With all of the excitement surrounding the new and hopefully improved Golden State Warriors some fans believe that this is the year the W's really start putting together a great team. Others, not so much. SB Nation's Tom Ziller had little to say about the Warriors draft choices that was positive, giving them a D+ for taking Klay Thompson, Charles Jenkins and Jeremy Tyler. Let's take a closer look at what he had to say about it.
Here's Ziller's synopsis of Klay Thompson:
Synopsis: Thompson will add some shooting to a team that finished middle of the pack in three-point efficiency. That's cool! Unfortunately, offense is not really Golden State's problem: the team finished No. 12 in offensive efficiency ... and No. 26 on defense. Thompson is currently a minus defender, and if he's playing next to Stephen Curry in a post-Monta Ellis reality, that's an awful porous backcourt.
The fact that Thompson was seemingly Jerry West's guy for a while before the draft probably says a lot about how much merit the team puts into the opinion of Mr. Logo. He has a great eye for talent, and I'm not the one who's going to second guess Jerry West, but Ziller does have a point. Defense is the number one priority if this team is going to progress, and they didn't look to draft for much of it.
As for Jenkins and Tyler, here's how Ziller feels about it:
Jenkins is a nice player -- Black Jimmer, according to some -- that fills in another backcourt slot currently overcrowded with scorers. A $2-million flyer on Tyler is like a $2 million craps role. Good luck.
Well when you put it that way...
The '$2 million craps roll' is rather true, but think about how much cash you'd win if you hit your number on that roll! That's how I feel about Tyler, he could be a steal if he produces at all. As for Jenkins, the whole 'black jimmer' thing I'm not to sure about, but I think all of these guys will play a part in a bigger plan at work with the W's. Everyone knew Golden State needed size, but didn't get much of it. To me that says their trying to trade for some bulk instead of draft some and wait for production (i.e. Ekpe Udoh).
We'll be here covering the Warriors work in the 2011 NBA Draft. For more detailed discussion, head over to Golden State of Mind for your Warriors discussion.