Do the Warriors need an immediate contributor with the No. 7 overall pick?

Since Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery, much has been made of the potential opportunities available to the Golden State Warriors. Armed with picks 7 and 14 in a talented draft pool, there are many arguments to be made on who the Warriors should target if they decide to hold onto the picks.

One of the biggest debates surrounds what type of player the Warriors should take – the best available player, a player with the most upside, or a player who can help contribute immediately to the team from next season.

Many think the Warriors need to find the latter, someone who can step in and provide meaningful minutes from the get-go. But is that necessarily the case?

I’d argue that they simply need to take the best available player, regardless of their potential contributions to next season. The problem is deciphering who the best available player may be. Although the seventh pick is certainly very valuable, there seems to be a consensus top six at this current point in time.

Although we’ll have to wait for the order to be revealed, the top four seem to be locked in – Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Jalen Green, and Jalen Suggs. Then Jonathan Kuminga and Scottie Barnes seem likely to round out the top six.

The best-case scenario for the Warriors is that one of those six, realistically Kuminga or Barnes, were to fall to pick seven.

But regardless of who they draft with these picks, the Warriors should already feel like they can return to championship contention. Ultimately, their return to title aspirations isn’t going to hinge on a rookie who will likely only give you 15-20 minutes a night.

Before they even hit the draft, the Warriors will likely go into next season with a starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson (may miss the first portion of the season), Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and one of James Wiseman or Kevon Looney.

Bench contributors will no doubt include Jordan Poole, Juan Toscano-Anderson, and whoever’s not starting out of Wiseman and Looney.

That’s eight players deep already before you hit free agency where the Warriors could re-sign Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kent Bazemore and/or sign players via the mid-level exception and veteran minimums.

So although someone like Davion Mitchell may turn out to be the best available player for the Warriors to take, you don’t do it simply because he’s the most ready-to-go player. The seventh pick may be a major difference-maker in the future, but he’s not going to be the difference between being a contender or not next season.

If they can contribute some good minutes then that’s just an added bonus for a team who should already be primed for a deep playoff run.