The Warriors have been in active competition until they are out of the playoffs this season, and even though they have a lot of rookie players on their roster, the team hasn't put much effort into developing rookies. It is precisely because of the lack of attention of the team's management that few rookie players of the Warriors in recent years have really been successful. This is indeed a rather embarrassing thing.
Before we get into that, let's take a look back at all the rookie players the Warriors have acquired in the last decade:
2015 first-round pick 30: Kevon Looney;
2016 first-round pick 30: Damian Jones; 38th pick in the second round: McCaw;
38th pick in the 2017 second round: Jordan Bell;
2018 first-round 28th pick: Jacob Evans;
2019 first-round pick 29th: Poole; 39th pick in the second round: Smailrajic; 41st pick in the second round: Pascal;
2020 first-round roster: Wiseman; 48th pick in the second round: Nico Manien; 52nd pick in the second round: Jessup;
7th pick in the first round in 2021: Kuminga; 14th pick in the first round: Moody;
2022 28th pick in the first round: Baldwin; 44th pick in the second round: Rollins; 55th pick in the second round: Santos;
2023 first-round 19th pick: Podzemski; 57th pick in the second round: Jackson Davis.
Combined with the above statistics, the Warriors have a total of 18 rookies in this decade, including nine first-round and nine second-rounders, and three lottery picks in the nine first-round picks.
Nearly half of those 18 have been eliminated from the NBA, and if you just consider the second-round picks, all but Santos and Jackson Davis, who have been doing well this season, have already been eliminated.
Among the 9 first-round picks, except for the 3 lottery picks, the remaining 6 first-round picks, except for Podzemski, were all after the 28th pick, and the overall percentage of finished talent is very low. Although some players have also had regular playing time in the Warriors' rotation before, they have basically been reduced to water coolers after leaving the team.
The reason behind this is not difficult to explain, most of them can only win a short season of rotation time with the Warriors, and when the Warriors gradually build up their roster and maintain the record requirements, the coaching staff is unlikely to give the rookies too much playing time, and they can only spend the rest of the bench.
After being waived by the Warriors and transferred to other teams, first, their own draft potential is not high, and secondly, the most suitable development stage is spent on the Warriors' bench, so it is naturally difficult to successfully stand in the rotation.
The only player who could actually make it to the rotation was Kevon Rooney, and he wasn't lucky enough to get that spot. Cousins, the team's starting center of the year, retired due to injury, and Rooney just ushered in his explosive stage after mentioning the starting five position. His excellent speed and mobility gave him the ability to switch to the outside of the Warriors, which was a perfect fit for Kerr's infinite switching system, which is the most critical reason why he has been able to stay with the team until now.
Then came the pivotal turning point in 2019, when the Warriors selected young players such as Poole, Pascal, and Smaj Rajic that year. At that time, Thompson's major injury season was reimbursed, and Durant, Iguodala and other core rotations left; In order to compensate for the rotation, management's draft strategy is also shifting, with Pascal being an instant player and the other two being more future-oriented.
Curry suffered a fracture after only four games that season, and the season was shortened due to the pandemic, and the three rookie players were given plenty of playing time. Pascal, who is biased towards the attributes of instant power, played the strength of the Rookie of the Year team, and the other two performances were somewhat mediocre.
Due to the absence of the main player, the Warriors finally won the list with the bottom of the Western Conference, selected James Wiseman, who was highly anticipated at the time, and then got two second-round picks that did not leave too many splashes. In order to make up for the lack of the lineup, the Warriors made a number of signings and reinforcements in the free market, coupled with the growth of the two Pooles, the rotation time was naturally more crowded.
Jordan Poole, in particular, has been in his second year with the Warriors, and his understanding of the team's system has become more and more effective, and his playing time has been increasing. But other newcomers who don't have chemistry with the team system are a bit more uncomfortable, such as Pascal and Wiseman, who have gradually fallen out of the team's rotation since then. As a top show, the Warriors still gave Wiseman enough opportunities this year, but unfortunately he was not able to seize it himself.
Moving back into 2021 and 2022, the Warriors' draft direction has largely shifted completely to the course of future potential. However, after winning the championship again in the 2021-22 season, the team once again focused on the veterans in the team, and this group of young players who should be given time to develop has gradually become marginalized.
At the best point when they should get a lot of playing time to develop and grow, they have become spectators of the team's veterans to attack the results, and even many times these young players perform better, but in terms of team status, they must also make way for the veterans in the team. This is also a key reason for the relatively slow growth of Kuminga and Moody's.
