NBA Draft Day: Warriors Take Barnes

Well folks, it's finally here. The NBA draft is just a few hours away and we're inching closer and closer to finding out who the Warriors will take with their elusive 7th pick.

Unfortunately for Golden State, the draft isn't the only newsworthy piece of information to come out of Golden State Thursday. I'm not going to really talk about it much here, cause I don't know much about it, but apparently Coach Mark Jackson was a victim of a scandelous extortion scheme involving a stripper. You could probably put two and two together to figure out what the basis of the extortion charge is, but I just hope this doesn't take Jackson's focus off of the draft. He's obvioulsy the victim in this, so I do feel for him, even if he never met this woman, his name still gets dragged through the mud, but that's the price you pay these days to be a high-end public figure. Anyhow, that's off-field, non-basketball related news so I'll leave that to the legal analysts and pundits to talk about, cause there is much more important things happening at Warriors headquarters tonight.

All I've been hearing over the last few days is exactly what I posted in our previous post a few days ago. The Warriors look like they will indeed hold onto all their picks and will have to make a choice on somebody at pick 7. The thing is, I don't even think they know who they're going to pick yet, and probably won't until they see how the first 4-5 picks shake out. They could still be holding out hope that a Barnes or Drummond fall to them, but at the same time, they need to be prepared and have a plan B ready. Everyone in the Bay Area sports media seems to believe that Plan B is Dion Waiters, which I mentioned last post, but it's really anyones guess at this point. There was also a rumor floating around Wednesday that the Warriors could trade down in the draft and acquire two mid-round picks. I think they're playing it by ear though, and we won't see them do anything until the draft starts, if they do make a move at all... Be sure to check back with us after the picks role in for player analysis and thoughts. Until then, in Bob Myers and Coach Jackson we trust, kind of.

SF Harrison Barnes

Warriors Draft Harrison Barnes: The pick is in, and the guy I was really hoping would fall to Golden State, ended up doing just that. The Warriors biggest need heading into this offseason was at small forward, and in my mind, they just got themselves the 2nd best one in the draft, with the possibility to be the best. Barnes was picked on most mock drafts to go anywhere from pick 3 through 5, but most pundits had him coming off the board before the Warriors picked at 7. Barnes averaged over 17 points per game last season for UNC, and most people think he lost his chance at being the number 2 pick by not finishing the season off strong with a good tournament showing. He's a better offensive player than #2 pick Michael Kidd-Gillchrist, but he's not quite the defender. His best attribute heading into his rookie season is by far his jump shot. He's a tremendous athlete and shoots the ball at the peak of his jump, making it next to impossible to block. The one area he'll have to improve on is his inside play and being more aggressive in attacking the rim. All in all, love this pick as Barnes is not only a special, consensus top-5 talent, but also helps fill the biggest need on the floor for the Warriors. Here is a video of Barnes vs. Virginia Tech from January to get an idea of his style of play. As you can see, a great shooter that should fit right in with Klay Thompson and Steph Curry.

The W's are next up at 30, and with their defensive needs in the front court, one guy to keep an eye on is Syracuse center Fab Melo. We'll have that pick coming up with thoughts on that as well. Stay tuned...