NBA Draft 2011: Golden State Warriors Fill Need with Thompson, Jenkins
With the 11th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors select...
*Warriors fans holding their breath*
The Warriors came into the draft with very clear needs. Depth, big men and defense.
What the Warriors did with their two picks was eliminate the depth problem at the guard position.
Klay Thompson and Charles Jenkins are immediate upgrades over the group of Acie Law, Reggie Williams, who will return to the Warriors next season, Jeremy Lin and Charlie Bell.
The two also have very defined roles.
Thompson, who was selected with the 11th pick, will be a backup at both the shooting guard and small forward and provide that offensive punch off the bench they were missing.
The Pac-10 has a very good record of successful NBA players, especially in recent years, which should give Warrior fans plenty to cheer for.
Landry Fields, OJ Mayo, Kevin Love, Ryan Anderson and the list goes on.
Warriors executive Jerry West liked Thompson and, at least for now, that is good enough for me. This could have been partly a Laker connection with Klay's dad being former Laker Mychal Thompson.
Although, I would rather have the Warriors select San Diego State's Kawai Leonard in the first round (you know, the whole defense thing) but I can live with Thompson.
The 6'7" guard/forward will be able to spell both Dorell Wright and Monta Ellis, who will be much more effective playing fewer minutes.
The Warriors then went and got Jenkins in the second round.
The senior out of Hoftra averaged 22 points to go along with 4.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He also knew how to take care of the ball with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.16.
His shooting numbers increased steadily each year in college, ending with shooting .517/.409/.824.
Jenkins, on the other hand, will be able to give Stephen Curry much-needed rest throughout the season.
Only time will tell if the moves will work but they fill a serious need for the Warriors.
Now to find that big guy...
Follow me on Twitter: @ZackFarmerWOTF
Zack Farmer is a freelance reporter who has written for the San Francisco Examiner, Patch.com, Bay Area News Group and CSNBayArea.com.
