Either the Golden State Warriors truly believe in Marquese Chriss and they’re starting early with the 2020 NBA Draft smokescreens.
Coming off a season that was marred by injury, the Golden State Warriors will have a 14 percent at landing the No .1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and a 52 percent chance at landing a top 4 pick. Altogether, it’s safe to say that the Warriors will likely have a top 5 pick in the draft.
If not for one of the NBA-ready wings projected in the top 7, there was a growing belief that the Warriors would take James Wiseman, who many perceive to be the best big in the 2020 draft class.
While the pick would make a ton of sense on paper – Wiseman is a projected top 5 pick and the Warriors have needed a true starting center since the departure of Andrew Bogut – it’s far from a sure thing.
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Adding to that though, a report from the San Francisco Chronicle (subscription required) suggests the same. The report details how the sudden emergence of Marquese Chriss could change the team’s draft plans and how they could view Chriss as a potential building block for the future.
Chriss was the eighth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, but had a rocky start, to say the least, to his career. After two uneventful seasons with the Phoenix Suns, he was traded to the Houston Rockets and then to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019.
Before the 2019-20 NBA season, the Warriors signed Chriss. He was then waived by the Warriors in January to make room for Damion Lee. Roughly a week later, the Warriors and Chriss agreed to a two-year (rest of the year) deal.
Chriss is finally beginning to grow into his talent. During his 59 games played with the Warriors, Chriss was averaging a career-high nine points, six rebounds, and two assists per game on 55 percent shooting from the field.
He’s still just 22 years old and the best basketball is still in front of him. The big question is if the Warriors believe that Chriss could continue growing into a future building block. At this point, it’s difficult to predict. Though, it should be noted, that the Warriors would know best.
They’ve gotten a chance to know Chriss and have to know that he has a potential future, considering they locked him up through the next season at least.
At the same rate, I’m not sure if 59 games are enough of a sample size to push the Warriors away from selecting James Wiseman. If he was indeed their man, that likely wouldn’t change with nine points and six rebounds per game from a developmental project.
Maybe this is all one big smokescreen and the beginning of the NBA Draft back and forth. Who knows?