Golden State Warriors: Top 20 Draft Picks in History

March 23, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; 1975 NBA Championship Golden State Warriors team members Clifford Ray (left), Rick Barry (center), and Jamaal Wilkes (right) address the media in a press conference before the game between the Warriors and the Washington Wizards at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
March 23, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; 1975 NBA Championship Golden State Warriors team members Clifford Ray (left), Rick Barry (center), and Jamaal Wilkes (right) address the media in a press conference before the game between the Warriors and the Washington Wizards at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
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15. Purvis Short

Purvis Short was selected by Golden State with the 5th pick of the 1978 NBA Draft. Despite averaging 28 points per game in the 1984-85 season, and having multiple years of 20+ PPG scoring, Purvis failed to make a single All-Star team during his 12 year NBA career and as Jim Barnett puts it, Short is “one of the best players to never make an All-Star team.”

Short was in the same draft class as Hall of Famer Larry Bird, but the interesting part about that relationship is that Bird was selected just one spot after Short. This is one of many example’s where the Warrior organization missed out on a franchise alerting selection, but who knows where they would be now had they landed on some of those picks.

Short was no scrub, however. He holds career averages of 17.3 points and 4.3 rebounds, and shot an efficient 47.4 percent from the field for his career. While he was no Larry Bird, he still made a valuable impact on the Warriors, and is a fan favorite among the O.G. Warrior faithful.

Whether it was just simply the vast amount of talent when he played in the league, but Short deserved a lot more in his career. The fact he was drafted one spot before Bird will overshadow his career but it doesn’t change how good of a player he was.