Why Warriors Can Feel Optimistic Despite Lack Of 2026 Nba Draft Lottery Luck

Why Warriors can feel optimistic despite lack of 2026 NBA draft lottery luck originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The expression on Larry Harris’ face Sunday afternoon divulged a truth the Warriors assistant general manager could not have known.

There was no Mother’s Day luck for Golden State in the 2026 NBA Draft lottery.

The Warriors entered the lottery holding the No. 11 overall pick – with only a 2 percent chance of rising into the top four – and that’s where they stood after the envelopes were opened and the order was revealed.

 “We’d love to be greedy and get No. 1,” Harris said Friday 49 hours before the order was announced. “But if we stay at 11, or even in that range, 11 or 12 – we’d hate to go back – but there are numbers that tend us to go that way as well. We feel really good in the early stages of our draft prep from (No. 1) through 15, 16 or 17.

“I do believe that if it ends up 11 . . . the prep work we’ve done and leading into the Combine that’s starting next week, we feel very, very, very good about this draft.”

The look on Harris’ face as representatives from each team were introduced conveyed not the slightest trace of contentment, much less confidence. He looked rather dejected in the minutes before the envelopes were opened.

Yet there are reasons for the Warriors to be optimistic in advance of the June 23 draft. For one, the last time Golden State held the 11th pick, in 2011, it came away with a Washington State guard named Klay Thompson. He became a five-time NBA All-Star and an essential member of four championship teams.

Thompson was by far the best No. 11 pick in franchise history, with a career that laps previous selections Andris Biedrins (2004), Mickael Pietrus (2003), Todd Fuller (1996) and Tyrone Hill (1990).

Another reason for optimism is the depth of the ’26 draft, which is widely considered the best of the millennium. The lite tier exists of four freshmen – Cameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Caleb Wilson – but most of those among the six to eight players in the second tiers have star potential.

“I’ve heard the noise,” Harris said on Friday. “Certainly, there’s four players that everybody seems to talk about when I look at all the mock drafts and everything. But the way we look at it is we really believe it’s beyond 11. But up to 11, we feel really, really, really good about whatever player lands in our lap.”

Among those listed between 10 and 12 on most mock drafts are Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr., Arizona guard Brayden Burries, Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg, Mexican forward Karim Lopez and Michigan center Aday Mara. Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy made the long trip a couple months ago to get a first-hand look at Lopez, who was playing for the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian National Basketball League.

The Warriors still could offer the No. 11 pick in a trade, but it wouldn’t carry the weight that would have come with landing in the top four.

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