NBA
The Golden State Warriors Are Taking President Obama’s Advice as They Prep for the 2020 NBA Draft
Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sportscasting, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he's a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie. Growing up loving Shaquille O'Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he's continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives. As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He's barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe's big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level. Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.
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As anyone who’s ever played fantasy sports can confirm, making the right draft pick isn’t always easy. Sometimes, there’s a clear-cut player who stands head and shoulders above the rest; other times, though, you have to make a tough choice. That’s the situation the Golden State Warriors will find themselves in when the 2020 NBA draft arrives.
The Golden State Warriors’ brass, though, won’t be going into the draft blind. In addition to their scouting reports and big board, they’re relying on some sage advice from former President Barack Obama.
The Golden State Warriors had a terrible 2019-20 and scored the second-overall pick
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Over the past few years, the Golden State Warriors have been one of the top teams in modern basketball. The 2019-20 campaign, however, was a much different story.
After their NBA Finals defeat to the Toronto Raptors, the Warriors experienced some serious roster turnover; the likes of Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, and Shaun Livingston, for example, all left the Bay Area. To make matters worse, Klay Thompson was also sidelined with a torn ACL.
While those circumstances already made the 2019-20 season an uphill climb, things still got even worse. Steph Curry broke his hand at the end of October; he would return for a single game before COVID-19 ended the Warriors’ season.
By the time the dust had cleared, the Golden State Warriors had limped to a 15-50 record. That was the worst record in basketball and helped them score the second-overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft.
Following Barack Obama’s advice ahead of the 2020 NBA draft
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With the second-overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft, the Golden State Warriors have a wealth of options. No matter which one they choose, though, they’ll be following the advice of Barack Obama.
” [Warriors general manager] Bob Myers recalled advice he received from someone who worked for former President Barack Obama, as they noted that one of Obama’s maxims was to ‘never make a decision until you have to,” explained NBC’s Marcus White. “The Warriors, and Myers, are taking that to heart during a pre-draft process disrupted by a still-raging global pandemic.”
Despite rumors of about interest in specific players, it seems like the Warriors are sticking to that plan.
“We don’t have to draft today, so in a sense, we don’t need it to be firm,” the general manager explained. “We have ideas about what we like and what we don’t like or what makes sense or what doesn’t make sense, so we’re looking at it. There’s some players we want to still see and talk to.”
The Golden State Warriors have a luxury that most bad teams simply don’t
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When a team is bad enough to earn a lottery pick, they usually don’t have the luxury of biding their time; they need to identify the best available player and add him to the roster ASAP. The Golden State Warriors, however, aren’t facing that time crunch.
Although the team was pretty terrible last year, they’ll have Steph Curry and Klay Thompson back on the roster. Those two men give the Warriors an immediate boost and the ability to get more creative. Is James Wiseman who they need to improve? They can take him, even if he’s not the best player available. Would an established NBA player give them the biggest boost? Then they can trade down without the pressure of trying to rebuild the entire roster in one fell swoop.
Sometimes, the right decision is obvious and should be undertaken at once. Ahead of the 2020 NBA draft, though, the Golden State Warriors have all the time in the world.
