Warriors GM Bob Meyers had debated the idea of drafting LaMelo Ball but would go ahead with James Wiseman.
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The Golden State Warriors are back to winning ways after not making the playoffs for the last two consecutive seasons. The Dubs, who ruled over the NBA for almost half a decade, saw a decline post the 2019 NBA Finals. Kevin Durant departed from the Bay Area, followed by injuries to the Splash Brothers.
Though Stephen Curry won the scoring title last season, the Warriors failed to make it to the postseason. However, the Warriors did have some top draft picks, one of them being James Wiseman. The second pick in the 2020 draft, Wiseman was a perfect fit for the Warriors.
The 20-year old gave the Warriors size and rim protection, something the team lacked. However, Wiseman has played only 39 games so far. The seven-foot center is yet to play a game this season. Nonetheless, Wiseman did show signs of a potential star, averaging 11.5 PPG and 5.8 RPG on 51.9% shooting from the field.
During an appearance on The Ryen Russillo Podcast, Warriors GM Bob Meyers revealed that they had toyed with the idea of drafting LaMelo Ball over Wiseman.
Bob Meyers gets candid about the strategies they had in mind during the 2020 NBA Draft.
The Warriors are one of the most structured and successful organizations in the NBA. Joe Lacob and Bob Meyers developed a culture that the team missed for several years. The Warriors became a dynasty winning three championships and making five Finals appearances.
Though the team hit a roadblock after the 2019 Finals, the Warriors have resurrected themselves this year and are currently the second seed in the NBA. The Dubs still have marksmen Klay Thompson and Wiseman to make their return.
In a recent podcast, Meyers spoke about how the Warriors organization had debated the idea of having LaMelo but went ahead with Wiseman.
“We targeted James obviously we took him in front of LaMelo,” Myers said. “We debate everything … we’re pretty debate-oriented. It’s not just me in a room saying ‘this is what we’re doing’ and then I shut the door. We hashed out the whole thing as far as what we thought.”
“We ended up ranking it the way we did,” he continued. “We watched LaMelo, he had a great workout when we saw him. We knew he would be a really good player, but we ended up putting James in front of him.”
Via: The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Though Wiseman is yet to explore his potential, we all know what LaMelo has been doing this season. The Hornets guard won the rookie of the year and is showing signs of a potential All-Star in his second year. LaMelo is averaging 20.3 PPG, 8.1 APG, 7.6 RPG, and 1.9 SPG. The Chino Hills sensation is shooting almost 40% from the 3-point line and 90.3% from the free-throw line.
In what it seems, the Warriors made the right decision since they already have a top 5 all-time point guard in Stephen Curry.
