How Warriors, Dunleavy should benefit from two-day NBA draft

SAN FRANCISCO – Every penny counts. Every return from advertising revenue brings a smile to NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league offices. The NBA draft, this year, for the first time is a two-day event, aiming to emulate the NFL’s multi-day cash-cow event. 

And the change comes at an ideal year for the Warriors as well. 

“We would like to have a pick in the first round, but if I’m honest, if there’s ever a year not to have one, I think this might be it,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said Monday. 

The Warriors don’t own a first-round draft pick after their own 2024 pick was conveyed to the Portland Trail Blazers at No. 14 overall, ending a long road that originally began in 2019 as a domino effect of Kevin Durant’s decision to sign with the Brooklyn Nets.

This year’s draft does not have top-end elite talent. There isn’t a Victor Wembanyama and the Warriors likely weren’t going to find a win-now rookie at the end of the lottery anyway. 

Adding a new wrinkle of an extra day certainly can boost excitement from a fan perspective. It also gives the Warriors ample time to gain a clearer look with everything laid out in front of them. 

Dunleavy has to decide on Chris Paul’s $30 million non-guaranteed contract by Friday, the day after the draft concludes. Then Klay Thompson and everybody else on the open market hits center stage. Free agency starts Sunday at 3:30 p.m. PT and the trade market could be a frenzy given a full new day for teams to talk amongst themselves. 

Sure, while the consensus is the draft is down this year, the reality also is this could be the perfect year for the Warriors to trade up in the second round. All they have as of now is the No. 52 overall pick. Will they find a prospect ready to step in and produce at that slot? 

The Warriors’ chances historically increase if they can take a page out of their own book and pay to move high enough for a player they’ve identified. Between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the Warriors will have a clear idea who still is available and what it might take to get a prospect they covet.

“I’m intrigued by it,” Dunleavy said. “I’m not quite sure how it’s going to unfold. I would imagine, I think, it’s going to be a lot less hectic.” 

Which is another change all teams likely are happy about. Previously, the second round was a sprint where every team only had two minutes to make a decision. But as second-round picks like Draymond Green, Nikola Jokic and Kris Middleton and more have been crucial parts to championship teams, it’s no surprise Dunleavy and others are happy to feel less rushed than usual. 

“Normally the draft with the first round and kind of sprinting into the second, you just rip through it,” Dunleavy said. “Honestly there’s times where we don’t know whose pick it is, who’s picking, you’ve got two minutes in between.

“This new scenario, this new situation, I think there will be lots of discussions going on the Thursday morning of the second round. I just think it’s going to be different in that regard, and we’ll try and get ahead of it. We’ll react afterward and see how did that change and what do we have to be better at in the future. But I think it’s going to be a lot less hectic.” 

Dunleavy’s press conference Monday began what undoubtedly is a hectic week for the Warriors. Anything to ease anxiety will be welcomed, and the NBA’s new two-day draft can be beneficial for Dunleavy’s go-around as the Warriors’ general manager.

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