Golden State Warriors: 5 reasons Jacob Evans was a good pick

1. Incredible value

It’s not simply the fact that Jacob Evans is a perfect fit for this team, nor that he should be able to step in as a rookie and play for the best team on the planet. It’s that Evans was never supposed to be available at this point in the draft, and yet his slide made the rich richer.

Jordan Bell was a draft-day gem for the Warriors in 2017, but he was expected to fall into the early second round of the draft. Patrick McCaw again was a player who helped the Warriors as a rookie, but no one was surprised to see him still available in the second. Going back further in time, Draymond Green was drafted where expected.

To say Jacob Evans falling to 28 was a shock is overstating the fact, but he was supposed to go much earlier in the draft. The final mock draft here on Hoops Habit pegged Evans to go 19th to the Atlanta Hawks. The author of that mock had Evans as the 14th-best player available in the draft. First-year draft site The Stepien had Evans ranked 18th, and the 94 Feet Report pegged him at 21st.

Next: Complete 2018 NBA Draft grades for all 30 teams

In Evans, Golden State got a player who could reasonably have been taken anywhere from 14 down, yet he fell to them at 28. The versatile forward can pass, shoot, defend and grow within the Warriors’ ecosystem. He may have been the steal of the draft, and for the defending champions to pull that off does not bode well for any other would-be contenders.