MVN - Most Valuable Network

’08 Warrior’s draft: The Big Men cometh

Thursday night the Warrior’s brass added a pair of players through the draft who should, if nothing else, shore up depth in the frontcourt and give Don Nelson yet another project player who won’t see the court next season. This was not Chris Mullin’s most daring draft but provides some interesting pieces for the Dub’s future.

 

Anthony Randolph: He either is a top five talent who fell because of bust potential or simply a young man who is far from a sure thing. Which of those is reality is less than clear. The first thing that stands out about him it his build. He is between 6’10” and 6’11” but weighs just 197 pounds. That means he is in fact skinnier than Brandan Wright. In college Randolph was stuck on an awful LSU team and therefore threw up a lot of shots, often regardless of quality. This goes part of the way to explaining his 46-percent shooting along with the fact that he has trouble finishing with contact (perhaps related to that muscle thing). His frame is also not terribly large so adding bulk will be somewhat difficult. Randolph’s defense and post work are also questionable since he is just so damn thin.

Those problems however are balanced by the freakish level of athleticism Randolph possesses. He has the handle and size to play both forward positions, can hit mid-range jumpers and create shots for himself. His ability to reject shots is also a big plus. In his lone season in Baton Rouge, Randolph averaged 2.3 blocks and 8.5 rebounds per game. His long arms give the Warriors the ability to throw out a number of players with the length and speed to attack passing lanes with abandon and frustrate opposing offenses. He is also a player who excels at running the floor and should with the Dub’s free-flowing offense. His biggest appeal however is his potential.

Randolph closely resembles Wright in terms of size, left-handedness and massive need of development. He is years away from contributing meaningfully to this team and is incredibly raw. With the right coaching and development Randolph could become a good pro… maybe. There are very few top players who have build and game like he does.

The most confusing part about this pick is how people are responding to it. Some say that he is a steal at 14 but no one really projects him being that good. It seems like most of the commentators love him as a prospect but haven’t the foggiest how that will translate to the real hardwood.

Randolph is going to be a high risk/(maybe)high reward player and time will tell how this pick works out.

Richard Hendrix: After all the complaints from Warrior fans, Mullin finally made the choice and delivered someone who specializes in rebounding. Hendrix has a build which strongly contrasts Randolph as he weighs in at 250 pounds and is 6’8”. He specializes in rebounding, making him pretty much the only Warrior to do that. He is strong, tough and smart on the court. Though he is short, he is still an solid post player and even showed the ability to hit some mid-range shots last year. He also showed the ability to score fairly well, while playing within his own game (shot nearly 60 percent). An unselfish attitude and nice passing touch are just gravy. In Oakland however Hendrix will be relied upon mostly for his rebounding.

The question that remains for Hendrix is his defense. It’s clear that he won’t be a dominant post scorer and his free throw shooting is below par. His size will also likely mean that Nellie will always play him with four shooters. On defense he will not be good at blocking shots from the weak-side, though he did average 2 rejections per game last season. At 6’8” the key for Hendrix will revolve around if he can be the kind of shorter defender that gets under opponents and uses his strength to move them off the block. If he can become even a mediocre defender he will have a good chance to become a role player for the Warriors.

For Hendrix however, a role player spot will likely be the highest position he can attain. Unlike Randolph, his ceiling is as a nice rebounded and at best a seventh man. There are many players who seem to bounce around as nothing more than specialists so Hendrix could have that kind of future. The fact that he is 21 years old and played three years in college means that he is much more likely than Randolph to make some meaningful contributions next season. 

Since Paul Millsap started killing the Warriors when they played Utah, fans have been clamoring for an equivalent player. In Hendrix and his “Boozer-like” frame, that may be just what they’ve got.

 

With these two the Dub’s have added some nice pieces for their long term future. Randolph won’t contribute next year but the assertion of Wright, Marco B and perhaps Kosta Perovic into the lineup could make up for that. In two weeks fans will get a chance to see a number of these players as most are expected to participate in the Warrior’s summer league.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 9:10 am and is filed under Golden State Warriors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.