The countdown to the 2011 Draft Lottery has already begun as the speculation as to who will take whom and when grows by the minute. But according to Golden State Warriors General Manager Larry Riley there will be a lare emphasis placed on the European players in this year’s draft, more than there’s been in a while.
CSN Bay Area’s Matt Steinmetz asked Riley recently about his thoughts on this year’s draft prospects, and how strong the European flavor will be this year in the draft:
“The impact of the foreign players are going to be felt more because the college draft isn’t quite as good, for two reasons.”
“It was a little bit of a light crop anyway and we’ve had a number of significant players who have decided to return to college for next season. So, you’re going to feel the impact of the European player this year as far as the draft goes. What you hope if you get one of them is that you’ll feel the impact on the floor over the next few years.”
If you want to read between the lines, you could say that the W’s are looking for some foreign born talent in the draft this year. But the fact of the matter is that the European players will likely be on many a team’s radar during this year’s draft, let’s just hope there isn’t another Andris Biedrins waiting in the wings for the W’s to scoop up.
Also, Joe Lacob will represent the W’s on TV tonight during the lottery. But Raymond Ridder, executive director of public relations, will be taking part of the actual lottery that goes on behind the scenes before the broadcast. You didn’t think the NBA would let the lottery play out on live TV did you? So as Lacob sits on stage pretending to have the golden ticket in his hand, he will actually already know that the Warriors won’t win it. Food for thought.