Golden State Warriors: Top 10 NBA Draft picks in franchise history
By Frank Urbina
9. Klay Thompson (SG/SF) — No. 11 pick in 2011 NBA Draft
Career stats: 464 GP, 22.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.3 APG, 0.9 STL, 0.5 BLK, 1.7 TOV, 45.3 FG%, 41.9 3P%, 85.3 FT%
It goes without saying, but the Warriors are on the verge of dynasty status. That’s if they’re not there already.
Just how good have they been over the past three years? Allow Bleacher Report‘s Andy Bailey to explain:
Avg of 69 Ws. 1st, 2nd & 13th best eFG%s ever. 2nd & 14th best ORtgs. 2 titles, maybe 3 w/o Draymond's suspension. https://t.co/ePwKXdYAKU
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) June 15, 2017
So yeah, not bad.
One big reason for their excellence since 2014-15 has been the play of their 11th overall pick from the 2011 NBA Draft, Klay Thompson. The underrated 2-guard is averaging over 22 points per contest for his career, while hitting just fewer than three three-pointers a night.
And for how good he is offensively, he’s also become quite the defender to boot. Thompson can comfortably guard positions 1-3, along with most power forwards. (Anyone remember Kevin Love failing to post him up time after time during the 2017 NBA Finals?)
At the end of the day, though, the former Washington State man is an explosive scorer. His career-best performance, to this point, came on Dec. 5 against the Indiana Pacers. That night, Thompson scored 60 points on 33 shot attempts — taking just 11 dribbles all game to accomplish the feat.
We’ve never seen a shooting talent like Thompson before, and considering he’s 27 years old, his prime is just getting started. Scary.