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The Golden State Warriors have made some spectacular draft picks over the years. They’ve also made some rather horrendous ones. So why not rank them all?
But simply ranking every draft pick in Warriors history would be a little fruitless, because obviously those taken at the top of draft are likely to be better. Instead, I wanted to focus on the players drafted within certain slots.
So I ranked all of the Warriors draft picks by section: Picks 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, and 51-60.
A few notes:
- I needed a cutoff somewhere, so I went with 1989. Why? That’s when the NBA Draft switched to two rounds. In 1988, for example, there were three rounds and 75 picks. 1971, the first year that they were officially the Golden State Warriors? 19 rounds and 237 players.
- I’m only using players that the Warriors effectively drafted. Players they technically drafted but traded are not included; however, players they didn’t technically draft but immediately acquired are included. In other words, Antawn Jamison counts but Vince Carter does not.
- I’m valuing players in a vacuum. It’s a ranking of how good the player is, not how good the selection was. So Adonal Foyle isn’t docked for being taken one slot ahead of Tracy McGrady. That said, I’m including a note as to what other players might have been available, just for context and self-loathing.
- I’m only judging players based on NBA production — with or without the Warriors — but I will note what they’ve done outside of the NBA.
Wednesday covered slots 51-60. All four of them. Thursday was slots 41-50.
Now it’s time for the 14 players selected with slots 31-40.
Let’s go.
14. Marcus Mann
Drafted
40th overall, 1996 NBA Draft
Warriors and career stats
None
Notable players selected after him
Malik Rose
Marcus Mann never played a game for the Warriors. He never played a game in the NBA.
I don’t really have anything else to say on the matter, and it would most likely bore you if I did.
13. Derrick Zimmerman
Drafted
40th overall, 2003 NBA Draft
Warriors stats
None
Career stats (1 year, 2 games)
16.0 minutes, 2.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game
Notable players selected after him
Zaza Pachulia, Kyle Korver, Willie Green, Mo Williams, Matt Bonner, James Jones, Keith Bogans
Like I mentioned above, I’m not judging this based on who else was available. So Zimmerman doesn’t land near the back of this list because so many quality NBA players were selected after him, including Warriors legend Zaza Pachulia, and the still active Kyle Korver.
But that sure highlights the 4 career points, doesn’t it?
12. Kosta Perović
Drafted
38th overall, 2006 NBA Draft
Warriors and career stats (1 year, 7 games)
5.4 minutes, 1.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.3 blocks per game
Notable players selected after him
Paul Millsap, Daniel Gibson
Perović had a successful career in Europe, both before and after coming to the NBA. The Warriors drafted him in 2006, stashed him in Europe, and brought him over for the 2007-08 season. He spent most of the year in the D League (remember the Bakersfield Jam?), and was cut prior to the start of the 2008-09 season.
11. Dwayne Whitfield
Drafted
40th overall, 1995 NBA Draft
Warriors stats
None
Career stats (1 year, 8 games)
15.3 minutes, 5.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 0.3 assists per game
Notable players selected after him
Eric Snow, Fred Hoiberg
The upside of Whitfield’s career? He played for the Toronto Raptors in their first season.
The downside of Whitfield’s career? It only lasted eight games.
10. Kevin Pritchard
Drafted
34th overall, 1990 NBA Draft
Warriors stats (1 year, 62 games)
12.5 minutes, 3.9 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game
Career stats (4 years, 94 games)
12.0 minutes, 3.6 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game
Notable players selected after him
Cedric Ceballos, Antonio Davis, Jud Buechler, Bimbo Coles, Greg Foster
Pritchard was good enough as a rookie for the Warriors that you’d be forgiven for thinking he’d turn into a solid player for years to come.
I, of course, was above such thoughts, mostly because I was four months old when he was drafted.
That didn’t happen, as his career faltered after that initial year, but he did find success on the other side of the basketball universe, working his way up to general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers where, fair or not, he’ll likely always be remembered for drafting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant.
9. Jeremy Tyler
Drafted
39th overall, 2011 NBA Draft
Warriors stats (2 years, 62 games)
10.2 minutes, 3.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks per game
Career stats (3 years, 104 games)
9.9 minutes, 3.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks per game
Notable players selected after him
Isaiah Thomas, Dāvis Bertāns, E’Twaun Moore
I think we all remember the fleeting Jeremy Tyler era well. Or maybe we’ve all forgotten it. Yep, probably that one.
8. Jordan Bell
Drafted
38th overall, 2017 NBA Draft
Warriors stats (2 years, 125 games)
12.8 minutes, 3.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game
Career stats (3 years, 154 games)
12.0 minutes, 3.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game
Notable players selected after him
Dillon Brooks, Monté Morris, Thomas Bryant
Warriors fans will always have some very, very fond memories of Bell.
His tenure was odd. Many saw him as the next steal by the Warriors, making fun of the Chicago Bulls for selling the pick to Golden State, even before Bell had played a single game.
