Golden State Warriors: Ranking the Dubs Draft Classes over the Last 10 Seasons

Ranking the draft classes of a professional sports franchise is about as exact of a science as formulating a mock draft.

And when the team's draft history is so much more miss than hit as is that of the Golden State Warriors, there's not much a great formula to follow.

Is it better to hit on a second-round afterthought or worse to miss on an early lottery pick? At what point does quality overtake quantity? How much, if at all, should you value a player's contributions after they left the team that drafted them?

For a franchise that's been "a player away" for seemingly two decades now despite having so many lottery chances to find that player, it's important to consider the totality of the draft haul more so than a particular player.

After all, it's hard to say that this team has found any stardom lately when you consider that their last All-Star appearance came in 1997 (Latrell Sprewell).

With that said, here are how the Dubs' past 10 draft classes rank.

10. 2006

Warriors Draft Choices: Patrick O'Bryant (ninth); Kosta Perovic (38th).

Players the Warriors Could Have Had: Rajon Rondo (21st); Kyle Lowry (24th)

If there's a saving grace for the Warriors' 2006 front office, it's that this was an extremely poor draft class.

Only one of the top-10 selections remains with the team that drafted him (Andrea Bargnani, Toronto).

Still, O'Bryant and Perovic were a bad haul even for this class. O'Bryant appeared in just 40 games over two seasons for Golden State and has not played in an NBA game since logging 11 games for the Raptors in 2009-10.

Perovic, meanwhile, played a whopping seven games in 2007-08 for the Warriors, constituting his entire NBA career.

9. 2007

Warriors Draft Choices: Marco Belinelli (18th); Jermareo Davidson (36th); Stephane Lasme (46th)

Players the Warriors Could Have Had: Wilson Chandler (23rd); Arron Afflalo (27th); Carl Landry (31st); Marc Gasol (48th)

In terms of sheer talent, this draft haul was nearly as weak as it gets.

Belinelli has been a fringe starter for most of his career, while Davidson and Lasme appeared in a combined 68 NBA games.

The saving graces for the Warriors are two-fold: 1) this was the first time since 1993-94 that they were not drafting in the lottery, and therefore, this pick was not as crucial as most of their draft picks are and 2) this was really a forgettable draft class outside of the top five picks (notably Kevin Durant and Al Horford).

Perhaps, the Warriors were thinking they were now an elite franchise (they were just weeks removed from a Western Conference semifinal run after all) and were planning to stash Belinelli overseas.

Belinelli's Golden State career, for what it's worth, lasted 75 games before being traded to Toronto for Devean George.

8. 2002

Warriors Draft Choices: Mike Dunleavy (third); Steve Logan (29th)

Players the Warriors Could Have Had: Nene (seventh); Amar'e Stoudemire (ninth); Caron Butler (10th); Carlos Boozer (35th)

Many Warriors fans would probably consider this the worst draft for the franchise over the past 20 years, and there's certainly an argument to be made there. The fact that he's booed in the Oracle Arena to this day shows exactly how the Warriors' faithful felt about this draft pick.

The third selection was the team's highest draft slot since the team held the top choice in the 1995 draft (Joe Smith).

But as poorly as Dunleavy performed for the Warriors (especially relative to his draft position), he has enjoyed a fairly productive career. He averaged double figures for all but one of his five-plus seasons with the team before being traded along with Troy Murphy in an eight-player trade with Indiana that brought the Warriors Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington, among others.

As for Logan, he failed to play in a single NBA game.

7. 2010

Warriors Draft Choices: Ekpe Udoh (sixth)

Players the Warriors Could Have Had: Greg Monroe (seventh); Paul George (10th)

Udoh still has a chance to blossom into a productive player and showed positive strides last season.

But with just one draft selection in what was then considered a fairly decent draft class, the Warriors had little margin for error. Never mind the fact that the sixth pick was the team's highest draft position since 2002.

Udoh struggled to find meaningful minutes in his rookie season under then-Warriors coach Keith Smart but emerged as one of the league's better shot-blockers, thanks in large part to a longer leash from coach Mark Jackson.

Udoh appeared in 96 games over a season-and-a-half for the Warriors before being packaged with Monta Ellis and Kwame Brown days before the trade deadline last year in a deal that brought Andrew Bogut to Golden State.

6. 2008

Warriors Draft Choices: Anthony Randolph (14th); Richard Hendrix (49th)

Players the Warriors Could Have Had: Roy Hibbert (17th); JaVale McGee (18th); Serge Ibaka (24th); Nicolas Batum (25th); DeAndre Jordan (35th)

Despite winning their most games (48) since the 1993-94 season, the Warriors failed to clinch a playoff berth in an incredibly deep Western Conference in the 2007-08 season, and once again, found themselves holding a lottery pick.

The Warriors had a talented group returning for the 2008-09 season but needed an inside presence to provide more than the stretch four Al Harrington and the (then-decent) Andris Biedrins.

