Five first-round draft picks that could worry Warriors in West originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The first day of the new two-day format of the 2024 NBA Draft has arrived and several Western Conference teams made smart selections while the Warriors were spectators.
In a draft not considered to have star-level talent, there are still plenty of players who should find success at the next level. And a handful of them ended up on teams that the Warriors play quite often. It didn’t take long for the conference opponents to quickly improve.
The Warriors didn’t have a first-round pick for the first time since 2017. Unless they make a trade, the Warriors will have to wait until the No. 52 overall pick comes on the clock Thursday. Of course, general manager Mike Dunleavy and the rest of Golden State’s front office still remained aware of the maneuvers the Warriors’ competition could make.
Here are five first-round picks the Warriors likely took note of, along with a handful of other picks under consideration.
The best shooter in the draft goes to Houston. Sheppard has had a meteoric rise due to his elite ability to get hot from deep. In his one year at Kentucky, Sheppard shot 52.1 percent from behind the three-point line on 4.4 attempts per game.
That’s a skill the Rockets desperately need to improve. Last season, they shot 35.2 percent on threes, which ranked 21st in the NBA.
Sheppard also showed up at the draft combine, where the 6-foot-1 guard proved to be one of the best athletes in the draft class. Ime Udoka and the Rockets are looking to get involved soon. The Rockets don’t expect to perform this high again in the near future. They finished 41-41 last season and are doing what they can to accelerate their rebuild.
Adding Sheppard, whose parents both have strong basketball bloodlines, is a good start for Houston.
Will the Blazers suddenly rise in the rankings in the West next season? It’s unlikely, but the extremely young team is building a group that could soon become a problem.
After already adding Deni Avdija from the Washington Wizards in a trade Wednesday involving the Warriors’ original 2024 first-round pick, the Blazers got their guy in the first round of the draft. They liked Clingan after UConn’s 2023 championship, and they reportedly like him now after the big man anchored back-to-back titles.
The seven-foot center has put together a historic resume in two college seasons. Clingan’s defense should translate right away to the pros. The Blazers could now acquire one of Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams, or both, but bringing in Clingan is clearly worth it for them.
Clingan was arguably the safest and surest pick in the draft, and the Warriors will now see him four times a season.
Dillingham would have been so, so fun to watch play with Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio. Instead, Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards has a new running mate.
The Spurs sent Dillingham, the No. 8 pick, to the Timberwolves for two future picks. Although undersized at 6-foot-1 and 164 pounds, Dillingham is a dynamic offensive weapon who can score in many ways and wow you with his ball-handling. He shot 44.4 percent on 3-pointers as a freshman at Kentucky and made 49.5 percent of his 2-pointers.
An instant scorer off the bench, Dillingham was named the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year. Even if that’s his best path forward in the pros, Dillingham could still be showing shades of Lou Williams. On the cusp of reaching the NBA Finals, the Timberwolves added another weapon that teams would quickly fear.
Mike Brown must be a very happy head coach right now. Brown started the month with a raise that extended it through the 2026-2027 season. Nearly four weeks later, general manager Monte McNair gave Brown a player the former Warriors assistant should be a big fan of.
Carter took a big leap as a shooter last season, making 37.7 percent of his 3-pointers on 6.8 attempts per game. He made 51 3s between his first two college seasons, then broke out for 84 3s this past season with Providence. The 2023-24 Big East Player of the Year is much more than a scorer, too.
Standing just 6-foot-1 but with a 7-foot wingspan, Carter attacks the glass floor and grabbed 8.7 rebounds per game this past season as a junior. Carter’s first calling card may be on defense, where his competitiveness was on display against the best competition. Golden State’s growing rivalry up north just got even more interesting thanks to a win-now rookie joining the Kings.
Jay Bilas called Knecht the “Roy Hobbs of the draft” on ESPN, comparing the newest Laker to the lead character of “The Natural” for coming out of nowhere and being picked in the first round. And he’s not wrong.
Knecht spent his first two years at Northeastern Junior College before playing two seasons at Northern Colorado and transferring to Tennessee for his fifth and final year of college. The competition-level jump was no problem for the 6-foot-4 wing. Knecht, the SEC Player of the Year, averaged 21.7 points and shot 39.7 percent as a consistent 3-point threat.
It’s easy to see new Lakers coach JJ Redick finding ways to use Knecht’s skills to his advantage early on. The Warriors allowed the sixth-most three-point attempts per game last season, and opponents made 13.3 threes per game against them – the eighth-highest clip in the league.
If Sheppard is the draft’s best shooter, Knecht isn’t far behind.
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