Warriors' draft vs. trade decision likely to come down to wire

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What the Warriors do in the upcoming NBA draft has been a topic of conversation since even before we knew what picks they'd have. Then, they got No. 7 and 14 at the lottery, and those conversations intensified.

Do they add a player who can help now? Do they put together a trade package? Do they keep one pick and trade the other?

With the draft just three days away, the Warriors are done with their pre-draft workouts (they hosted their last one on Monday) and are entering the final decision-making process. But there aren't too many decisions that can be made yet. 

"As of 2:00 today, yes," Warriors general manager Bob Myers said during his pre-draft press conference Monday afternoon when he was asked if the Warriors would use their two picks if the draft were right now. 

"But here’s the problem with that answer: As of 2:45, that can change. Or 3:15. The league has never operated closer to the deadline than it does now. And things have never happened faster. Today, I got some trade stuff, that, the draft is three days away, that has never been discussed. It's brand new."

With a clearly expressed desire to add more veterans to their roster, the Warriors have been the subject of numerous trade proposals, most recently, making a bid for Bradley Beal if he requests a trade from the Washington Wizards. But that hasn't happened, so they can't operate as if it has.

A number of the trades won't present themselves until draft night, when other teams see who is available and decide if they want to make a move or not. In some cases, it comes down to a specific, "If this player is there at No. 7, we will make the trade."

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"I had three conversations this morning and I said, is this trade on the clock or something we do now? So you almost preface all of it with that," Myers said. "A lot of the time, teams will say it depends on how the draft goes, which then pushes this decision for both teams all the way to the draft. Even into the draft. When you make deals at the top, or any big deals, you want as much certainty as you can get. That’s why you do that."

Myers believes the league values the seventh and 14th picks. So, when it comes to what trade package it would take for him to be comfortable giving them away, it would have to be something material -- and not something he considers marginal. 

But as Myers said, right now the Warriors would use their picks for themselves. And they are comfortable with that.

"We like those picks," he said. 

"Don't get mad if we don't in three days because that means something changed. But right now, yeah, it looks like we're going to draft."

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As for who they will draft? That's still up in the air. 

"When I'm talking to an agent or somebody else, they find it hard to believe that we haven't decided how we're taking it with the draft three days out but that's the honest truth," Myers said. "Or if we are making a trade or not."

There are still questions that need answering, some of which won't be answered until Thursday night. Some of the questions are new, and some are the same ones Myers, writers and fans have been grappling over for months.

"The next three days will be what the previous 30 have been which is: Do we want to draft? Do we want to draft two picks? What if you draft a young guy at seven, do you want to draft a young guy at 14?" Myers said.

"What do we want our team to be? ... We try to do the best we can with what's put in front of us whether that's the best trade, whether that's the best pick. That's what we're trying to figure out."

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