Golden State Warriors: Why They'll Be OK Without Their Lottery Pick

The talk has been rampant for months. This is the premier draft class that the NBA has seen in years.

A draft class led by two can't-miss big men and the only player ever to receive preseason All-American honors as a freshman has to be great. Add those top three to a strong freshman corps and a draft class bolstered by the unexpected return of several lottery locks from last year and, yeah, it makes sense that the class has received this kind of buzz.

Why then would the Warriors—a team stuck in NBA limbo for nearly all of the past 18 years—be OK with missing out on a lottery selection in this loaded draft class?

The answer: This draft class is loaded with talent, but the real strength of this class is the quantity, not quality at the top.

At 19-25, the Warriors currently hold the league's ninth worst record. Because their first-round pick belongs to the New Jersey Nets via the Warriors' 2008 trade for seldom-used Marcus Williams, as long as the pick is outside of the first seven, the Warriors either need to hit the lottery jackpot or lose a lot a games. Quickly.

The Warriors sit two games ahead of the eighth-worst Cavaliers and three in front of the seventh-worst Kings. With already two-thirds of their schedule behind them, even the Warriors will struggle to "make up" those losses.

So the team would likely need to trade to get its back from Utah, something that it's reportedly already working on. Warriors GM Larry Riley wants to keep his core intact, so his biggest trade piece are his three draft picks (San Antonio's first-round pick and second-round picks from Atlanta and New Jersey).

Assuming that their current position nets them the ninth overall pick, their three picks would be moved for a player with either a low ceiling (Illinois' Meyers Leonard, North Carolina's John Henson or Tyler Zeller, or Ohio State's Jared Sullinger perhaps) or for one that does not fill a need on the roster (point guards Damian Lillard of Weber State or Kendall Marshall of North Carolina, or Duke's scoring guard Austin Rivers).

Any of those players would be a decent addition to this Warriors team, but it's hard to say any of them would be worth three draft picks.

If the Warriors were to hold on to their picks, they could fill multiple holes on this roster.

As currently projected on NBADraft.net, the Warriors' draft haul would include a shot-blocking center in Fab Melo (Syracuse), a two-way center in Festus Ezeli (Vanderbilt) and a power forward who can finish near the basket in Ricardo Ratliffe (Missouri).

The team's shot-blocking, athleticism and post-scoring improves by leaps and bounds. Lee's weakness (defense) and Bogut's (athleticism) are both complemented by the new Warriors players, who combine with Jeremy Tyler to give the Warriors scary potential on the front court.

Of course, should the Warriors look elsewhere with their picks, here are some other names projected to be available around those draft slots: potent combo guard Tony Wroten (Washington); sharp-shooting John Jenkins (Vanderbilt); do-it-all combo forwards Draymond Green (Michigan State) and Royce White (Iowa State); a point guard (Marquis Teague, Kentucky); shooting guard (Doron Lamb, Kentucky); and small forward (Quincy Miller, Baylor) with ridiculous upside. They would legitimately have options to fill any position.

Outside of UNC's Harrison Barnes and possibly Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (both small forwards), it's hard to point at any player in this draft and say, with any degree of certainty, that he would start game one of next season.

There's plenty of production to go around in this class, but the Warriors would benefit more from addition than subtraction in the upcoming draft.