But there were maturity and professionalism issues — including when he was suspended a game for playing a prank on an assistant coach — and ultimately the Warriors let him walk in free agency after just two years.
Things haven’t gone much better for Bell since then, but it’s still early, and he’s still young.
7. Andrew Declercq
Drafted
34th overall, 1995 NBA Draft
Warriors stats (2 years, 93 games)
13.6 minutes, 4.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.4 assists per game
Career stats (10 years, 587 games)
16.8 minutes, 4.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game
Notable players selected after him
Eric Snow, Fred Hoiberg
I’m kind of impressed by Declercq’s staying power. He made it 10 years in the NBA, despite averaging 6 or more points per game in just a pair of seasons.
He was never particularly good, but he was just good enough, and that, my friends, is a serious skill.
6. Patrick McCaw
Drafted
38th overall, 2016 NBA Draft
Warriors stats (2 years, 128 games)
15.9 minutes, 4.0 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game
Career stats (4 years, 194 games)
17.2 minutes, 3.9 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game
Notable players selected after him
None
McCaw has never seemed to play well. He can’t shoot or score. He occasionally makes a dazzling pass, but never looks comfortable as a playmaker. He doesn’t rebound. He has defensive potential but has never really flexed it.
And yet Steve Kerr and Nick Nurse — two of the best coaches in the world — continually have given him minutes. They obviously see something.
If I redo these silly rankings in a few years, McCaw might end up a lot higher than this spot, or he might end up a lot lower.
But for now, Warriors fans will remember him as someone who won championships in his first two years with the team, and then refused to report to a historically great team chasing a threepeat . . . only to eventually win a title against them.
5. Marc Jackson
Drafted
37th overall, 1997 NBA Draft
Warriors stats (2 years, 65 games)
24.3 minutes, 11.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game
Career stats (7 years, 387 games)
19.6 minutes, 8.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game
Notable players selected after him
Stephen Jackson, Anthony Johnson, Alvin Williams, Mark Blount, God Shammgod
Longtime readers of this website will remember Marc Jackson (definitely not to be confused with Mark Jackson) for giving us our tagline: Unstoppable, baby! which he uttered as a rookie, after making a layup during a blowout loss.
Jackson was from the Tyreke Evans school of peaking early: He averaged 13.2 points and 7.5 rebounds as a rookie, and never came particularly close to matching that production ever again.
4. Alen Smailagić
Drafted
39th overall, 2019 NBA Draft
Warriors and career stats (1 year, 14 games)
9.9 minutes, 4.2 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game
Notable players selected after him
None (yet)
I’m taking a leap of faith on Smailagić by placing him this high after 14 very mediocre games.
But I remain high on him, he’s just 19 years old, and he’s on a four-year contract with next year fully guaranteed, meaning he’s likely to get his chance.
The Warriors have been very high on him (very, very high on him), and for now all we can do is guess. So I’m guessing on the optimistic side, because I think he’s bound for a solid NBA career.
3. Monta Ellis
Drafted
40th overall, 2005 NBA Draft
Warriors stats (7 years, 413 games)
35.7 minutes, 19.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game
Career stats (12 years, 833 games)
34.8 minutes, 17.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game
Notable players selected after him
Lou Williams, Marcin Gortat
Ellis may never have been the second-best player in the NBA (or anything close to it), like he once proclaimed he was, but he was far better than you ever expect out of the 40th overall pick.
Second-round picks aren’t supposed to play 12 years, or average 25.5 points per game, as he did in 2009-10.
But Monta did, and he was nightly entertainment for a fanbase in dire need of positive things on the basketball court. And he’ll always be loved for that.
Sidenote: Ellis averaged 41.4 minutes per game in 2009-10, and 40.3 the next year. The game has changed.
2. Gilbert Arenas
Drafted
31st overall, 2001 NBA Draft
Warriors stats (2 years, 129 games)
31.2 minutes, 15.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game
Career stats (11 years, 552 games)
35.1 minutes, 20.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game
Notable players selected after him
Mehmet Okur
Arenas left the Warriors after just two years, and instantly became a star. The Warriors missed out on his best years, but can still claim him as one of their own. And we’ll always have the highlights.
1. Draymond Green
Drafted
35th overall, 2012 NBA Draft
Warriors and career stats (8 years, 576 games)
28.1 minutes, 9.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game
Notable players selected after him
Khris Middleton
You can squabble about positions 2-14 all you want, but you cannot debate number 1. Green may not have the gaudy scoring stats of Arenas and Ellis, but when all is said and done, #23 will be hanging in the rafters of Chase Center, and Green’s statue will be planted on the street in Mission Bay, right next to Steph Curry and Klay Thompson (and likely Kevin Durant).
He’s the greatest defensive player in franchise history, one of the organization’s all-time great passers, one of its most relentless competitors. and a three-time champion.
What else can you say?