Golden State Warriors Draft Two Players, Have High Hopes for Both

The Golden State Warriors made two selections in Thursday night’s draft, and they have high hopes for both.

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The NBA Draft signaled the beginning of what is sure to be another wild offseason, and the Golden State Warriors made two selections on Thursday night. The Warriors had to wait until the end of the first round to make their initial selection of the night, and selected center Damian Jones, a former Vanderbilt Commodore, when it was finally their time to make a pick.

Jones, a 6’10”, 250-pounder from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, played 99 games over three season at Vanderbilt, and averaged 13.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 56.6 percent from the floor. He has nearly a 7’4″ wingspan (everybody loves wingspan).

In his freshman season, the 2013-2014 campaign, Jones was named to the SEC’s All-Freshman Team. The next season, he was on the All-SEC First Team and the All-SEC Defensive Team. In his junior year, he named to the All-SEC First Team by conference coaches, and the All-SEC Second Team by the AP.

The Warriors have a need for a big man, exacerbated by Marreese Speights, Festus Ezeli, James Michael McAdoo, and Anderson Varejao all hitting free agency. Upgrading the interior defense should be a priority for Golden State, and Jones can certainly help with that. He is a strong defender, able to protect the rim and send away shots. He led Vanderbilt in blocks during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 season, and finishing second in 2015-2016. He can even step out and defend around the perimeter on occasion.

Jones isn’t a threat from three-point range (hitting one of his eight attempts in college), but he can extend the floor a bit by making long-range two-pointers with some consistency. But his best offensive game starts underneath the rim, and having him take long jumpers shouldn’t be a priority.

The 20-year-old (very young for his college experience) underwent surgery to repair a torn pectoral early in June, which will keep him out of Summer League action, but the belief is that he’ll be good to go when the regular season opens, or soon thereafter.

With Jones now in the mix, that could spell the end of another Vanderbilt center’s time with the Warriors. Festus Ezeli, the 30th overall pick in 2012 by the Warriors, is a restricted free agent, and has a very similar skill-set to the one Jones is projected to have in the NBA. Nothing is certain, but it seems like Ezeli’s start-and-stop-and-start-and-stop again time with the Warriors is just about come to an end.

The Warriors weren’t slated to have another pick on Thursday, but they swung a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks to get another selection, 38th overall, sending $2.4 million Milwaukee’s way. With the pick, the Warriors picked UNLV shooting guard Patrick McCaw.