Despite years of interest from the Golden State Warriors, it was the Miami Heat who ultimately landed superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo when he was eventually traded by the Milwaukee Bucks earlier in the offseason.
Yet is wasn't just missing out on Antetokounmpo that dealt a blow to the Warriors, but also the timing of the trade that gave the Bucks an extra lottery pick and meant that Golden State missed out on their number one target at the draft.
Warriors missed out on Brayden Burries thanks to Giannis trade
As outlined by ESPN's Anthony Slater in a major report on Thursday, the Warriors held cautious optimism that Brayden Burries would fall to them at the 11th overall pick. Unfortunately the Antetokounmpo trade then drastically changed the equation as Miami sent Milwaukee the 13th overall pick.
The Bucks' number one target was 19-year-old Nate Ament who they likely would have taken at 10 if they hadn't acquired the 13th pick from the Heat. Knowing the Warriors (11) and Oklahoma City Thunder (12) wouldn't take a raw prospect like Ament with their selections, the Bucks swooped on Burries with the 10th pick and still managed to land Ament at 13.
Yaxel Lendeborg was then the obvious selection for Golden State once they were on the board at 11, but there's little doubt they would have taken Burries who, according to Slater, was a favorite of Steve Kerr and who had a host of fans elsewhere in the organization.
The early signs prove why the Warriors were so high on Burries, with the 20-year-old averaging an impressive 21.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals on 48.6% shooting from the floor during five summer league games.
Warriors may have won anyway despite draft misfortune
The timing of the Antetokounmpo trade may have been unfortunate and caused Golden State to miss out on Burries, but they may end up winning anyway given Lendeborg was arguably more impressive in winning Summer League MVP and leading the franchise to the championship.
The other silver lining is Lendeborg fits a more immediete positional need for the Warriors in the short-term considering injuries to Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, albeit that won't count for much in the long-term necessarily.
Only time will tell who winds up as the better player, but the Warriors will be able to count themselves unlucky if it's Burries who goes onto have the more accomplished NBA career.
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