And in 2023, the Warriors' draft thinking suddenly changed again, and they abandoned their original talent route and refocused on instant power.
In the management's view, hoarding too many talented players will not directly help the team, and it is more suitable to compare it to two-way players who strive to improve. Then they took out Podemski and Jackson Davis, and both have been a direct help to the team this season.
Combined with the above discussion, there are still a few players in the rookie roster selected by the Warriors, and the most important of them should be Poole and Podzemski. Obviously, these two are both defenders, and the key to winning Kerr's trust is to be able to revitalize the team system after playing.
Here, we can focus on the Warriors' team system.
It may seem complicated, but it's not entirely incomprehensible. The main line is to run without the ball and cover the attack, and to assist a certain shooter tactic in it. From the perspective of player position, the defender plays a role in the team system for cross-covering, off-ball running and offensive finishing; Players in the front court are mainly responsible for tactical coordination, including passing, blocking, offensive reception, etc.
It seems simple, but it is more complicated to operate. Players in the cover position need to read the game accurately at a fast pace, and players need to have quick reflexes and tacit understanding. But if these links are not done well, the most important thing is the finishing of the players on the court, and Poole and Podemski have largely done a good enough job in finishing to be able to win playing time.
But outside the back line, it's more difficult for the team to get into the rotation in the frontcourt position. For newcomers to the frontcourt position, before entering the league, whether as the core of the ball or as an offensive and defensive blue-collar, the Warriors need to adapt to the new system as soon as possible. The ability to quickly read the game, the ability to switch counter-attacks, and the ability to switch defenses infinitely, this is definitely not an easy thing for newcomers who have just entered the league.
At the same time, there are many championship veterans in the Warriors, and these rookie players don't have many opportunities to play, so it is naturally difficult to grow. After leaving the Warriors, other teams do not have the influence of the Warriors to attract defense and open up space, and there are not many opportunities to perform, so they will naturally fade out of the league.
We have to admit that the Warriors' system is good enough, which is why they have been in a competitive position for nearly a decade; But relatively speaking, this system also restricts the normal growth of too many new players, and even their reinforcement routes in the free market are often limited by the team system.
Prior to 2020, the Warriors were able to rely on a system built by their core to stay competitive, but after the turning point of the season, things started to look different.
Aside from the 2021-22 championship trophy, the Warriors will really go from winning to declining in 2019, and after that, the Warriors are actually not the absolute favorites to win the championship, and we can at best rank them at playoff level. The only good thing is that the current team gets another chance to lift the trophy before the curtain really ends.
This is not uncommon, with the most recent example being the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. But compared to the original Mavericks, the Warriors' situation is much better, general manager Bob Myers also left the team with two young men, Kuminga and Moody, before leaving, even if the subsequent Warriors veterans completely retreat into the background, they can continue to maintain their basic competitiveness.
However, if the future of the team is to be fully pinned on these two young players, it is clear that the team did not give them enough opportunities to grow in the first place. The rookie season was dragged down by the pressure of the team's record, and although the Warriors made some progress after the Warriors strengthened Paul, the overall improvement of these two young players in the third season of their careers was relatively slow compared to the lottery players of the same gradient.
Compared with Kuminga and Moody, the former is naturally more suitable as the seventh pick in the first round to be cultivated as the core of the team, but combined with his performance in recent years, he is still regarded as a role puzzle outside the core lineup most of the time, let alone regarded as the core focus of the future training. Even though he has continued to improve in the last two seasons, and his individual and team offensive and defensive awareness has steadily increased, the Warriors have always limited the ball he has been given.
It wasn't until this season that Kuminga's chances began to increase after he publicly questioned the coaching staff, and he responded to the team's doubts with a better performance.
This begs the question: if Kuminga hadn't spoken out, perhaps he would have remained in the squad as a role lineup, and whether the team would have been able to recognize the mistakes of their course and actively correct them may be a big question mark. In the same way, we can also put it on Moses Moody, who is only in a more difficult situation than Kuminga as a younger young man.
In the final 2023-24 season, the Warriors reached another turning point, and the team failed to make the playoffs at the end. It's clear that they're losing their competitiveness, and the team has come to the point of roster optimization, with young players like Kuminga, Moody, and Podzemski playing well in the Warriors' system.
However, this does not mean that the Warriors' development route has been completely revised, they will face more updates in the future, and more young players are needed to take over the baton.