Golden State Warriors: Re-drafting the team’s last 3 first-round picks

2015 (No. 30 Overall): Kevon Looney > Montrezl Harrell

Realistically, things haven’t been bad with Kevon Looney. He came on quietly during his first few seasons with the team, winning some championships as a sparingly used piece of the bench unit. Now, though, he’s starting to gain traction as a regular part of the rotation.

With that said, I still believe the Warriors would have been better off with Montrezl Harrell.

Seen as an undersized, defensive-minded big with little to offer in the scoring department coming out of college, Harrell fell all the way to No. 32 overall in 2015. Although he had a similarly slow start to his NBA career, things turned around for Harrell after he was including in the Chris Paul trade that landed him with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Since then, he’s seen a meteoric rise in his stock. Not only have his numbers increased significantly, but he’s producing far more effectively and has become an integral part of the Clippers’ frontcourt.

During his first two seasons with the Houston Rockets, Harrell averaged 6.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game. In his two seasons with Los Angeles, he’s averaged 12.8 points, five rebounds and one block per game. He turns 25 at the end of January, so there’s still plenty of potential waiting to be tapped.

Looney hasn’t been bad, but Harrell’s been better. Swapping the two seems like a no-brainer, especially for a Warriors team that needs help at center.