Golden State Warriors fans have to shake their heads when they see a Jeremy Lin highlight.
Now a superstar with the New York Knicks, the Palo Alto-native barely found a spot on an NBA roster last season. The hometown Warriors gave him that chance.
Lin looked inept, unconfident and confused while struggling through appearances in 29 games with Golden State during 2010-11.
He averaged 2.6 points, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.6 turnovers and 38.9 percent from the field — not the results the Warriors wanted out of their third-string point guard.
So expectedly, they let Lin go before this season.
And predictably, he soon became an overnight sensation.
Golden State has had a knack recently for unloading players before their talents peak.
The Warriors have not had an All-Star since Latrell Sprewell in 1997. During the next 15 years, six guys made the All-Star team as former Warriors — names like Chris Webber, Antawn Jamison, Gilbert Arenas, Mitch Richmond and yes, Sprewell.
If you count eight-time All-Star Vince Carter (who Golden State actually picked fifth overall in the 1998 draft but immediately traded to the Toronto Raptors for Jamison), the catalog becomes comical.
But if you consider the multitude of talents the Warriors passed up during recent drafts, the list gets downright depressing.
The trouble began in 1995.
The Warriors finished the 1994-95 season with a dismal record, which ended a streak of five playoff appearances in eight years. Luckily, so it seemed, their inadequacy helped them earn the No. 1 overall draft pick.
Basketball buffs know Golden State selected power forward Joe Smith, who became a true disappointment during a career that saw him suit up for 12 different NBA teams.
The Warriors” selection at No. 34 was even worse, power forward/center Andrew DeClercq.
That year, the Warriors missed out on solid players like Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess as well as potential Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett.
The trend continued the next year, when the Warriors picked center Todd Fuller at No. 11.
Instead of the “Fuller Monty,” Golden State could”ve chosen Kobe Bryant (who went 13th), Steve Nash (15th) or Jermaine O”Neal (17th).
The 1998 draft wouldn”t have been so bad if the Warriors had held onto Jamison long enough to make the Carter trade look decent, but they let him go too early. Oh yeah, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce went later that first round.
On paper, the 2001 draft looked OK.
The Warriors picked Jason Richardson fifth, Troy Murphy 14th and Arenas 30th. Richardson developed into a solid player that the Warriors cut loose, Murphy never made his mark and Arenas became a star shooter outside of the Bay Area.
Maybe future All-Stars Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph or Gerald Wallace would”ve been better picks.
Golden State followed up with a stellar 2002, drafting Mike Dunleavy Jr. third overall — another wasted lottery pick.
The Warriors finally tried to address their big-man needs in 2004 by selecting Andris Biedrins at No. 11. Of course, the team kept him but still has a center problem (the Latvian”s line in Wednesday”s game: zero points, two rebounds and one assist in nine minutes).
To grab the rights to that skill set, the Warriors passed up on solid low-post players like Al Jefferson, Josh Smith and Anderson Varejao.
The most uneven draft occurred in 2005 when the Warriors had their best and worst selections.
They made an incredible steal with the 40th overall pick, getting an unheralded Monta Ellis out of a Mississippi high school.
Ellis remains the team”s best player and probably should have ended the All-Star drought by now.
But true to form, the Warriors completely masked their great selection with an abysmal one in the first round.
They picked forward Ike Diogu, who averaged about seven points for Golden State in two seasons and since taken his talents to China.
Instead of liking Ike, the Warriors should”ve preferred Andrew Bynum (who went 10th) or Danny Granger (who went 17th and lit up the Warriors again Tuesday night).
The following six years, Golden State had inconsequential drafts.
Some years were decent (2009 getting the oft-injured Stephen Curry or 2010 picking defensive-minded Ekpe Udoh).
Others were unfortunate such as 2006 with center Patrick O”Bryant or 2008 with forwards Anthony Randolph and Richard Hendrix.
Of course, many factors have contributed to Golden State”s streak of two winning seasons in 17 years, but being unable to recognize NBA talent has to be high up there.
The Warriors had their chances during that span to put together a who”s who roster; instead they went with who”s that, and it”s cost them dearly.
