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What They Are Saying: Bob Myers on 2020 NBA Draft

Draft night has come and gone, and the Warriors came out of the event with the three picks they went into it with, only now the team can put faces and names to those draft positions. The team selected 7-foot-1 center James Wiseman with the second overall pick, the highest Warriors draft pick since Joe Smith in 1995, and also added a pair of guards in the second round: Arizona’s Nico Mannion (No. 48) and Justinian Jessup (No. 51) out of Boise State.

Following the draft, Warriors General Manager Bob Myers spoke to the media over a video conference call about the team’s picks, and also the news of Klay Thompson’s leg injury.

On how when Wiseman was on their draft board and if the Klay Thompson injury prompted any changes:
“We had him No. 1 on our board when all the dust settled. Certainly the Klay thing made you think for a second, but it was just a short amount of time and we decided we're staying the course of what we always felt but you have to take pause and think about things for a second… We got the guy we wanted and excited like I said to get going and get him in our practice facility and get to work.”

On what attracted Myers and the front office to Wiseman:
“Well, we think he's got great immediate help for a position we've coveted for a long time… We love his character, we love his attitude. We loved sitting with him, meeting him and feel like he's kind of the Warrior type of character we always look for with a tremendous amount of room for growth.”

Was Myers surprised Nico Mannion fell to the Warriors at No. 48?
“A little bit. Steph said we had to Draft guys that went to his Under Armour camp, so we had to take Wiseman and Nico to keep our point guard happy. It is funny, though. Those guys both did go. He remembers them. I think it might have been in Walnut Creek. But I think he knows, it's funny, he got to know James and got to know Nico, I don't know if it was last year or the year before, but I was surprised. We had him higher than 48 for sure.”

On Wiseman’s defensive capabilities and what he will need to learn:
“He's big but NBA has got a lot of big guys in it. But I think he's physically can do it but there's going to be a mental growth. He's going to have to learn the NBA game. It's a style, he's never played against these caliber players. We hope he can do all that but no 19-year-old I think figures it out right away. But I think he's got a willingness and an effort he's going to learn. Can't learn from a better defender than Draymond Green who probably won't be shy correcting him if he needs to.”