Report Card: NBA Draft expert Bryan Kalbrosky grades Warriors Wire’s mock draft
With draft week underway, the crew from across USA TODAY’s NBA wire sites connected for a roundtable mock draft.
Under the watch of Warriors Wire, the Golden State Warriors landed UConn’s James Bouknight with the No. 7 overall selection and Oregon’s Chris Duarte with the No. 14 pick in the first round.
After 60 picks, NBA draft specialist Bryan Kalbrosky stopped by Warriors Wire to hand out a report card for the pair of picks made by site editor Tommy Call III. Along with stamping the picks with grades, Kalbrosky broke down the prospects and their fit in Golden State.
For the full 60 pick roundtable mock draft, check out two rounds of predictions with a few blockbuster trades mixed in via Rookie Wire.
No. 7 - James Bouknight, UConn
The Golden State Warriors are in a very different position from the other teams that are selecting in the first half of the lottery because they are far more likely to target a win-now player than other teams drafting in a similar range. With that in mind, it's hard to ignore what UCONN's James Bouknight brings to the table. Not only did he averaged north of 18.0 points per game this past season, but he is also the kind of explosive scorer who was capable of dropping 40 points in a single game against Creighton back in December 2020. He's a remarkable athlete who played through injury during his sophomore campaign and projects well as someone who can be a valuable movement shooter as a perimeter threat. But it's hard to ignore the fact that he was just 1-for-6 from beyond the arc in the NCAA tournament and a combined 0-for-7 from deep in the conference tournament. Reports from workouts indicate that his jump shot looks much better, which is obviously reassuring. But we'll have to wait and see how it looks until he's in an NBA game. I still think I would have targeted Moses Moody with this pick, but given his young age, I do think that Bouknight may more likely receive the nod. Grade: B+
No. 14 - Chris Duarte, Oregon
The growing buzz about Chris Duarte to the Golden State is legitimate, and it makes sense. He and Davion Mitchell are the leading contenders for "plug and play" options in this class. Duarte showed out as a solid option on defense and on the perimeter and grades well athletically, too. He was nearly always the best player on the floor and helped Oregon to destroy Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp in the NCAA tournament. It's hard to imagine Duarte failing in the NBA. But let's also be conscious of the fact that Duarte is older than Jayson Tatum, De'Aaron Fox, Brandon Ingram and Bam Adebayo. When it comes to his development, it's really important to keep that in mind before we get too excited about his ceiling. He would be the oldest prospect selected in the lottery since Melvin Ely in 2002 and the track record of other prospects his age hearing their name in that range is not fantastic. For what it's worth, as an Oregon alum myself, I'll be rooting for Duarte's continued success in basketball. He is a hard-working player who I think is going to stick around. But if I'm using a lottery pick on a senior, I would have wanted him to dominate a bit more like Buddy Hield did during his time at Oklahoma. We never saw that version of Duarte at Oregon. Grade: B-
Report Card
Pick No. 7 — Bouknight: B+
Pick No. 14 — Duarte: B-
Follow more of Bryan's NBA and draft content at HoopsHype and USA TODAY's For The Win. Follow Bryan on Twitter @BryanKalbrosky.
1
1
