I doubt GSW take Ball unless it's for a trade
I see them taking Toppin one way or the other
I'm not sure I understand your thinking here. Toppin is not a great passer and a very questionable defender. That doesn't really fit the mold of their offense.
If you think they want a rim runner, they could get one off the scrap heap for a vet minimum.
Unless they think Toppin is clear and away the best prospect in the draft, I doubt they would take him.
1st this is not a very strong draft
2nd GSW have a hole upfront. Toppin ability to shoot the 3 is a bonus
3rd Warriors play team D . Toppin doesn't have to be exceptional. As long as he learns the system, utilizes his physical tools and puts in consistent effort.
If Toppin can provide a similar role to what Harrison Barnes did several years ago (just a pf version), that would be a nice fit
You can let him loose on offense at times and give Curry, Klay time to breathe a little. Also if Toppin starts to catch fire/attention it opens up space for the rest
I agree Toppin has a lot of value on offense and that this draft has a weak top 10. I'm just not sold that GS will want a big man who they have to actively work to hide on defense. Their 2015 dominance was often sparked by their small ball lineup with Green at the 5 and Barnes at the 4 Toppin is roughly the size of Barnes but with the perimeter mobility of a true center. This would likely force him to the bench in crutch time, I find it hard to see a team drafting a player top 3 who need to sit at the end of playoff games.
Really? He has good quickness/long strides and good hops
His footwork needs refinement (especially on D end)
If you play Toppin, Green, Wiggins, Thompson, Curry..... can't see why that can't be potential crunch time lineup
He is very explosive vertically but has high hips and I just don’t ever see him ever becoming a mediocre defender. While that lineup couls be good in crunch time I don’t think it’s the championship level great lineup the GS will be striving for.
I doubt the Warriors are at all worried about finding a big man. During their championship run it the 5 has been their least priority position. They need to figure out how to replicate their previous Barnes/AI/Livingston production with Wiggins and ??. This might mean trading Wigging, trading their pick for a vet, taking a player like Ball, or the my favorite scenario they trade down for a role player who can fit their style.
I am not buying any of the projections that have the taking a PG or SG #1 to sit on the bench all game while Clay and Curry play like the whole game. And Clay just signed a 5 year max so no SG is getting any real minutes their whole rookie deal. I think they draft James Wiseman and he starts at Center day 1.
You say a big man wasn't a priority but really it wasn't an offensive priority, but they made sure they had defensive bigs for all their championship runs.
2014-15Andrew Bogut 7'0 defensive anchor in the paint.
Festus Ezeli 6'11 serviceable back up, could protect the rim and rebound for a good 10-15 minutes a game.
Marreese Speights 6'10 Not as good as Ezeli but was a big body that could be counted on for a few minutes in a pinch.
Ognjen Kuzmić 7'1 a second year player that didn't pan out but still they clearly drafted him because of his size.
4 players 6'10 or bigger They also had 2 6'9 players in David Lee and James Michael McAdoo. Lee sucked on D but McAdoo was booked as a defender coming out of college.
2015-16Andrew Bogut 7'0, Festus Ezeli 6'11, Marreese Speights 6'10, all back for another season.
Jason Thompson 6'11, Anderson Varejão 6'10, two experienced veteran bigs the Wariors brought in to make another title run.
I think the turning point in the championship was when Bogut got hurt. that's when Cleveland started to score in the paint at will and were able to make a comeback and win the title.
5 players 6'10 or biggerThey also had two 6'9 players in rookie Kevon Looney and James Michael McAdoo
2016-17big changes to the the roster when adding Durant, needed to overhaul the supporting cast.
Kevin Durant 6'10 didn't play center but still is 6'10 and created serious match up problems with his size.
Zaza Pachulia 6'11, JaVale McGee 7'0, Anderson Varejão 6'10 center by committee all defensive oriented and all 6'10 or bigger.
Damian Jones 6'11 rookie, the warriors went with a big man with their first round pick.
