As fraught with uncertainty as these first couple weeks of the offseason have been for the Golden State Warriors, it's not all bad in the Bay Area.
Granted, Steve Kerr's future is in question, and Golden State must face a number of financial restrictions as they attempt to replenish a roster that would have struggled to contend even if it was fully healthy. This will be, in many ways, an existential offseason for the Warriors.
But until the dust settles on the NBA Draft Lottery (and the Draft itself), there's reason to be optimistic. By virtue of their Play-In defeat, Golden State currently holds a 2% chance to earn the first-overall pick and a 9.4% chance to jump into the top-four.
To this point, it's been prudent to primarily focus on the prospects who could be available at 11th overall, where the Warriors would select if the Lottery doesn't break their way. But in the slight (emphasis on slight) chance Golden State is delivered the ultimate gift, it's worth thinking about what they might do.
In Bleacher Report's recent mock draft, drawn up by Zach Buckley, the Warriors are given the opportunity to select first overall, and they use that pick on AJ Dybantsa out of BYU. While both Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson may be intriguing selections, Buckley is right.
Dybantsa would be the correct choice for the Warriors.
AJ Dybantsa would be too good for the Warriors to pass up at 1st overall
Golden State has a number of needs to fill this offseason. They likely need another piece in the backcourt to partner with Stephen Curry, a viable rebounding center, and another offensive contributor in their frontcourt to make up for the absences of Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody.
No matter where they select in the Draft, they should be able to address one of these needs with their first-round selection.
What's interesting about this Draft's top three for the Warriors is that each player, to some extent, matches one of these archetypes. Peterson had an injury-riddled freshman season at Kansas, but he has the athleticism and the pure scoring acumen to be a dream pairing for Curry. Boozer is more of a power forward than a bruising center, but he just averaged 10.2 rebounds as a freshman for Duke.
Dybantsa, however, has too versatile and attractive a skill-set to pass up as a potential secondary scoring weapon for Golden State. With BYU in 2025-26, he averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists while shooting 51% from the field. While he has work to do as a perimeter shooter and a ball-handler, he has the self-creation abilities and the downhill acumen to be an immediate threat at the NBA level.
Beyond the short-term fit, though, the Warriors need to truly think about the long-term outlook no matter where they select in the Draft. Dybantsa offers the highest upside out of the three prospects, and for the most part doesn't possess many of the risks that Boozer and Peterson do.
There's room to argue that Boozer, as a sizable and bruising power forward, would be Golden State's best option as Draymond Green continues to decline. But Dybantsa has too high a ceiling, and too much potential to be the truly generational player of this draft class, that the Warriors couldn't afford to pass him up.
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