The Golden State Warriors found themselves plenty of value in the 2023 NBA Draft, landing Brandin Podziemski with the 19th overall pick and Trayce Jackson-Davis with the 57th selection.
Having traded the rights to their 2024 first-rounder five years ago, the Warriors will be more limited in their access to this year’s draft. They will have a late second-round pick after trading Cory Joseph to the Indiana Pacers at February’s deadline, but it will be a late selection that currently projects as the 55th overall.
Could the Golden State Warriors take a similar draft approach as they did last year in selecting Trayce Jackson-Davis?
Golden State took a chance on a 23-year-old Jackson-Davis last year, with the big man having played four years of college basketball at Indiana. Could they replicate that approach by looking at another ready-made player at this year’s draft?
In their latest full two-round mock draft, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has Golden State taking Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves with the 55th pick.
“For a 6’6″ guard, he’s too advanced of a shotmaker with his spot-up, movement and pull-up shooting (and floater) to not think about in the 50s for a scoring specialist role.”
– Jonathan Wasserman on Antonio Reeves
Reeves is a 23-year-old (turns 24 in November) who has five years of college experience under his belt. He transferred from Illinois State to Kentucky after the 2020-21 season and has since played a key role under head coach John Calipari.
A dangerous shooting and scoring threat, Reeves averaged 20.2 points this season on a highly efficient 51.2% from the floor and 44.7% from three-point range. He also added 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, both well above his numbers from the previous season.
Reeves had 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting and 5-of-9 from three-point range in Kentucky’s opening game of the NCAA Tournament, but it wasn’t enough as they suffered an 80-76 defeat to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
Despite being known for revolutionizing the game with their three-point shooting, the current Warrior roster actually lacks some perimeter threats beyond hall-of-fame duo Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
Perhaps Reeves could be one of the solutions to addressing that need in the offseason, even if his chances of playing time may be limited behind a glut of guards already on the roster.
