Golden State Warriors: 15 greatest draft steals in franchise history

To understand how a No. 3 overall pick like Nate Thurmond could end up as a draft steal, one only needs to look at the atmosphere of the draft during that era of the NBA.

As mentioned earlier, every prospect who declared for the draft had to be selected in order for a draft to reach its conclusion in those days. Naturally, this led to a litany of players who never played in a single NBA game (remember, there was no NBA G League and Euroleague likely wasn’t a lucrative route, either, assuming there were leagues in Europe at the time, so there was no path back to the pros if a player were to be cut).

Even at the top of the draft, most players struggled to maintain a sustainable career in the young league. Take the 1963 NBA Draft, for instance; only three players picked in the first round lasted longer than four seasons in the league. One of them was Warriors great Nate Thurmond.

It took a full season before Thurmond received starter’s reps. Once he did, it didn’t take long before he became one of the most feared centers in the game.

Though he lacked the refined post game to be a significant needle mover on offense — with his predisposition to taking mid-range 2’s driving down his efficiency — Thurmond really made his money by walling off the post on defense and by gobbling up rebounds like a Hungry Hungry Hippo gobbles up plastic balls.

In 13 seasons with the Warriors, Thurmond averaged 17.4 points and 16.4 rebounds per game with 62.2 of his 78 win shares coming on the defensive end.

In fairness, Thurmond’s rebounding numbers are a bit inflated by the breakneck pace and depressed efficiency of the 1960s and 1970s — more possessions and more missed shots mean more chances for rebounds — as he ranks 62nd all-time in career rebounding percentage (though that stat wasn’t tracked until 1970-71).

Still, Thurmond was the rare example of a draft pick coming to fruition during the league’s infancy.