He also had hands of stone. But that guy could run the court as well as any big I’ve seen. That knee injury his rookie season might have cost him a real career. Essentially missed the entire next season and then an achilles next. Most people in the Warriors sub rip the pick, but it really was a story of what could have been.

This. Also important to note that Looney was slowing down a bit and nobody really knew how well Draymond would age out especially after phoning it in during 2020. People talk about how the Warriors won without a true big and those small ball lineups but our center situation was really dire during that period of time.

Getting a big that could create shots, defend, and potentially shoot the ball was a huge premium. It was partially about fit, yes, but that need was a lot bigger than people remember. Nobody was certain Draymond could be a championship-level big playing the 5 that often, and especially nobody expected Looney to take such a late-stage leap in his career.

There also wasn’t that much tape on him with the mess that was his college tenure. He was absolutely going to be a top 3 pick irregardless of draft order.

He had no ability to do basic plays. He shows a problem that persists to Thai day when drafting. People overrating athletic capability and underrating actual talent. It doesn’t matter how big and how much the guy can run if he has no talent at the sport. Because at a professional level, everyone is physically good, you need to have actual skill to be able to play. This guy would always be a bust.

This comment actually made me wonder. What positions require the least amount of IQ?

I would rank it like the following assuming traditional roles for these positions

1. Point guard obviously
   
2. A center if they’re expected to QB the defense
   
3. Power forward if they’re help defending and knowing when to rotate
   
4. Small forward
   
5. Shooting guard

What do I know but that’s probably how I’d rank it. But also the positions are being blurred so it’s really not applicable in the modern game

People blaming the warriors for picking him #2 are delusional. He was the consensus #2. If we didn’t pick him someone would’ve took him right after.

I appreciate this comment a lot.

So many people absolutely eviscerate the Warriors for the Wiseman pick and “2 timelines” stuff… but the truth is that the pick made SO much sense at the time – and I will always defend the logic behind it.

People have to remember that the biggest hole we’ve had throughout the Curry era has been a dominant mobile big man next to Steph. Our lack of size on both offense and defense has continually been an Achilles heel, and having a big man who could finally punish defenses inside for loading up on Steph on the perimeter has always been an exciting thought. I still stand by the notion that such a player would unlock our offense (which is why I’ve coveted Anthony Davis as well for years).

Anyways, going back to Wiseman – his potential and skillset exactly matched this. He was raw with limited film, but had the tools to be that dominant big we wanted. So picking him made 100% sense. People also need to remember that Wiseman was a consensus top prospect among the scouting community and teams – so it was not like the Warriors reached in picking him at #2. This poll is another confirmation of that.

The pick looks terrible in hindsight bc Wiseman ended up flaming out due to poor BBIQ/bad hands/injuries/etc., as you said. But I’ll always defend the logic behind it. If Wiseman had blossomed into the dominant big we hoped he’d become when picking him, we might be in a very different contenting situation right now. (And the narratives around our team building strategy would be very different too lol)

Honestly, Wiseman had gotten a lot of the “dumb” out of his game in that final season in Detroit (2023-24). Stopped over-using the ball and taking outside shots; 87.87% of his FGA came from inside 10FT that year, and just 4.59% coming from 15FT-30FT. Compare that to 64.13% of his FGA coming from inside 10FT, and 26.63% coming from 15FT-30FT in his Rookie year in 2020-21, and you can see that he later conceded that the jumper wasn’t going to happen, and changed his shot profile to much more basic, efficient looks by his 4th season in the league (age 22-23).

Nobody really noticed because of Wiseman’s established reputation and how awful those 2024 Pistons were, but he’d set himself up to be a solid efficient back-up centre for a while at least. Then the Achilles tear happened with Indiana, and he hasn’t really been able to make it back (5 games and 63 minutes in the past 2 seasons).

he couldn’t rebound for his life 

I remember reading articles his rookie year that pointed out his low Bball IQ. They also showed signs of his low awareness in college. But COVID made all scouting limited.

I guarantee if it was a regular college season Wiseman wouldn’t have gone #2.

Even more than those two things, his biggest problem was his hands. Big but so uncoordinated at catching. Hard to be a reliable lob threat when you cant catch half the time. Even affected his rebounding.

The biggest issue with Wiseman was he wasn’t as athletic as everyone thought he was. His lower body strength and lateral movement were among the worst for the position he played. He also didn’t have enough quickness to cover a lot of areas in the defense. If he was indeed an athletic freak, he could at least become Javale McGee given his bball iq.

that first season he played was an eye sore, it felt like warriors were gettin blown out by 30 when he was on the court with him AND steph on the court together

If his IQ ruined his career, not playing made his career

At least he’s not as delusional as Kuminga

I thought this was a bad pick for the Warriors before the draft (as was Ant and Melo, but for different reasons). He couldn’t switch on defense. That was an underrated part of the Warriors success, position less basketball . And I’m not even sure Kerr would know what to do with him on offense

I honestly never understood the Wiseman hype. Bigs who arent hyper efficient and mediocre defenders almost never pan out.

Good system for competing with plug-and-play players, not for developing rookies (especially taking time to do so). Wiseman had his own problems with that but still.

That’s what happens when you draft position over best available. OKC would never.

Covid also messed up being able to scout players. Basically going in blind. Can’t fault the Wiseman pick. JK on the other hand was a screw up.

Instead he was a do it none big

Curry deserved better for his legacy man…

Ha, they must feel like idiots.

The swings and misses do not stop

This voting happened before the season began. Because of covid the 2020-2021 season started on Christmas

trae was even worse his first half of his rookie year

I’d say maybe awful for a 1st overall. He was extremely raw and it showed.

Cannot be overstated enough just how much Finch helped him and Jaden once he was brought in the later half of that season

Isn’t Chad Ford the hack who edited his previous draft articles so his predictions looked better?

My memory is that Hali’s wonky form on his shot scared people off.

The problem is his in-game basketball IQ. He just processes everything a second slower than most NBA players and that just killed his career. Being made of glass also didn’t help his growth, too.

wiseman would be terrible in any system. he’s like ayton without the talent.

To be fair Obi was another one on paper who had the physical attributes (big, strong, athletic) that you would be forgiven for thinking this guy can be a star in NBA, and he was also known to have a good attitude and a good locker room guy. I thought he was a great pick at the time. He was kind of shut out at the knicks though with Randle at the time and his defence wasn’t great and his offence didn’t suit Thibs teams of that time. I think he looked better on the Pacers because that fast running transition offence suits him way more.

Yikes

This guy Dallas mavericks

Ant couldn’t shoot in college. Poor 3pt and FT%. He was a chucker the first half of the year in the NBA. He just found his shot.

It’s also on the team to maximize a players talent even if he wasn’t the best player available. 

You must be 12

I’m sure there are far worse ones

Greatest bust of all time Warriors picks of the last seven drafts.

FTFY

Yes that’s why 36% of GMs thought he was #1. I think he was perfect for the style. A big should be able to feast who can shot, roll and dunk with the warriors.

Many teams were trying to trade their pick in that year. For example, Timberwolves were trying to trade their #1 pick to the Warriors.

Warriors were also trying to trade down

You would make a better GM than any of these guys