Why Warriors' embarrassing loss to Mavs has silver lining

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The Warriors suffered an embarrassing loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.

That's a scientific fact.

But if you're looking for a silver lining from the 30-point blowout, you came to the right place.

At this point, Golden State practically is guaranteed to keep its own 2021 first-round pick.

In case you forgot -- from the Kelly Oubre trade, the Warriors owe that selection to the Oklahoma City Thunder if they finish with one of the 10-best records in the NBA 

And a win over the Mavs would have put them in position to have a legitimate chance of seeing their pick end up at No. 21 or No. 22 overall, thus conveying to the Thunder.

That technically still could happen, but you definitely should not expect it to come to fruition.

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Furthermore, if we assume the Warriors earn a spot in the play-in bracket -- which almost assuredly will happen unless they lose all three remaining games against the New Orleans Pelicans -- their performance in that mini tournament will have a significant impact on their draft position.

If they reach the first round of the playoffs, their pick probably will be in the No. 15 to No. 19 range. If they fail to advance through, their pick probably is in the No. 12 to No. 14 range.

You might be thinking to yourself, "Sheesh, there still is a lot of uncertainty here." If so, you are correct and that sentiment completely is understandable.

A bunch of teams remain bunched up in the standings, and things can change quickly. So we all should take this one game at a time and avoid making any predictions.

Let's just hope Thursday's game at the Minnesota Timberwolves is exponentially more entertaining than what took place at Chase Center on Tuesday night.

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