The history of the NBA Draft is full of stories of bad luck, accurate foresight, great surprises, risks of failure, and allegations of lottery fraud. Every franchise knows what it feels like when a disappointing decision is made that often changes its trajectory.
Hindsight plagues genius forever.
The Warriors have endured that torture for almost two years.
They've spent much of that time mentally beating themselves over for missed opportunities, and that regret has only become more painful over the past two weeks.
The Warriors entered the offseason just days before the 2024 NBA Playoffs, and Anthony Edwards has earned the privilege of being compared to Michael Jordan and the late Kobe Bryant, even though he represents the Minnesota Timberwolves rather than Golden State. All I can do is watch from afar.
Edwards is the Timberwolves' main exterminator, and they're using these playoffs to establish themselves as the most ferocious team on the planet. Now Edwards is spinning, winning, laughing and playing through the playoffs and everyone loves him. Every team wants to have their own Ant.
Golden State had an opportunity to draft Edwards in 2020, according to league and team officials.
The Warriors finished the 2019-20 season with the worst record in the league (15 wins, 50 losses), but due to bad luck they fell into the second place spot. Minnesota, which had the third-worst record (19 wins, 46 losses), overtook Golden State to acquire the No. 1 overall pick.
The Timberwolves were willing to trade No. 1, but attempts to engage the Warriors were unsuccessful. The Timberwolves correctly believed the Warriors were focused on 7-foot-1 center James Wiseman, but Golden State will move up as Minnesota focuses on 6-foot-4 guard Edwards. I also believed that it was not necessary.
However, the Warriors considered Edwards. They scouted him multiple times and came to the same conclusion as most other teams. He was an intriguing but star star on a mediocre team, the 16-16 Georgia Bulldogs, and his effort was inconsistent.
Edwards was on Golden State's draft committee, but the top name belonged to Wiseman. Although both players were 19 years old, Edwards played 1,057 minutes in 32 games at Georgia, while Wiseman only played 69 minutes in three games at Memphis before being declared ineligible.
I had questions about both. But if anyone, including Edwards and the Timberwolves, is now claiming that they knew Edwards would become such a notable player, they dared to take a polygraph and how many seconds passed before it failed. I want you to count how many.
Golden State and Minnesota each selected players that fit their needs at the position. The Timberwolves, led by Karl-Anthony Towns, had little interest in Wiseman. The Warriors, who have Stephen Curry as their lead guard, had no intention of adding Edwards.
Wiseman, who turned 23 in March, spent most of this season as the No. 3 center for the Detroit Pistons, who finished with the worst record in the NBA (14-68). He is still developing.
Edwards, who turns 23 in August, is a two-time NBA All-Star Game player and will be the youngest member of Team USA selected to represent the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. He is the leader of a championship contender that features four veterans ranging in age from 28 to 36.
The Timberwolves finished third in the Western Conference (56 wins, 26 losses) and fourth in the league. They dominated the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs and held a 2-0 lead over the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the conference semifinals.
Teams are finding it incredibly difficult to score against the Timberwolves and impossible to stop Edwards.
This does not create accountability within the Golden State organization. The Warriors chose not to trade picks with Minnesota because they could take him at No. 2 without giving up anything else. The Warriors were enamored with Wiseman's length, athleticism and potential. The decision to conscript him was taken in accordance with the will of the majority.
If the Warriors had known then what they know now, they would have chosen Edwards over Wiseman. They'll hire a man with the supplies to take the torch from Curry and keep them among the elite. Dr. Hindsight never misses a beat.
The Warriors can only accept reality. There are no playoffs. The desire to regain the position of competitors. And they spent the offseason trying to find answers to the questions that plagued them before the 2020 draft.
How can we improve our present without sacrificing our future?
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