A few hours before the Golden State Warriors' home opener tonight, the Santa Cruz Warriors will be making their first round selection in the 2012 NBA D-League draft.
The Warriors hold the 13th pick in the first round of the draft. Although there are no trades allowed during the draft, the Warriors have been active in the days leading up to it: on Wednesday they acquired a third round pick from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in exchange for forward Tommy Smith and just yesterday they acquired former first round pick Chris Daniels from the Erie BayHawks in exchange for a third round pick.
Only players signed to an NBA Development League Standard Player Contract are eligible to be selected and there are 263 player eligible to be drafted, according to the D-League draft website. Local players eligible for the draft are Jorge Gutierrez and DeVon Hardin from Cal (both of whom are considered top 25 prospects), Arron Mollet from Notre Dame Namur, and Michael Nunnally from Pacific. As described at SB Nation's D-League site Ridiculous Upside, Purdue's JaJuan Johnson is expected to be the first pick in the draft.
The draft will go eight rounds with the order the same in each round (aside from trades made prior to the draft) as follows:
1. Fort Wayne Mad Ants
2. Sioux Falls Skyforce
3. Idaho Stampede
4. Maine Red Claws
5. Reno Bighorns
6. Tulsa 66ers
7. Rio Grande Valley Vipers
8. Texas Legends
9. Iowa Energy
10. Canton Charge
11. Bakersfield Jam
12. Erie BayHawks
13. SANTA CRUZ WARRIORS
14. Springfield Armor
15. Austin Toros
16. Los Angeles D-Fenders
To follow the draft live, visit the D-League's website. For more on the D-League draft, check out SBN's Ridiculous Upside. For more on the Santa Cruz Warriors, check out our storystream with a visit and interview at their headquarters.