Bob Myers helped build a dynasty with the Golden State Warriors, so it’s evident that he got more things right than wrong along the way. But there were a couple of close calls that he admits now could have prevented the Warriors from getting off the ground.
The trio of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green has obviously been imperative to Golden State’s success. All three arrived via the draft, and have since been career Warriors that have built remarkable careers for themselves.
Myers is now an NBA analyst for ESPN, having put his days in the Warriors front office behind him. So, appearing Wednesday on The Morning Roast, he indulged Bonta and Shasky with two stories about how they could have missed out on Thompson and Green.
The Warriors got Thompson with the 11th pick in the 2011 draft. The pick before, the Milwaukee Bucks traded their selection to the Sacramento Kings, who ended up taking Jimmer Fredette. Had the Bucks stayed put, they might have landed Thompson.
“There are so many that I could go through and say if this didn’t happen, we never are anything,” Myers admitted. “I was the assistant GM at the time, but drafting Klay – if Milwaukee doesn’t trade the 10th pick to Sacramento to take Fredette, I think Milwaukee was taking Klay at 10. So, there’s that. He’s gone, there’s no Klay Thompson. That’s how close that was."
Green arrived a year later, with Golden State taking him 35th overall in the 2012 draft. The Warriors took Harrison Barnes seventh overall, then big man Festus Ezeli at No. 30, a pick they had acquired from the Spurs. Then Green fell to them at 35, a pick they got from the Nets.
“Draymond, I thought we had him about 20-something on our board, and we thought he’d be gone when we picked at 30, and we thought that Festus Ezeli was a big position of need,” Myers said. “I shouldn’t highlight this, but who cares, we took Festus before Draymond. … It tells you we’re not all perfect, right?
“But we realized when Draymond was slipping, we were in the room going ‘Oh my gosh, can we get Draymond Green?’ So we were lucky we got him. But if anybody takes Draymond Green, then none of this happens.”