The Warriors are in position to secure a top-five pick in the 2020 NBA draft, and a big man looks like an obvious need for a team projected to start Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in the backcourt and Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green in the frontcourt.
However, Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle suggests the Warriors aren’t as high on the likes of James Wiseman and Onyeka Okongwu as you might think. As Letourneau details, Golden State’s system doesn’t require a dynamic scorer or play-maker at the five — the team just wants someone who can reliably play his role.
Marquese Chriss is someone who may fit that bill, given the strides he made in 2019/20 as a rim-runner, passer, and defender. In fact, multiple sources tell Letourneau that the Warriors would be comfortable entering the ’20/21 campaign with Chriss as their starting center. For his part, the former lottery pick says he’s prepared to play whatever role the team asks.
“I’m just thankful to have an organization that believes in me,” Chriss said. “At the end of the day, if (the Warriors) do draft (Wiseman), I know they’re making the best decision that they can for this team and that they feel will be beneficial for us to win a championship. As a team player, I want to win and I want to be a part of the team. Whatever role I have to have to make that happen, I’ll take on.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Lakers guard Quinn Cook has new representation, having signed with Mark Bartelstein and Priority Sports, tweets Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal. Cook was previously repped by Tandem.
- James Ham of NBC Sports California makes a case for why big man Serge Ibaka would be an ideal target for the Kings during the 2020 free agent period.
- Jovan Buha of The Athletic identifies some frontcourt free agents the Clippers could target during the offseason if they lose some combination of Montrezl Harrell, Marcus Morris, and JaMychal Green.
- In an interview this week with TNT’s Ernie Johnson, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers shared his side of a story J.J. Redick has told before, describing how the club’s deal with Redick in 2013 was nearly scuttled due to then-owner Donald Sterling‘s apparent aversion to white players. Kurt Helin of NBC Sports has the story, with Rivers’ comments.
Clippers sign Marcus Morris and Reggie Jackson and let both Green and Harrell leave.
Maybe add another back up centre to take up some of Harrells minutes, maybe Marc Gasol takes the vets min to try win a ring which would be great for them.
Otherwise maybe Meyers Leonard, Nerlens Noel or Enes Kanter could be possibly centre’s.
Didn’t Marc Gasol get his ring with the Raptors?
Tired of people ranking true centers so high in the draft when that’s clearly not the way the game is going, any top 5 pick should be able to spread the floor by shooting 3’s or else they better be some dynamic player like Giannis or Russ. Taking a rim protector/rebounder that high instead of addressing those needs in free agency is a bad use of assets, similar to a NFL team taking a RB that high it’s jus not worth it.
Like all things it depends on the player. If there is a freak center with talent like Shaq you take him. Saquon Barkely was worth the #2 pick. Setting a certain position can’t be drafted high in stone is foolish.
Think the jury is still out on that Saquon take but not gonna pretend Barkley isn’t dope, it’s jus that Phillip Lindsey went undrafted and has pretty much the exact same rushing stats since that draft (with Barkley obvi having more of a role in the passing game). Giants def could’ve used that #2 pick on a more premium position like DE and taken Bradley Chubb or upgraded the secondary by taking Minkah.
Hindsight is 20/20 though. Nobody knew or even really thought Lindsey would have relatively similar stats to Saquon. If you looked at Saquon from a physical tools perspective you could clearly see he is a monster and a “safer” draft pick for a position they needed to fill.
The game isnt going that way BUT imagine a playoff team getting a potential all star big. For instance what if the warriors mitchell Robinson at the end of the first round. With KD, steph klay, green, etc. You sometimes cant talent like that slip away.
Warriors drafted *
Warriors 100% should’ve taken Mitchell Robinson over Jacob Evans, and u may not believe me but I was mad at the time since we seemed like the perfect fit for a guy with those talents and that dropped in the draft for mostly non-basketball reasons. I’m talking about using a top 5 pick on a center like the Suns did when they chose Ayton, who is dope, over Doncic and Trae, who are game changers.
It was upsetting to see Evans go to the Warriors instead of Robinson. My wife and I were watching the draft and told her Robinson was going to be a Warrior. Evans could have been an UFA if it weren’t for GS.
GSW needs to trade that pick for Beal if he agrees to another extension
Wouldn’t be enough.
For who? I guess in this year’s draft Washington wants more than the #1 pick but if it was last year’s draft you wouldn’t give up Zion for Beal
Anyone else find it weird Sterling had an aversion to white players? Considered the comments that got his team taken off him, I mean.
At the end of the day it’s a business. You dont have to like black people, but that doesnt mean you wont use them to gain profit.
Unfortunately there seems to be a number of white people who have an aversion to white players, and they probably think they’re not racist. Hello Donald S.
His racism wasn’t as simple as “white people good, black people bad.” His underlying belief that certain types of people should have certain types of roles explain why he’d be just as averse to white players as, say, black executives.
I’ll trade you Robinson from the Knicks for Klay if your interested.
pass