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After landing the second overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors are expected to be aggressive in using the selection in trade talks around the league, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Warriors were awarded the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery on Thursday night after posting the worst record in the league. The team had a 14% chance of winning the top pick and, of course, lost out to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The team dealt with several injuries to key players, like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, this season that ultimately led to their downfall. However, the team is expected to be fully healthy next season and figure to be in playoff contention once again. As a result, the team may look to cash in on the No. 2 overall pick and use that to acquire players that can help them win now.
Prior to the Warriors acquiring the second overall pick, Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s NBA Draft Lottery show that Warriors general manager Bob Myers will look to package whichever pick the team receives in trade talks around the league.
Golden State’s G.M. Bob Myers tells me that wherever the Warriors land in this lottery, they are going to be aggressive in canvassing the league and using that pick as an asset in trade talks. Their mandate in Golden State is not to find a transformational young player necessarily but a player or players that are on the age trajectory of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and their veteran players.
They are trying to win more championships in the short term and a high pick for them is going to be a pretty attractive allure to get out into that trade market. … For Golden State at No. 2, that pick is going to be very much in play in the trade market.
Though the Warriors missed out on the top pick, the second overall selection figures to be extremely valuable this year since there isn’t a clear-cut choice as to which player will be taken first.
Prospects like LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman and Obi Toppin among others could be on the board when the Warriors, or another team, are on the clock.
The Warriors are projected to take Wiseman in the latest 2020 Rookie Wire NBA Mock Draft following the lottery.
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