Enter the 6'11", 225-lb Randolph, a freakishly athletic freshman from LSU. But as impressive as Randolph was physically, he was raw on the court. If then-Warriors coach Don Nelson had worked on developing Randolph, this pick would not look as poorly as it does now.

The center-starved franchise missed on countless big men in this draft, and Randolph was sent from Oakland after just two seasons, including him in the sign and trade deal to bring David Lee to Golden State.

Hendrix failed to appear in an NBA game, before opting to take his talents overseas.

5. 2004

Warriors Draft Choices: Andris Biedrins (11th)

Players the Warriors Could Have Had: Al Jefferson (15th); Josh Smith (17th); Jameer Nelson (20th); Kevin Martin (26th)

There may not be a more damning commentary on the Warriors' recent draft history than the fact that a draft class that nets Biedrins—and Biedrins alone—actually ranks in the top half of the team's past 10 drafts.

Unfortunately, this is as close as this franchise has come to drafting a decent big man since drafting Joe Smith.

As awful as Biedrins has looked lately (1.7 points and 3.7 rebounds) and as even worse as that looks considering he's making $9 million per year, he still managed one of the more productive three-year stretches for a Warriors' center in recent history.

Between 2006-07 and 2008-09, Biedrins averaged at least 9.5 points on 57.8 shooting to go along with 9.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks.

4. 2003

Warriors Draft Choices: Mickael Pietrus (11th); Derrick Zimmerman (40th)

Players the Warriors Could Have Had: David West (18th); Kendrick Perkins (27th); Josh Howard (29th); Mo Williams (47th)

Pietrus hasn't enjoyed anything close to what you'd call a "great" career, but he has always been a steady performer, often on playoff teams.

A supreme athlete—he earned the nickname "Air France" in his native country—Pietrus has always been one of the league's better perimeter defenders.

Throw in an above-average three-point shot and it's no surprise that he's never short on job offers.

As a Warrior, Pietrus lasted five seasons, highlighted by his 2006-07 campaign when he averaged career highs of 11.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 26.9 minutes.

He's not a home-run draft pick, but most teams would take that kind of production at the back end of the lottery.

Zimmerman appeared in two games in 2005-06 for the New Jersey Nets but has failed to play any other NBA minutes.

3. 2011

Warriors Draft Choices: Klay Thompson (2011); Charles Jenkins (44th)

Players the Warriors Could Have Had: Kawhi Leonard (15th); Iman Shumpert (17th); Kenneth Faried (22nd); MarShon Brooks (25h)

Obviously, the development of Thompson, Jenkins and their draft peers will continue to shape how this Warriors' class can be viewed.

However, this is the first draft on the list where there hasn't been an obvious name to jump off the page in terms of whom the Warriors should have drafted.

Thompson enjoyed one of the most productive seasons of all the rookies, finishing with better than 12 points.

But, the jury is out on this class.

Thompson has the faith of the front office (as evidenced by the Ellis trade), but it remains to be seen if he can be more than a volume scorer, particularly when he's not the first or second option.

As for Jenkins, he impressed when he saw the court, particularly in terms of taking care of the ball (3.3 assists to 1.2 turnovers). But, again, most of his minutes came on a pressure-free, tanking ballclub.

2. 2005

Warriors Draft Choices: Ike Diogu (ninth); Monta Ellis (40th); Chris Taft (42nd)

Players the Warriors Could Have Had: Andrew Bynum (10th); Danny Granger (17th); David Lee (30th); Marcin Gortat (57th)

Here's where my theory on ranking a draft class may be different than yours.

Some may think, "Wow, the Warriors found Ellis with the 40th pick, great draft".

I would counter that the team got incredibly lucky on Ellis, which does not excuse the fact that they missed badly on Diogu.

In the NBA, perhaps more than any sport, it's so important to hit lottery picks, particularly on a team that has an underwhelming history of attracting free agents. Of this year's All-Star Game starters, only Bynum and Kobe Bryant (13th) were drafted outside of the top five.

Ellis certainly eases the burden of missing on Diogu, but imagine if they hadn't whiffed on that No. 9 pick and still drafted Ellis. This could have been a special draft.

1. 2009

Warriors Draft Choices: Stephen Curry (seventh)

Players the Warriors Could Have Had: DeMar DeRozan (ninth); Brandon Jennings (10th); Jrue Holiday (17th); Ty Lawson (18th)

This draft class is another that is subject to change, per development.

But this is not player development, but rather than the development of a ligament—Curry's right ankle, to be exact.

When he has been on the floor, he has been one of the game's most exciting young point guards. He has one of the NBA's purest shooting forms and is one of the few legitimate threats to join the 50-40-90 club.

But, there's also a lot of work to do whenever his ankle lets him get back on the court. His rookie season saw the highest assists per game (5.9) of his brief career, although he did manage his best assist to turnover ratio this season (5.3:2.5).

On paper, this is the best Warriors team that Curry has played on so there are no excuses this season. And with his contract set to expire at season's end, chances are he could be on the verge of something special...if he's healthy.