Mike Dunleavy, in less than two weeks, is about to get set for his third NBA draft as the Warriors general manager. His first two cracks at the sport’s inexact science of a guessing game have been mostly successful, too.
With his one first-round pick, Dunleavy was able to add guard Brandin Podziemski, who has played well above his draft slot his first two seasons. Finding centers Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quinten Post in the second round of the past two drafts also has been great value for the GM. The Warriors this year only have one pick at No. 41 overall after trading their first-round pick (No. 20) to the Miami Heat as part of the Jimmy Butler deal.
Podziemski, Jackson-Davis and Post all have one thing in common: They all came from college. And none were one-and-done prospects.
The prospects the Warriors have worked out ahead of this year’s draft follow a similar trend.
Teams are allowed to bring in up to six prospects for pre-draft workouts. Since May 22, the Warriors have held five pre-draft workouts that include six prospects, including the latest being Thursday. All but one player has come from the college ranks. None come from an international club, and one was in the NBA G League.
Dink Pate is that one G League prospect, and the 19-year-old also is the only teenager on that list. But Pate had to be in this year’s draft after spending the last two seasons in the G League, where he became the youngest professional basketball player in the United States when he joined the now-defunct G League Ignite as a 17-year-old in 2023.
There just aren’t as many second-round fliers and projects anymore with the way NIL has completely changed the landscape of college basketball.
“These guys are going back to school for millions now,” one source said to NBC Sports Bay Area. “Unless you’re a top guy, a lottery pick, it only makes sense. These agents know it, too.”
College experience is one part of the equation. Guards, wings and big men have given it their all on the Warriors’ practice court leading up to the draft. The real theme of players the Warriors have been putting through group pre-draft workouts, testing measurables and athletic skills, drill work and 3-on-3, is age.
As a reminder, the Warriors could be working out young players privately, but sources say that isn’t the focus. The one teenager of the 30 prospects the Warriors have worked out in group settings, and let it be known to reporters covering the team, played two seasons professionally. He’ll be 20 in March, and not one 20-year-old was part of that 30-man list.
Neither was a 21-year-old. No freshmen, and no sophomores. Just two juniors, and one already has declared he’s returning for his senior season. The other junior is RJ Luis Jr., last season’s Big East Player of the Year and a Consensus All-American who’s expected to go slightly later than the Warriors’ pick in the second round.
The rest are seniors, all 27 of them. But the majority spent more than four years in college. Just 10 were four-year seniors last season, with 16 fifth-year seniors and one even being a sixth-year senior.
Brice Williams is one of the fifth-year seniors who has worked out for the Warriors, and he actually spent six years in college, missing one year to injury. He’ll be 24 in July. Steven Ashworth also was a fifth-year senior last season, but fulfilled a two-year Mormon mission before he began his college career. He’s already 25 with a wife and a son.
Then there’s Caleb Grill, the sixth-year senior who turns 25 on Sunday.
The 30-player list of pre-draft workouts has included 13 22-year-olds, 12 23-year-olds, three 24-year-olds, a 25-year-old and also a 19-year-old. That isn’t the whole story. Of the 13 22-year-olds, 10 will be 23 before or during the season. Nine of the 12 23-year-olds will turn 24 before or during the season, and one of the 24-year-olds is about to be 25.
If the Warriors keep their pick, they’re looking to select a plug-and-play addition, even if it’s not from Day 1.
“Yeah, that’s what we’ll look for,” Dunleavy said back on May 16. “Frankly, it’s nice having some of these young players come in and contribute right away. It’s not always guaranteed. Forty-one, I’m sure there will be a good player there. We can always trade the pick, we can keep it.
“I think the biggest thing of interest will be the amount of players that stay in the draft vs. go back to school. That will probably dictate the quality and the talent level at the pick, but 41 is a pretty good range to be in.”
Dunleavy took Jackson-Davis at No. 57 overall in the 2023 draft when he was already 23 and played four years at Indiana. Post was 24 when the Warriors drafted him 52nd overall as a fifth-year senior last year. For the final month of his rookie season, Jackson-Davis became the Warriors’ starting center. He started this season in the same position, but eventually fell out, and Post jumped his ranking in Steve Kerr’s rotation.
No more projects. The Warriors will want their rookie to already have miles under his hood and an engine on go-mode whenever Kerr is ready to use him next season.
