Golden State Warriors: Jalen Green is a prospect worth trading up for

The 2021 NBA Draft could get wild, and the Golden State Warriors will have the perfect combination of assets to get in on the action. That said, following the lottery, the Warriors were awarded the 7th and 14th overall selection.

After the top-overall pick, there should be some moves made. Everyone knows that Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham is slated to go No. 1. USC center Evan Mobley is the consensus No. 2, but that’s even up in the air. Mobley and Green

With Jalen Green currently mocked as the third-best prospect, the Warriors, with their two lottery picks, should consider making a move up to No. 3 to draft him.

Mobley and forward Jalen Green are the two top prospects after Cunningham. As for Green, given the Warriors’ need for a scoring option at the three behind Andrew Wiggins, he should be the team’s top draft target.

Green opted to play for the G-League Ignite instead of going the collegiate route. Green was the No. 2 ranked prospect but opted to take part in the recently-developed program by the G-League. Top prospect Jonathan Kuminga also opted to do that.

Both top-four recruits that didn’t participate in the program had family accompany them at their college as Cunningham’s brother was a coach at OSU and Mobley’s brother played with him at USC.

That said, Green played well with the Ignite. He averaged 17.9 points per game. His efficiency is what’s even more impressive as the athletic 6-foot-5 forward shot over 46 percent from the field while also knocking down 2.1 threes per game.

With an 8-foot-5 standing reach and an impressive vertical, Green has all the traits to be one of the NBA’s best scorers. While his playmaking and vision may not be at Cunningham’s level yet, his scoring could be better than the projected No. 1 overall pick.

NBC Sports’ John Schrock had high praise for Green.

"“At 6-foot-5, Green is the best scorer in the draft, combining insane athleticism with a silky jump shot. He has video-game-like speed and bounce, is an acrobatic finisher at the rim and has the ability to knock down 3-pointers off the dribble,” he said."

Green is the prospect Golden State needs to trade up for, and the teams trying to trade down, whether it be Houston or Cleveland, will be there.

"“There are multiple teams, I’m told: Cleveland, Minnesota, Houston, who are going to be very aggressive if they’re in the top of this lottery with perhaps putting those picks in trades to bring back young veteran players or All-Star caliber players to accelerate their rebuilds,” ESPN Adrian Wojnarowski said via NBC Sports."

For Golden State, this is exciting. While we don’t know what packages those teams will require, we do know that the Warriors have a moldable, high-ceiling big man in Wiseman and two lottery picks they should be willing to part ways with.

Add it all together, and the Warriors need to be calling teams to figure out what it takes to bring the draft’s best scorer to the Bay Area.