

i doubt that AR would get even a 100k contract in Europe right now -but he became a lottery pick because of what he can became not what he is right now -so i hope the first thing what he will heard from Nellie will be -start working you’re nothing

build a team & destroy the roof

by Lat We N Trash on Jun 29, 2008 2:39 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Richard Hendrix - & Randolph

I’m a life long ‘Bama basketball fan and Richard is an all time favorite.
He dropped over 30 pounds before last season, so he can bulk up if needed.
Two best things about Richard –
1.great hands and passing ability
2. He will be the highest character person on your team. He taught my sons at summer camp previous two years and is nothing but CLASS. No problems out of him and he’ll make players around him better.

As for Randolph, saw LSU play ‘Bama, and all I remember was a skinny little guy who made no impression at all. No axe to grind here – I hope he’s good enough to contribute.
But all these “upside” players, NBA now tries to outsmart everyone and penalizes a guy who stays in college 4 years. Better for teams to save their money and pay proven players on their second contract.

by Michael Jordan on Jun 30, 2008 10:34 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

1st Impression: C-

I think Randolph is going to be a waste for his first two or three years, and I really doubt he’s going to develop into an all-star. Pittman saw him play in person, and his impression was pretty negative. Hollinger singled Randolph out as bust-worthy. Erich Doerr from Draft Express showed he was a below average player in college. I know Randolph is only 18, and he really hasn’t filled out yet, but he has to add on at least 20 to 30 pounds to be an effective rebounder for a small forward. His lack of passion is a huge red flag.

However, I don’t think Golden State’s draft was overwhelmingly negative. Hendrix is a steal for a 49th pick. His statistical profile is comparable to that of Boozer and Paul Millsap, two other forwards that fell into the 2nd round because they were short.

Of course, in three years Hendrix could be out of the league, and Randolph could be an all-star, proving me completely wrong.

by Miguel90 on Jun 30, 2008 3:38 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I give the GS draft a C.

I live in Alabama and am a huge Bama fan. Richard Hendrix has a long way to go before he can contribute anything other than a rebound every now and then. He is an awful free throw shooter and has a jump shot that is ugly.. So, being that he’s not the tallest guy ever, he is going to have to develop a jump shot or his offense will not exist as it did in several games in college. When he went against somebody that was as strong and as big as he was the he was way overmatched in college. Now if he is the big guy going against a smaller opponent then its a different story but thats not going to happen very many nights in the NBA.. Well, I hope RH does make it in the league and make T-town proud but he has a long way to go…. Later

by Sabanholic on Jun 30, 2008 6:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs