The Golden State Warriors tried to fill two of their biggest needs in last week”s NBA draft: scoring and size.
The team selected Harrison Barnes with the No. 7 pick. The 20-year-old scored consistently in college, averaging 16.5 points per game in two seasons at the University of North Carolina.
If the Warriors felt they needed to add a small forward early in the draft, Barnes was the best available at the time.
Golden State executives probably see him as a Kevin Durant-type player — a tall but lightly built, scoring-minded forward coming out of school with loads of potential.
Then again, people can just as easily look at Barnes and notice similarities with another lanky lottery pick, one who played college ball in North Carolina but never lived up to the Warriors” expectations.
Mike Dunleavy Jr., who went No. 3 overall in 2002, posted steady numbers at Duke but only averaged better than 16 points per game in one NBA season (which, of course, didn”t come in a Golden State uniform).
Barnes will have the opportunity to prove himself, considering how poorly Dorell Wright and other Warrior small forwards played last season.
The keys for him will be putting on weight and improving the all-around game he displayed as a Tar Heel — averaging 1.2 assists and 74 percent from the line won”t cut it.
Later, the Warriors probably had the steal of the draft, selecting Michigan State forward Draymond Green at No. 35.
The 22-year-old”s scoring and rebounding steadily increased during his four years as a Spartan. As a senior, he averaged 16.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists.
Look for Green to take advantage of what little playing time he gets early on and don”t be too surprised if he begins to take minutes away from Barnes as the season progresses.
Golden State”s pick at No. 30, center Festus Ezeli, appears capable of providing the solid backup presence the team desperately lacked the past decade or so.
The Nigerian-born Ezeli averaged almost eight points, 4.5 rebounds and two blocks at Vanderbilt, which were no worse than the totals Warrior starting centers put up last year.
He could give the team much-needed rebounding and defending off the bench, but that”s all he would be capable of — the name Adonal Foyle comes to mind.
At No. 52, the Warriors selected another center, Ognjen Kuzmic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It”s likely a throwaway pick because there”s a good chance he might never step on an NBA court. But you just never know, which is why you can”t blame the Warriors for taking a shot at a 7-foot, 1-inch, 22-year-old.
In an ideal world, the four draftees could make nice additions to the 2012-13 squad, but none have the ability to change the team”s fortunes short-term.
That depends solely on the health of Golden State”s new core trio: Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry and David Lee.
On paper, they look like solid centerpieces — with combined career averages of 44.5 points and 22.9 rebounds per game — but all three are recovering from injuries sustained last season.
As currently constituted, the Warriors don”t have the depth to overcome any significant injuries to those three players next season.
So watch for team execs to actively seek trades and free agents to add key role players.
It”s hard to know whether to expect good or bad results though, considering the up-and-down nature of the Warriors” offseason thus far — going from the elation of the planned relocation to San Francisco in 2017 to the embarrassment of head coach Mark Jackson allegedly being the target of a former lover”s blackmail scheme.
The one thing that”s certain: if Golden State wants to contend next season, its draft choices can only mark the beginning.
