Golden State Warriors: Which rookie will make the biggest initial impact?

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The Golden State Warriors will be expecting varying degrees of impact from each of their three rookies. Which player will they be expecting the most from in year one?

The Golden State Warriors have completely revamped their bench depth heading into the 2019-20 season and it will be up to their free-agent additions and rookies to fill the void.

That void has been left by the likes of Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, and Quinn Cook — among others — who have all since left the team in a variety of ways. And while their various free-agent additions will be asked to fill those roles, the Warriors did make three selections in this year’s NBA Draft.

Although the Warriors don’t have the greatest recent draft history, this year’s class could be the most important in a long time. Unlike in previous years, the drafted players will have easier paths to the rotation as they won’t be trapped behind established role players.

But each of the three rookies will be asked to contribute in different ways this season. Or rather, each will be asked to contribute a different amount.

So which rookie will be asked to contribute the most? Let’s take a look and find out.

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3. Alen Smailagic

The Warriors may have traded up in this past draft to select Serbian big man Alen Smailagic, but don’t expect a ton from him this season.

Even with an obvious need for NBA-ready role players, the Warriors decided to take a chance on the promising Smailagic fully aware of his current limitations. Smailagic is still just 18-years-old and is fresh off a season in which he played primarily off the bench down in Santa Cruz.

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In fact, Smailagic was the youngest player in G-League history last season speaking to his potential but also his rawness. The Warriors had been eyeing Smalaigic for a while prior to the draft so his selection was hardly surprising.

What was surprising, however, was that the Warriors then decided to sign him to a regular-season contract instead of a two-way. Considering that Smailagic isn’t expected to play much this season, a two-way contract would have made a lot of sense.

And after the team waived Julian Washburn, it’s clear that they would have had room for it. But alas, Golden State seemingly gave Smailagic a vote of confidence with the hope that he could play a bigger role this season than previously thought.

Now, the two sides won’t have to abide by the 45-day limit that would be in place in accordance with a two-way contract. Still, don’t be surprised to see Smailagic spend most of the season down in the G-League.

But if the injury bug strikes the Warriors bigs or Smailagic really impresses, they will have every opportunity to call him up and keep him up here in the regular season and beyond.

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