We've heard some rumors that Larry Riley is "trying like the dickens" to keep our 2012 lottery pick from going to Utah. One of the possible scenarios could have us sending our 3 other draft picks to Utah. Here, I'm going to present some evidence using the past 20 years of draft picks that might influence your vote. So don't make your decision until you read the story.
I've gone back through the last 20 drafts and compiled a list of the all the picks that would be involved in each year. I then rather subjectively answered the question "Would I do this trade?" for each draft. The answer is overwhelmingly YES! Of course, you might look at these names and have a different opinion.
Update: As pointed out by "Asmanz", I should have looked at the 8th pick, which is the highest pick that we might give up. So here's the table for that followed by the one, that I guess now you can think of as, "Should we try really hard to tank?"
YEAR |
8 |
27 |
36 |
50 |
TRADE? |
2011 |
Brandon Knight |
JuJuan Johnson |
Jordan Williams |
Lavoy Allen |
YES |
2010 |
Al-Farouq Aminu |
Jordan Crawford |
Terrico White |
Solomon Alabi |
YES |
2009 |
Jordan Hill |
DeMarre Carroll |
Sam Young |
Goran Suton |
YES |
2008 |
Joe Alexander |
Darrell Arthur |
Omer Asik |
DeVon Hardin |
NO |
2007 |
Brandan Wright |
Arron Afflalo |
Jermareo Davidson |
Renaldas Seibutis |
NO |
2006 |
Rudy Gay |
Sergio Rodriguez |
Craig Smith |
Ryan Hollins |
YES |
2005 |
Channing Frye |
Linas Kleiza |
Ersan Ilaysova |
Ryan Gomes |
PUSH |
2004 |
Rafael Araujo |
Sasa Vujacic |
Andre Emmett |
Sergei Lishouk |
PUSH |
2003 |
T.J. Ford |
Kendrick Perkins |
Mario Austin |
Paccelis Morlende |
NO |
2002 |
Chris Wilcox |
Chris Jefferies |
Milos Vujanic |
Darius Songaila |
PUSH |
2001 |
DeSagana Diop |
Jamaal Tinsley |
Damone Brown |
Alton Ford |
PUSH |
2000 |
Jamal Crawford |
Primoz Brezec |
Soumaila Samake |
Kaniel Dickens |
YES |
1999 |
Andre Miller |
Jumaine Jones |
Wang Zhizhi |
Venson Hamilton |
YES |
1998 |
Larry Hughes |
Vladimir Stepania |
Jerome James |
Andy Betts |
YES |
1997 |
Adonal Foyle |
Jaque Vaughn |
Kebu Stewart |
Alain Digbeu |
YES |
1996 |
Kerry Kittles |
Brian Evans |
Doron Sheffer |
Terrell Bell |
PUSH |
1995 |
Shawn Respert |
Mario Bennett |
Lawrence Moten |
Martin Lewis |
PUSH |
1994 |
Brian Grant |
Brooks Thompson |
Andrei Fetisov |
Charles Claxton |
YES |
1993 |
Vin Baker |
Malcolm Mackey |
John Best |
Marcelo Nicola |
YES |
1992 |
Todd Day |
Byron Houston |
Duane Cooper |
Matt Fish |
PUSH |
1991 |
Mark Macon |
Pete Chilcutt |
Chris Corchiani |
Joey Wright |
PUSH |
YEAR |
7 |
27 |
36 |
50 |
TRADE? |
2011 |
Bismack Biyombo |
JuJuan Johnson |
Jordan Williams |
Lavoy Allen |
YES |
2010 |
Greg Monroe |
Jordan Crawford |
Terrico White |
Solomon Alabi |
YES |
2009 |
Stephen Curry |
DeMarre Carroll |
Sam Young |
Goran Suton |
YES |
2008 |
Eric Gordon |
Darrell Arthur |
Omer Asik |
DeVon Hardin |
NO |
2007 |
Corey Brewer |
Arron Afflalo |
Jermareo Davidson |
Renaldas Seibutis |
NO |
2006 |
Randy Foye |
Sergio Rodriguez |
Craig Smith |
Ryan Hollins |
PUSH |
2005 |
Charlie Villanueva |
Linas Kleiza |
Ersan Ilaysova |
Ryan Gomes |
NO |
2004 |
Luol Deng |
Sasa Vujacic |
Andre Emmett |
Sergei Lishouk |
YES |
2003 |
Kirk Hinrich |
Kendrick Perkins |
Mario Austin |
Paccelis Morlende |
NO |
2002 |
Nene Hilario |
Chris Jefferies |
Milos Vujanic |
Darius Songaila |
YES |
2001 |
Eddie Griffin |
Jamaal Tinsley |
Damone Brown |
Alton Ford |
NO |
2000 |
Chris Mihm |
Primoz Brezec |
Soumaila Samake |
Kaniel Dickens |
YES |
1999 |
Richard Hamilton |
Jumaine Jones |
Wang Zhizhi |
Venson Hamilton |
YES |
1998 |
Jason Williams |
Vladimir Stepania |
Jerome James |
Andy Betts |
YES |
1997 |
Tim Thomas |
Jaque Vaughn |
Kebu Stewart |
Alain Digbeu |
YES |
1996 |
Lorenzen Wright |
Brian Evans |
Doron Sheffer |
Terrell Bell |
PUSH |
1995 |
Damon Stoudamire |
Mario Bennett |
Lawrence Moten |
Martin Lewis |
YES |
1994 |
Lamond Murray |
Brooks Thompson |
Andrei Fetisov |
Charles Claxton |
PUSH |
1993 |
Bobby Hurley |
Malcolm Mackey |
John Best |
Marcelo Nicola |
PUSH |
1992 |
Walt Williams |
Byron Houston |
Duane Cooper |
Matt Fish |
PUSH |
1991 |
Luc Longley |
Pete Chilcutt |
Chris Corchiani |
Joey Wright |
YES |
Even in the cases when the my answer is NO, there are only a few cases where the reward for staying put was large (literally) in Omer Asik, Kendrick Perkins, and arguably Ersan Ilyasova who has really been coming on lately. And some might argue that you might be better off with Eric Gordon in the 2008 draft, but I think for the Warriors, Asik would clearly be the better choice right now. One other thing should be clear, those later picks are simply not very good in most years. You could argue that there are always good players to be found, but that's ALWAYS with hindsight, because those players would have been drafted earlier otherwise. Looking at how the draft ACTUALLY turned out gives you a good idea how rare it is to find those sleeper picks.
Ok, answer the poll now.