The Anthony Randolph Project: Making “NBA Plays” With D-League Statistics

Just as quickly as the “We Believe” Nellie-Ball era began, the Warriors are seemingly forced to toss it aside and move on, with Baron Davis bolting for the Los Angeles Clippers.

However, the most important question for the Warriors is not how they will replace Baron, as some media outlets may lead you to believe.   The big question for the Warriors—who have squandered every single lottery pick this decade with the exception of Andris Biedrins—is whether they can expect all of these young players to reach the playoffs again in the post-Baron Era.

More importantly, they have to develop these individual talents into a coherent unit. And that’s only the beginning of a number of questions for the Warriors, the most important of which has to do with lottery pick Anthony Randolph:  Is Anthony Randolph ready to contribute this year, or can we expect most of his playing time to come with the D-league affiliate in Bakersfield?   It is the development of Randolph that will make this offseason (and likely the coming regular season) most interesting for me as a Warriors fan. And in reviewing the draft, he is probably one of the more intriguing stories of the first round.  After being considered a top-10 pick early on in the draft process, he ended up as a consensus No. 12 pick, according to major mock drafts on the day of the draft. He then ended up being picked No. 14 by the Warriors. Depending on who you ask, Randolph’s stock nearly “fell” out of the lottery on draft day.  Is this indicative of a larger trend in the NBA? Have GMs finally gotten sick of being burned by young unproven players?  Randolph oozes with potential as an 18 year old standing 6’ 10” and with a skill-set that has drawn comparisons to Lamar Odom and Chris Bosh.

However, some believe that his wiry frame and suspect statistics on a mediocre team made him an extremely risky pick. Some of those who believe in statistics suggest that he should have fallen even farther and is hardly even worth a first-round pick—much less a lottery pick.  So which is it? Are we being fooled by his YouTube clips, or does he have a chance to be something special? With such a wide range of opinions, how do we make a balanced judgment of Randolph?   Let's take a look at both sides of the argument -- the upside and the downside.

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