The Worst Draft Mistakes In Golden State Warriors History: Kobe Bryant Was Almost A Warrior

Over the past decade, the Golden State Warriors have become a dynasty within the NBA. Led by Head Coach Steve Kerr, Golden State has won 4 championships since 2015, including 3 out of 4 from 2015 through 2018. Stephen Curry has led the way along with other homegrown talents such as Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. The Golden State Warriors have done about as perfect of a job as an organization can do when it comes to the NBA Draft. Things for the Warriors’ front office weren’t always this easy.

Every NBA franchise and its front offices struggle at some point or another to land on their picks in the NBA draft. The Warriors are a franchise that dates back to 1946 and in turn, there have been many ups, downs, ebbs, and flows as a team. From Wilt Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, many great players have had the honor of donning the Golden State Warriors jersey. Today, we talk about the players that were almost Warriors and perhaps could have delivered more than the 7 championships they have accumulated as an organization. 

These are the worst draft mistakes in Golden State Warriors’ history.

Wayne Hightower (1962 NBA Draft) – 7th Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: John Havlicek – 9th Overall Pick

The very first draft mistake by the Warriors goes back to the 1962 NBA Draft. The Warriors were in good shape with Wilt Chamberlain coming off of a 50. 4 PPG and 25.7 RPG season. The Warriors were looking for another scorer around Chamberlain and decided to go with Wayne Hightower out of Kansas with the 7th overall pick. Hightower would play just 2 and a half seasons with the Warriors and averaged 10.1 PPG and 6.0 RPG during his time there. Hightower had his player rights sold to the Baltimore Bullets by the Warriors in 1965.

Little did the Warriors know that one man on the board would become a legend after being chosen by the Boston Celtics 2 picks later in the 1962 NBA Draft. John Havlicek would go on to become one of the greatest players in Celtics history, winning 8 NBA championships in his career. Hondo was an outstanding two-way Forward who at his peak averaged 28.9 PPG, 9.0 RPG, and 7.5 APG. He was a 13-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA Team selection, and an 8-time All-Defensive Team selection. Would Wilt have stayed with the Warriors had Havlicek been there instead of Hightower?

Barry Kramer (1964 NBA Draft) – 8th Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: Willis Reed – 10th Overall Pick

In 1964, the Golden State Warriors decided to use their 8th overall pick on Barry Kramer, a 6’4’’ small forward out of NYU. Kramer would play just 33 games with the Warriors that season, averaging just 3.1 PPG and 1.8 RPG. He was then released by the team and signed with the New York Knicks for the remainder of the season. Kramer would leave basketball following the conclusion of the season and attend law school. He would play 7 games in 1969-70 for the New York Nets of the ABA and averaged 3.9 PPG.

The 1964-65 season was an interesting one for the Warriors. They traded Wilt Chamberlain mid-season to the Philadelphia 76ers. Given this information, it is quite mind-boggling that the Warriors didn’t take Willis Reed with the 8th pick instead of Kramer. Reed would go 10th to the Knicks and win them 2 championships in 1970 and 1973. Reed would win both Finals MVP awards on those championship runs and the MVP award for the regular season in 1970. If the Warriors had drafted Reed, it would have been him and Nate Thurmond taking the baton from Wilt and not solely Thurmond, with the weight of the world on his shoulders. The duo of Reed and Thurmond would have most certainly delivered at least one more title to the Warriors franchise.

Purvis Short (1978 NBA Draft) – 5th Overall Pick

Better Overall Pick: Larry Bird – 6th Overall Pick

In 1978, the Golden State Warriors selected Purvis Short with the 5th overall pick. Now, this is not to say that Short wasn’t a good selection. He would play 9 seasons with the Warriors and averaged 19.4 PPG overall in his time there. At his peak, Short averaged 28.0 PPG on 46.0% shooting in 1985. Although he was never an All-Star, Short wasn’t such a bad decision and turned out to have a decent NBA career. However, the career of Purvis Short doesn’t quite hold up when you compare it to the man who was selected by the Boston Celtics with the very next pick.

The player I am speaking of is none other than Larry Bird. Larry Bird became a 24.0 PPG and 10.0 RPG player for his career, but the summary of his career is so much more than that. He ended up becoming one of the greatest players of all time and the leader of a storied franchise for more than a decade. Bird would end up winning 3 MVP awards, 3 championships, 2 Finals MVP awards, and a laundry list of other individual accolades. Larry Bird could have been the face of the 80s for the Golden State Warriors, but instead, came to be the man they were trying to beat for most of his career.

Russell Cross (1983 NBA Draft) – 6th Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: Clyde Drexler – 14th Overall Pick

With the 6th overall pick in the 1983 NBA Draft, the Warriors selected Russell Cross out of Purdue University. Cross would not last long in the NBA, playing just 45 games in the 1983-84 season and averaging just 3.7 PPG. He would be waived by the Warriors in the offseason and picked up by the Denver Nuggets in the offseason. He would not play a game for the Nuggets or ever again in his NBA career.

Looming down the draft board was the solution to exactly what the Warriors were looking for in this draft. Taken with the 14th pick overall by the Portland Trail Blazers would be the 2nd best shooting guard of the 80s and 90s, Clyde Drexler. Clyde was an athletic and prolific scorer who was a 27.0 PPG scorer at his very best. Drexler would earn 0 All-Star selections in his career as well as 5 All-NBA Team selections. In 1995, Drexler moved on to the Houston Rockets where he would help them win their 2nd straight NBA Finals and Drexler’s only championship. There might have been a few more Larry O’Brien trophies for each party had Golden State selected him.

