Before the Golden State Warriors fill out the card for the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Warriors Wire is rewinding through Golden State’s draft history to highlight some of the most memorable picks — trades, surprises, busts, sleepers and everything in between.
Although the Warriors have three picks in the 2020 NBA Draft, there’s a chance Bob Myers and Steve Kerr will be monitoring who goes undrafted. The Warriors have been able to identify undrafted prospects like Damion Lee, Ky Bowman and Mychal Mulder, who’ve developed into contributors. With expensive contracts on the books in Golden State, the duo of Kerr and Myers will need to get creative when it comes to filling out the rest of their roster.
While the Warriors had a pick in the top-10 on draft night in 2010, Keith Smart and Larry Riley were able to bring in a local product as an undrafted free agent that later developed into a breakout phenom.
June 24, 2010
Despite a prospect pool that featured John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Gordon Hayward and Paul George, the Golden State Warriors selected Ekpe Udoh with the No. 6 overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft.
With no second-round pick, the Warriors 2010 draft class consisted of only the Baylor product. However, Riley and Smart were active in the undrafted free agent market. Almost a month after the draft, the Warriors signed undrafted free agent Jeremy Lin out of Hardvard to a two-year contract.
During four seasons at Harvard, the point guard was a three-year starter, earning two nods to the All-Ivy League First-Team. Over his career with The Crimson, Lin averaged 12.9 points on 48.1% shooting from the field with 4.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists per contest.
The Palo Alto native signed with the Warriors following a solid performance in the Summer League with the Dallas Mavericks.
During his first season in the association, Lin bounced back and forth between Golden State’s rotation and the D League. As a rookie, Lin played in 29 games, averaging 2.6 points on 38.9% from the field with 1.4 assists and 1.2 rebounds per game.
Watch highlights from Lin’s rookie season with the Warriors via YouTube:
After the NBA lockout in 2011, the Warriors waived Lin during preseason training camp. After his time with Golden State, Lin joined the Houston Rockets. However, he was waived again before seeing any game action with Houston.
Despite bouncing around, Lin broke out in his sophomore season as a member of the New York Knicks. In a February tilt against the New Jersey Nets, “Linsanity” was born. The former Warrior point guard exploded for 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field with seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Following his breakout game for New York, Lin scored 20 or more points in the next nine of 10 games. In 2011-12, Lin recorded seven double-doubles in 35 games. Lin’s impressive stint thrust the young guard into a starting role inside Madison Square Garden. After only averaging 9.8 minutes per game in Golden State, Lin started 25 games with New York, playing 26.9 minutes per contest.
After his breakout campaign with the Knicks, Lin signed a multi-year deal with the Houston Rockets to be their starting point guard. During his nine-year career in the NBA, Lin made stops in Los Angeles, Charlotte, Brooklyn, Atlanta and Toronto.
In 2019, Lin matched up with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals as a member of the Toronto Raptors.
Other notable prospects from the 2010 draft class included Evan Turner, Derrick Favors, Eric Bledsoe, Avery Bradley, Patrick Patterson, Ed Davis, Al-Farouq Aminu and Lance Stephenson.
[lawrence-related id=31907,31900,31879,31851,31203,31122]
[vertical-gallery id=30708]