Warriors' Most Likely Selection with Seven Pick if Not Traded: Bouknight, Moody or Mitchell

The Warriors are all over the place, literally.

The head coach leading the team into the waning years of their core’s prime is in Tokyo. With Steve Kerr at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is Draymond Green, who along with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson has reportedly lobbied Golden State’s front office to use the No. seven and 14 picks for next Thursday’s draft in a trade to acquire a proven NBA contributor.

Onetime USA Basketball teammate and Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal’s name has been floated out there; same with another player with the Americans in Japan, Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard.

But stateside, with the July 29 NBA Draft just a few days away, the beat has gone on for draft preparation in anticipation of using the lottery picks on first-year players, not as trade chips.

Golden State has hosted a slew of prospects leading up to selection day, working out players like Baylor guard Davion Mitchell, Florida guard Tre Mann and alum of the G League Ignite forward Isaiah Todd.

West coast college stars like Gonzaga forward Corey Kispert, Stanford forward Ziaire Williams and Oregon guard Chris Duarte got workouts with the team last week, with Duarte and Virginia’s Trey Murphy III coming in for second looks in front of the organization’s brass.

Lastly, UConn guard James Bouknight had a strong showing in front of decision-makers, but Bouknight’s name - one of the best names in the draft on the basis of how fun it is to say - and the names of others previously mentioned are hardly the only options for the Warriors either seven picks in or seven picks later at No. 14.

External NBA media members had Mitchell, a 6’2” defender who showed his stopping prowess in the Bears’ NCAA Championship run, as the most likely pick for the Warriors at No. Seven, with Bouknight following closely behind as second most likely. Arkansas guard Moses Moody, who has also worn Golden State warmups and participated in drills in front of the Warriors’ personnel group, was voted as the third plausible pick for Golden State at that spot.

As for the No. 14 pick, rumors have it the Warriors think Mitchell will potentially be available if and when the team takes its second selection. But Mitchell is likely to not fall that far, opening up the possibility of selecting Duarte and Williams.

Non-Warrior NBA media members also think the NBL’s guard Josh Giddey (Golden State is still waiting on Justinian Jessup, their second round pick who played last season for Australia and LaMelo Ball’s Illawarra Hawks) and Duke forward Jalen Johnson will be available and potentially taken should the Warriors keep the pick.

The list of potential picks is almost endless, and seemingly just as long is the list of stars Golden State could target for the championship-hungry three-ring core of Curry, Thompson and Green. According to Bleacher Report, the front office is “highly active” in pursuit of a trade, and other outlets have thrown names like Ben Simmons and Myles Turner into the mix as trade targets.

However, the clock is ticking for Golden State before the clock begins on draft night, and the only certainty is that something of interest will happen when picks No. 7 and 14 come up. If you want more specifics, try Bob Myers, who hopefully at this point has a better idea than we do.