Reviewing every Warriors draft of the last 20 years: 1990

So since I am stuck in doors waiting as the world tries to ramp up PPE and Ventilator production so that Covid-19 can be squashed, I've decided to review every Warriors draft of the last 20 years. All statistics are for when the player played for the Warriors.

The Year : 1990

The Warriors had just made the Western Conference Semifinals with a core of Mitch Richmond, Chris Mullin, Rod Higgins, and Winston Garland. They Swept the 2nd seeded Jazz in 3 games in the first round and lost to the Phoenix Suns in 5 in the Semifinals. This was the first year of Don Nelsons coaching reign.

The Picks

The Warriors enter the draft with the 10th, 36th and 41st picks. They swing a draft day trade with Atlanta who really wanted Remeal Robinson, with the Warriors more interested in Tyrone Hill, they traded down one pick to move up in the second round. Here is how it looked.

GSW Get

1 - 11 : Tyrone Hill

2 - 28 (This was the first pick in the second round at the time): Les Jepsen

ATL Get

1 - 10 : Remeal Robinson

2 - 36: Trevor Wilson

2 - 41: Steve Bardo

Effectively the Warriors traded down one spot in the First Round so that they could move up to the the first pick of the second round, and threw in two lower seconds to Atlanta for their troubles. The Warriors also had the 34th pick that they received along with a 1992 second rounder for trading Winston Garland to the Clippers. The Warriors used this 34th pick on Kevin Pritchard.

Analysis

Player	Games	MPG	True Shooting	PER	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
Tyrone Hill C/PF	230	22.4	.550	12.3	7.4	7.5	0.6	0.5	0.5
Les Jepsen C	21	5	.350	7.7	1.3	1.8	0	0	0
Kevin Pritchard PG	62	12.5	.462	6.9	3.9	1	1.3	0.5	0.1

Okay so I don't think I need to get into how draft picks can make or break a team. Selecting guys who turn into stars, starters, or at least can contribute off the bench is essential as it allows teams to get production from low cost players, as well as setting the groundwork for future iterations of the team. Tyrone Hill for what it is worth did end up having a a solid career and even ended up making a all star team, though most of this happened after he left the Dubs (He was traded for a 1994 1st round pick which will be covered in a future post).

The Second Round is notorious for providing very few solid NBA players, and Pritchard and Jepsen didn't disappoint in this regard. Pritchard made his way to 5 other NBA teams over the next seven years with stints in Italy and Spain, after being sold to the Spurs, he was traded for cash. Though many believe cash is a teams best asset it still had to be a bummer. Jepsen on the other hand was a thrown in, in the Mitch Richmond, Billy Owens trade the following offseason. He lasted only one more year.

But wait! There is one more thing that needs to be discussed.

Gary Payton

Yup the Dubs also held the Sonics Pick from a previous trade for Alton lister....

Okay at the time there was no way the Warriors could have known this pick would end up being the second overall and would be used on one of the top 10 Point Guards of all time but holy moley this looks bad in hindsight, and still burns. Alton Lister spend most of his time in Golden State injured, and even before the trade wasn't really setting the world on fire in Seattle. Gary Payton could have saved the Dubs from many seasons not even making the playoffs and would of dramatically altered their trajectory.

Player	Games	MPG	True Shooting	PER	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
Alton Lister C	126	16.3	.512	10.2	5.2	5	0.9	0.2	0.9

This draft was the beginning of the darkness that would consume the Warriors for the next decade, and I think it I perfectly illustrates how much impact each move made by the front office and how important getting these picks right is. Buckle up because if this draft bummed you out there is only more dread coming, and more moves that significantly hurt the Dubs.