Warriors must get No. 11 draft pick right to give Steph Curry one more chance

Mike Dunleavy Jr., here comes your test. 

The Warriors have their highest draft pick in five years at No. 11. It’s the first time Dunleavy will have a lottery selection since replacing Bob Myers as general manager in June 2023. 

This pick is of paramount importance for a Warriors team that’s trying to extend Stephen Curry’s championship window. 

How crucial is adding a great young player to this squad?

Curry is 38. Draymond Green is 36. Jimmy Butler is 36. 

Enough said.

So, with this pick the Warriors need someone who can win now. Not a project. Not someone who could be great in a few years. 

They need someone like Yaxel Lendeborg, who, at 6-foot-9, 238 pounds, is considered versatile and NBA ready. His upside is also his downside. He’s 23 years old. It’s fair to question if he’s closer to hitting his ceiling than some of the younger prospects the team could draft who have the potential to turn into superstars.

But with Lendeborg, the Warriors have a good idea of who they’d be getting — and it’s exciting. 

Lendeborg led the University of Michigan to its first national championship since 1988. He was an All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year. 

For a team that has missed the playoffs two of the last three seasons and hasn’t even gotten past the second round since winning a championship in 2022, Lendeborg would be a great choice, giving the team a wing with size who could make an immediate impact. 

Another interesting prospect for the Warriors could be Arizona’s Brayden Burries, a 20 year old who’s a two-way backcourt sensation. The 6-foot-4 versatile scorer with noted physicality is likely going to be just out of reach for the Warriors, though, with many mock drafts having him going in the No. 8 or No. 9 range. 

Other prospects of interest include the 7-foot-3 Aday Mara and Mexico’s Karim López. 

What’s clear is that the Warriors need to get this right. They missed with James Wiseman at No. 2 in 2020, as well as Jonathan Kuminga at No. 7 in 2021. 

Wiseman isn’t even on an NBA roster. And Kuminga got traded last February after his relationship with the Warriors had soured amid tensions over him wanting him to be a star while the team needed him to star in his role. 

This is a historically deep draft class and the Warriors have a high pick. They have a chance to put themselves back on the map. They have the opportunity to begin to resuscitate a fading dynasty, which won four NBA championships in eight years from 2015 to 2022.

But the NBA landscape has greatly changed since the Warriors were atop the league.

Teams have gotten younger. They’ve gotten deeper. The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs practically have 13 players they can play in the postseason. The Warriors’ rotation is much, much shorter

The draft is one of the Warriors’ clearest paths to making an impact this summer.

Their attempt to acquire Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo last trade deadline fell flat. They’re currently linked to having interest in both Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James, but both of those players are a reach. 

It’s unclear what direction the Clippers are currently leaning. And as for James, his camp is currently talking to the Lakers.

So for the Warriors, the draft is of huge importance. 

They need young legs. They need depth. And they need someone who’s ready to play alongside Curry, Green and Butler right now. 

The pressure is on, Dunleavy.