5 players 6'10 or biggerThey also had 3 players 6'9 in Kevon Looney, David West and James Michael McAdoo
2017-18Kevin Durant 6'10, Zaza Pachulia 6'11, JaVale McGee 7'0, and Damian Jones 6'11 all came back for another run.
4 players 6'10 or bigger They also had 4 players 6'9 in Kevon Looney, David West, Omri Casspi, and rookie Chris Boucher. Note rookie Jordan Bell came up bigger than his 6'8 size.
2018-19Kevin Durant 6'10 and Damian Jones 6'11 came back.
Andrew Bogut 7'0 came back for one last go around.
DeMarcus Cousins 6'10 was supposed to be a genius move and make them even more unbeatable.
They even added former celtic Jonas Jerebko 6'10.
5 players 6'10 or biggerKevon Looney was the only 6'9 guy on this roster but they still had Jordan Bell who played bigger than 6'8.
The Warriors rosters were all ways loaded with defensive bigs and really their guards and wings were big too. Clay is like 6'7 and Curry is the team midget at 6'3. Small ball is misunderstood. The GSW had really big teams for their "small ball" runs. Really they just rotated Green to center for a brief stint while they ran up some quick points then rotate back to a 6'10 or bigger center. Check the minutes GSW had someone 6'10 or bigger on the court most of the time during all their games during all their runs. Kerr understands the need for size. Which is why they're going to pick Wiseman. The only undersized player on those Bull's teams was Rodman. Chicago was a really big team that played lock down defense. Everyone remembers Jordan and Pippen but they constantly rotated defensive minded bigs 6'10 - 7'0 in to lock down the paint. Heck Ron Harper was a 6'6 defensive minded PG. A 6'6 PG is huge today and it was giant back then. If you had a 6'1 PG and 6'3 SG you had a huge back court with both at 6'6 Jordan and Harper were giants who could defend. Pippin was 6'9 when SFs were 6'5-6'7. The Bull were a huge team and Kerr's Warriors were actually really big too. Green was like his Rodman.
Back to the Boston Celtics since this is Celtics blog. This mock draft is great for us. I really really like Jalen Smith and we need a full sized PF/C badly. Brad demands switch ability on D and the ability to stretch the floor on O, Big Al did that and Jalen Smith can as well. We need size badly and at 17 Jalen Smith may really be the BPA. This draft has at lot of parody or at least perceived parody so we may as well take the best big man available and that's what this CBS mock seems to be doing at 17 and 26. Oturu looks like a solid choice. I like Tillman too as a defensive minded center but Oturu is a little longer and seems to be still developing his game. Oturu and Tillman both look to be solid back up centers but Oturu may have more potential. Patrick Williams is a big strong wing who can defend so another good pick. We have three players without a guaranteed contract so drafting three players is no big deal. If we cut our french big man we can add 4 new players without making a trade. Sure a trade would be nice but I like the potential for rotational players more in this draft than what I've seen from the guys we drafted last year. G. Williams and Langford may be all that stick from that draft and they look to be good bench players on a championship team, glue guys. Smith and Oturu look like they could be starters on a championship team. they are full size very long players who bring what any team would love from the 4 and 5. I can see them as part of a nice starting five for us in a year or two.
2021-2022 roster if this CBS draft is true and the players pan out and Hayward leaves after next season for a bigger role and we make no trades. So highly unlikely but it doesn't look half bad at all. It looks like it can win a title.
PG: Walker, Smart, 2020 2nd round pick maybe Payton Pritchard or Cassius Winston
SG: Brown, Langford, Edwards
SF: Tatum, P. Williams, 2021 1st round pick
PF: Smith, G. Williams, ring chasing vet min deal
C: Oturu , R. Williams, Theis
Before you flame me for putting Theis 3rd string, in two years Williams needs to be a better player than Theis if he's going to stay on this team. Also, since its all just guessing maybe in two years Oturu can be better than both of them, then we would have a beast at center. Same goes for PF. After 2 years Smith could be like a young Horford with the old Horford's 3 point shot.