The Warriors don’t get to do “draft history” content the normal way. For a decade, they were drafting at the end of the night because Stephen Curry and the dynasty kept them there. Then the league shifted, the payroll exploded, and the front office suddenly had to thread two timelines at once: win with Curry now, while trying to find the next rotation core through the draft.
That tension is exactly why this list matters in 2026. The Warriors are 29-26 and sitting eighth in the West right before the break, living in the play-in neighborhood while Curry is out with a right knee issue, and Jimmy Butler is already done for the season after ACL surgery.
Curry is still putting up 27.2 points per game, which tells you the top-end is not the problem. The problem is everything that comes after. Brandin Podziemski (12.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists) and Moses Moody (11.5 points) are being asked to hold up real minutes, while the “big swing” picks of the last 10 years still define what this roster can and can’t be.
So let’s run the last decade of first-rounders and put clean labels on them: Great, Good, or Bust.
2016 NBA Draft
Damian Jones – 30th Pick
Stats: 3.6 PTS, 2.3 REB, 0.0 AST, 0.7 BLK, 0.1 STL, 50.4% FG, 0.0% 3PT
Damian Jones was a very normal contender pick. Athletic big, rim-running tools, and a simple pitch: if he learns the defensive rules, he can survive as a cheap backup center behind a veteran frontcourt.
The problem is the Warriors never got to “survive.” Jones played 10 games as a rookie, then only 15 the next season, and he never carved out consistent minutes in the rotation. For a last-pick swing, you’re not demanding a starter. But you want a functional bench big who can play when the schedule gets heavy.
Jones didn’t become that in a Warriors uniform. It’s not about the player’s career later. It’s about what the pick produced for the Warriors while the window was real.
Rating: Bust
2017 NBA Draft
No first-round pick
Rating: N/A
2018 NBA Draft
Jacob Evans – 28th Pick
Stats: 2.9 PTS, 1.2 REB, 0.9 AST, 0.1 BLK, 0.4 STL, 35.5% FG, 24.4% 3PT
Jacob Evans was drafted as the “ready-now” wing bet. A smart connector who could cut, defend, and keep the ball moving without needing plays called for him. That’s exactly the profile contenders chase at the end of Round 1.
It never turned into a role. Evans played 30 games as a rookie, but the line tells you why he couldn’t stay on the floor: 1.3 points on 34.0% shooting, and he didn’t have the shooting gravity to survive off-ball. When a player’s best-case contribution is “doesn’t hurt you,” the shot has to at least be respected.
For the Warriors, this was a dead roster spot at a time when they badly needed cheap, stable minutes.
Rating: Bust
2019 NBA Draft
Jordan Poole – 28th Pick
Stats: 15.8 PTS, 2.6 REB, 3.4 AST, 0.2 BLK, 0.8 STL, 43.4% FG, 33.9% 3PT
This is the clearest Great on the board because it hits the point of drafting at No. 28: find someone who becomes a real offensive piece, not just a “survives” guy.
Jordan Poole’s rookie season was rough. He averaged 8.8 points on 33.3% from the field and 27.9% from three, which is the profile of a scorer still learning NBA pace and NBA bodies. But the Warriors stayed with it, and the payoff was massive. He developed into a real three-level threat and a secondary creator who could carry stretches when Curry sat.
The peak proof is the 2022 playoffs. Poole averaged 17.0 points on 50.8% from the field and 39.1% from three across 22 games on a title run. That is not “nice value.” That is a real playoff weapon from the late first round.
This is what a late-first hit looks like when it actually matters. Even though Poole ended up traded to the Wizards after the Draymond Green punch saga, what he gave the Warriors exceeded every expectation for a pick that low, and a player that looked so raw coming in.
Rating: Great
2020 NBA Draft
James Wiseman – 2nd Pick
Stats: 9.9 PTS, 5.0 REB, 0.7 AST, 0.7 BLK, 0.3 STL, 51.9% FG, 31.6% 3PT
This is the pick that still frames the entire two-timeline conversation. The No. 2 pick is supposed to be a pillar. It’s supposed to change your roster math and give you a second core alongside your stars.
Instead, the Warriors got 60 total games of James Wiseman. The flashes were obvious, but the development never stabilized into something the Warriors could trust, and the timing was brutal. A win-now team rarely has the runway to let a young center learn through mistakes, especially when the defense is built on precision.
You can acknowledge the context and still grade the outcome. For this slot, “Bust” isn’t personal. It’s just the reality of what the Warriors needed versus what they got.
Rating: Bust
2021 NBA Draft
Jonathan Kuminga – 7th Pick
Stats: 12.5 PTS, 4.2 REB, 1.8 AST, 0.4 BLK, 0.6 STL, 51.3% FG, 33.6% 3PT
Jonathan Kuminga is the most complicated Warriors first-rounder of the decade because the talent was never the issue. He was productive in a real way, and the efficiency was solid for a young forward playing inside the arc a lot.