Joe Smith (1995 NBA Draft) – 1st Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: Kevin Garnett – 5th Overall Pick

After finishing 26-56 in the 1994-95 season, the Golden State Warriors found themselves with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft. With that pick, they selected a 6’10’’ big man out of Maryland, Joe Smith. For Smith, he became a journeyman throughout his NBA career but did get off to a promising start with Golden State. Smith averaged 17.0 PPG and 8.0 RPG in 2 and a half seasons with the team but was later traded in 1998 for Jim Jackson and Clarence Witherspoon. Smith finished his career, having played for 13 teams and averages of 10.9 PPG and 6.4 RPG.

Little did the Warriors know that their big-man problems could have been solved if they had taken Kevin Garnett out of high school. Garnett was selected 4 picks late at No. 5 by the Minnesota Timberwolves. All he did to make the Warriors regret their choice was going on to become one of the best power forwards to ever play the game. He was an elite two-way power forward who was both an elite scorer and defender. At his peak, he was the 2004 MVP and 2008 Defensive Player of the Year who went on to finally capture a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008. Garnett could have made the Warriors dynasty come to fruition a little bit sooner than expected had they been willing to take their chances on the young man.

Todd Fuller (1996 NBA Draft) – 11th Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: Kobe Bryant – 13th Overall Pick

The 1996 NBA Draft is one of the most talented draft classes in NBA history. The Warriors missed out on that talent with their 11th overall pick, Todd Fuller. A highly touted prospect out of NC State, Fuller didn’t have much luck in the NBA. His career spanned just 5 seasons, during which he appeared for 4 different teams. In his first 2 years with the Warriors, Fuller averaged just 4.0 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 132 games. The Warriors needed a big man but missed on their pick of Fuller. The player selected 2 picks later by the Charlotte Hornets wasn’t a big man, but he did end up being one of the greatest players to ever live.

Kobe Bryant was selected 13th overall by the Hornets and traded just a little while later to the Los Angeles Lakers. Over the years, Kobe became a global icon and the most popular player on the planet. From his youngest days to his older years, Kobe helped deliver 5 championships to the City Of Angels and took over as its prodigal son. Who knows if Kobe would have ever become the player and legend that he is today if he had been drafted by Golden State? Knowing what we know now, it is one of the Warriors’ worst draft misses ever.

Adonal Foyle (1997 NBA Draft) – 8th Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: Tracy McGrady – 9th Overall Pick

In 1997, the Warriors once again missed an electric and game-changing scorer who could have been their franchise cornerstone. With the 8th overall pick, the Warriors selected Adonal Foyle out of Colgate. At Colgate, Foyle developed into a 24.0 PPG and 13.0 RPG center, which the Warriors saw once again as their solution to their big-man issues. Foyle would wind up being a reserve big for the Warriors, spending 10 and a half seasons in the Bay Area. Foyle had his best season in 2001 when he averaged 5.9 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 58 games played.

Selected right after Foyle with the 9th pick by the Toronto Raptors was one of the best and most exciting players of the 2000s, Tracy McGrady. Even though it took a few seasons and a change of scenery for McGrady to get going as one of the NBA’s premier players, it didn’t stop once he reached that level. He won scoring titles with the Magic and led them to the playoffs on multiple occasions. The same thing occurred in Houston where he gave us many legendary performances and playoff appearances until injuries slowed him way down. The championship window for Golden State wasn’t wide open at this time, but it would have been with McGrady on the team.

Mike Dunleavy (2002 NBA Draft) – 3rd Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: Amar’e Stoudemire – 9th Overall Pick

Coming out of Duke University, Mike Dunleavy was an easy pick as a lottery pick for the Golden State Warriors. He was one of the better shooters in the country in college and one of the better defenders as well. After choosing Dunleavy with the 3rd overall pick in 2003, the Warriors would hold on to him for the next 4 and a half seasons. The best season he would have with the Warriors consisted of 13.4 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 2005. Dunleavy would go on to play for 5 more teams in his 15-year NBA career.

A few picks after the Warriors took Dunleavy, All-Star and All-NBA player Amar’e Stoudemire was chosen by the Phoenix Suns with the 9th overall pick. Stoudemire would be an All-Star by his season and a regular invite just 2 seasons after that. At his best, Stoudemire was good for 25.2 PPG and 9.1 RPG for the Suns and regularly had them atop the Western Conference standings. Stoudemire would have brought a much bigger return than Dunleavy ended up giving in Golden State, but could they have won a championship with his addition?

Ekpe Udoh (2010 NBA Draft) – 6th Overall Pick

Better Available Pick: Paul George – 10th Overall Pick

The Golden State Warriors had just one draft pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, and with it, they selected Ekpe Udoh out of Baylor. Udoh never really amounted to much for the Warriors or at all in the NBA. He spent his 9-year career as a reserve big man for the Warriors, Bucks, Clippers, and Jazz. Udoh was with the Warriors for a grand total of 96 games and averaged 4.6 PPG and 3.4 RPG. Udoh retired in 2019 with no All-Star selections or any individual accolades to his name.

Just a few picks after Udoh, the Indiana Pacers selected Paul George. All Paul George did was go on to become one of the better two-way wing players in the modern-day NBA. He has been one of the best shot creators and defenders in basketball, usually taking on the challenge of guarding an opposing team’s best player while averaging 25.0 to 28.0 PPG. What kind of dynasty would Golden State be if their lineup consisted of the regular Curry, Klay, and Draymond but with the addition of Paul George at small forward? Maybe Durant never leaves Oklahoma City. Maybe LeBron doesn’t win his 3rd ring in 2016. The ripple effect of that acquisition would be unbelievable but certainly would have been the wiser choice for the Warriors. 

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