Golden State Warriors NBA Draft: Why Dubs should pass on Obi Toppin
By Justin Lee
The Golden State Warriors have the number two pick in the 2020 NBA draft and have their eyes on a few players — one potentially being
The 2020 draft is inching closer, and no one has any idea what the Golden State Warriors will be doing with their No. 2-overall pick. Many front office execs and scouts have their eyes on sophomore forward from Dayton, Obi Toppin.
Toppin had a great season at Dayton even as it was cut short due to the worldwide pandemic. Dayton was a team with high hopes going into the NCAA tournament, as they finished their regular season with a 29-2 record and a perfect 18-0 in Atlantic 10 conference play.
So why should the Warriors stay away from Toppin in this year’s draft?
Ability to shoot
Everyone knows that the Warriors are looking to get back atop the NBA right now.
By my guess, they would like to duplicate the teams that made them so successful in the past. Those Warriors teams of the past were some of the best shooting teams we have seen in history. Obi may be the complete opposite of a shooter.
In Toppin’s freshman season (2018-2019) at Dayton, he finished the season shooting 0.6 three-pointers per game.
In his sophomore season, he upped his attempts, which is what scouts wanted him to do. With two attempts a game, Toppin finished his sophomore season at 39 percent from three. With the extended line, there’s no telling if he could keep those numbers at the NBA level.
Steve Kerr would love to have a versatile player like Toppin in his frontcourt. However, with the shooting woes we saw from Draymond Green and Marquese Chriss this past year, Toppin may not be a good fit, especially as similar as his game is to Eric Paschall’s.