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Golden State Warriors NBA Draft: 4 high-risk, high-reward prospects

By Tony Pesta

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - OCTOBER 24: RJ Hampton of the Breakers and LaMelo Ball of the Hawks during the round four NBL match between the New Zealand Breakers and the Illawarra Hawks at Spark Arena on October 24, 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - OCTOBER 24: RJ Hampton of the Breakers and LaMelo Ball of the Hawks during the round four NBL match between the New Zealand Breakers and the Illawarra Hawks at Spark Arena on October 24, 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)
(Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images) /

4. R.J. Hampton

It’s still unclear if the Golden State Warriors will look to swap picks or not but the possibility is real enough for us to discuss how R.J. Hampton would fit the roster.

Hampton was a highly recruited prospect coming out of high school. He was fifth on ESPN’s Top 100 and received offers from big schools like Duke, Kentucky and Kansas. Rather than compete in the NCAA, Hampton chose to play overseas, ultimately hurting his draft stock.

He was only able to appear in 15 games before suffering a season-ending injury. It didn’t help he played just barely over 20 minutes per game in these matches, averaging 8.8 points and 3.9 rebounds. Hampton looked far from the elite scorer he was in high school.

However, much of this could be a result of playing against older competition in the NBL. His injury and limited minutes certainly didn’t help either. Hampton might still be capable of scoring in bunches with his smooth crossover and pull-up jumper.

The Warriors wouldn’t be too crazy to take a chance on him later in the lottery if they choose to trade back in the order. Hampton could one day be a reliable spark plug for their bench.

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