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NBA Draft 2014: Will the unproducted first round pick from the Golden State Warriors be worth anything?

The Utah Jazz gained a number of picks from the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets this off-season for taking on the salary dumps of Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush, and Andris Biedrins. Will the unprotected 2014 1st rounder from the Warriors be worth anything?

Ezra Shaw

If you want a refresher on the trade you can just click here; but basically we got picks and used our capspace to rent some players. The beauty of this lies in the fact that if the Golden State Warriors were to miss the playoffs, the Utah Jazz would walk away with another lottery pick. Of course, if the Dubs don't miss the playoffs, it inherently becomes less valuable.

So, if we assume the Warriors do make the playoffs, what should we expect?

Well, right now Golden State has the 8th best record in the league. I don't think they're a serious threat to be in the Top Five (San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat, and currently the Houston Rockets). Most likely they'll be picking somewhere between #21 and #25.

Inherently, does this pick have value? Of course! There are plenty of 'okay' players you could possibly end up with if you scout well. And while I don't think the pick will end up being a bottom 5 pick in the first round, let's take a look at who has been picked in these spots over the last 15 NBA Drafts:

Picks #21-25

NBA Pick
Draft 21 22 23 24 25
1 1999 Jeff Foster Kenny Thomas Devean George Andrei Kirilenko Tim James
2 2000 Morris Peterson Donnell Harvey DeShawn Stevenson Dalibor Bagaric Jake Tsakalidis
3 2001 Joseph Forte Jeryl Sasser Brandon Armstrong Raul Lopez Gerald Wallace
4 2002 Qyntel Woods Casey Jacobsen Tayshaun Prince Nenad Krstic Frank Williams
5 2003 Boris Diaw Zoran Planinic Travis Outlaw Brian Cook Carlos Delfino
6 2004 Pavel Podkolzin Viktor Khryapa Sergei Monia Delonte West Tony Allen
7 2005 Nate Robinson Jarrett Jack Francisco Garcia Luther Head Johan Petro
8 2006 Rajon Rondo Marcus Williams Josh Boone Kyle Lowry Shannon Brown
9 2007 Deaquan Cook Jared Dudley Wilson Chandler Rudy Fernandez Morris Almond
10 2008 Ryan Anderson Courtney Lee Kosta Koufos Serge Ibaka Nicolas Batum
11 2009 Darren Collison Victor Claver Omri Casspi Byron Mullens Rodrigue Beaubois
12 2010 Craig Brackins Elliot Williams Trevor Booker Damion James Dominique Jones
13 2011 Nolan Smith Kenneth Faried Nikola Mirotic Reggie Jackson MarShon Brooks
14 2012 Jared Sullinger Fab Melo John Jenkins Jared Cunningham Tony Wroten
15 2013 Gorgui Dieng Mason Plumlee Solomon Hill Tim Hardaway Jr. Reggie Bullock
46.7% 13.3% 20.0% 33.3% 33.3%

Picks #26-30

NBA
Draft 26 27 28 29 30
1 1999 Vonteego Cummings Jumaine Jones Scott Padgett Leon Smith John Celestand
2 2000 Mamadou N'Diaye Primoz Brezic Erick Barkley Mark Madsen Marko Jaric
3 2001 Samuel Dalembert Jamaal Tinsley Tony Parker Trenton Hassell Gilbert Arenas
4 2002 John Salmons Chris Jefferies Dan Dickau Steve Logan Roger Mason
5 2003 Ndudi Ebi Kendrick Perkins Leandro Barbosa Josh Howard Maciej Lampe
6 2004 Kevin Martin Sasha Vujacic Beno Udrih David Harrison Anderson Varejao
7 2005 Jason Maxiell Linas Kleiza Ian Mahinmi Wayne Simien David Lee
8 2006 Jordan Farmar Sergio Rodriguez Maurice Ager Mardy Collins Joel Freeland
9 2007 Aaron Brooks Arron Afflalo Tiago Splitter Alando Tucker Petteri Koponen
10 2008 George Hill Darrell Arthur Donte Green D.J. White J.R. Giddens
11 2009 Taj Gibson DeMarre Carroll Wayne Ellington Toney Douglass Christian Eyenga
12 2010 Quincy Pondexter Jordan Crawford Greivis Vasquez Daniel Orton Lazar Hayward
13 2011 Jordan Hamilton JaJuan Johnson Norris Cole Cory Joseph Jimmy Butler
14 2012 Miles Plumlee Arnett Moultrie Perry Jones III Marquis Teague Festus Ezeli
15 2013 Andre Roberson Rudy Gobert Livio Jean-Charles Archie Goodwin Nemanja Nedovic
33.3% 33.3% 20.0% 6.7% 26.7%

Well, the chances are about 1 in 3 that you get someone worth keeping. The more reasonable thing would be to package this draft pick with other assets (money, future picks, current picks, and current players) to move up. I'm confident that Dennis Lindsey is thinking about this right now. He has proven to me a willingness to make moves on draft day. I know, my phone battery died on draft night mainly because of all of his wheeling and dealings.

So I guess the bottom line here is that with an aggressive GM, any pick can be worth something. A late first rounder isn't always a place where Hall of Famers are picked -- but you can get a very good starter if your scouts know their stuff. And again, I suspect that DL is both an aggressive GM, and has great scouts. I would be surprised if we didn't end up using the #whatever spot pick we get from the Warriors this year in an impressive way that helps the team.