His rookie year showed the whole pitch: 9.3 points on 51.3% shooting in a role that was mostly rim pressure and energy. Over time, he became a real scorer, but the Warriors never found a clean, permanent definition for him in a roster built around Curry’s movement and Draymond Green’s decision-making.
And then the ending matters. At the 2026 trade deadline, after five seasons of a messy tenure, Kuminga was dealt to the Hawks. That doesn’t automatically make him a bust. It does tell you the Warriors never got the clean “future core” outcome they were hoping for at No. 7.
He was a solid player for them with a great 2025 playoff run briefly. He just wasn’t the franchise-tilting No. 7 result they were hoping for.
Rating: Good
Moses Moody – 14th Pick
Stats: 7.8 PTS, 2.4 REB, 1.0 AST, 0.3 BLK, 0.6 STL, 44.6% FG, 37.7% 3PT
Moses Moody is the opposite of a highlight evaluation. This is about whether you got a true NBA wing who can survive in lineups that can consistently get wins. The Warriors did.
He’s grown into a steady rotation player, boasting a championship, and the shooting is his carry skill. For his Warriors career, he’s at 37.7% from three, and this season he’s up to 11.5 points on 40.1% from three. That’s not star stuff, but it is exactly what a contender needs around a ball-dominant guard ecosystem.
The reason I stop at “Good” is simple: at 14, the Warriors were hoping one of these wings would become a locked-in, two-way starter next to Curry. Moody has been useful and productive, but he hasn’t become that level of difference-maker some late lottery picks sometimes achieve.
Still, it’s a hit. Just not a home run.
Rating: Good
2022 NBA Draft
Patrick Baldwin Jr. – 28th Pick
Stats: 3.9 PTS, 1.3 REB, 0.4 AST, 0.1 BLK, 0.2 STL, 39.4% FG, 38.1% 3PT
Patrick Baldwin Jr. was a classic Warriors bet: shooting size. A forward who can space the floor is supposed to scale next to Curry and punish teams for loading up on the stars.
The problem is the Warriors never got enough playable minutes for it to matter. In 31 games, he averaged 3.9 points in 7.3 minutes, and the overall line is too small to call it real production. Even though the three-point percentage is decent in that sample, he didn’t earn a role that stuck.
At No. 28, you can live with a miss. But when you’re stacking multiple late-first misses, you end up paying for it later with thin depth.
Rating: Bust
2023 NBA Draft
Brandin Podziemski – 19th Pick
Stats: 2025-26: 12.0 PTS, 4.6 REB, 3.5 AST, 44.8% FG, 37.0% 3PT
Brandin Podziemski is a surprising hit because he fits what the Warriors actually need in this stage of the cycle: a guard who can play with or without Curry, rebound his position, and keep the possession game clean.
The production is already solid for a mid-first guard at No. 19 in the draft. This season, he’s posting 12.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists with 37.0% from three. That’s a functional starter line on a lot of teams, and it’s especially valuable on a roster that constantly needs cheap creators behind its stars.
I’m not putting him in Great yet because “Great” is reserved for players who change playoff games, or who become a long-term core anchor. Podziemski is trending that direction, but he’s still early in the arc.
Rating: Good
2024 NBA Draft
No first-round pick
Rating: N/A
2025 NBA Draft
No first-round pick
Rating: N/A
Final Thoughts
Over the last 10 years, the Warriors basically got one clear home run, a few real hits, and too many first-round picks that never turned into usable Warriors minutes.
The one Great is Jordan Poole (2019). For a 28th pick, turning into a real scorer for years and showing it on a title run is the best-case outcome. That pick didn’t just “work,” it changed games when it mattered.
The Good tier is Brandin Podziemski (2023), Moses Moody (2021), and Jonathan Kuminga (2021). Podziemski is already giving them steady production and feels like a long-term rotation piece. Moody is a legit shooter-wing who can play NBA minutes, which is a real win at 14 even if he never became a high-end starter. Kuminga is Good because he produced and had real value, but for a No. 7 pick, the Warriors needed a future core piece, and they never got that clean, stable “this guy is our guy” outcome.
The Bust tier is James Wiseman (2020), Jacob Evans (2018), Patrick Baldwin Jr. (2022), and Damian Jones (2016). Wiseman is the defining miss because the No. 2 pick has to be a franchise pillar, and the Warriors never got that. Evans and Baldwin never became rotation players, which is a tough outcome even late in the first. Jones is the classic last-pick whiff: he never turned into a dependable backup big while the window was open.
And the no-pick years are just N/A. In 2017, 2024, and 2025, they didn’t have a first-rounder to use, which is part of the cost of staying in win-now mode for as long as they did.
