7. Golden State Warriors – Jeff Teague, Wake Forest
With the seventh pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors select Jeff Teague.
It is hard to sit here and imagine anyone but Steph Curry going to the Warriors here. But, knowing what we know now, you would be hard-pressed to tell me Steph Curry is going to be available at pick 7. So, Jeff Teague, it is.
Jeff Teague has had a very good career. His averages are 12.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game on 45-36-84 splits and a 17 PER. For a five year stretch from 2012-17 he averaged 16 points, three rebounds, and seven assists, which are numbers that give you a chance to be an All-Star, something that he was able to do in 2014-15.
Now there is nothing overtly flashy about Teague’s game. He is just a good solid player that can create his own shot, as well as create for others. You know what you’re getting with Jeff Teague, which is more than you can say for a lot of other players when drafting.
And as noted above, Teague is the first player to appear on this list who has appeared in an All-Star game. That tells me that he has all the talent needed to be great, he just needs to be in the right environment. And something tells me that Golden State’s front office would have been able to provide that for him.