Warriors maneuver on draft day, throw a pair of darts at end of second round

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The Warriors knew earlier in the week that they didn’t need to hold onto their 41st pick. The middle of the draft was bloated, in their opinion, and their preferred path was to take a pair of swings for talent they had a feeling would still be there late. 

So Golden State traded down from No. 41, picking up the 52nd and 59th pick. Then they swung a deal to move up three spots, from No. 59 to No. 56. 

The transactioning mirrored last year’s maneuvering and resulted in the Warriors selecting Alex Toohey — a 6-foot-8 Australian forward — and Will Richard, a 3-and-D guard who won the championship with the Florida Gators last year. 

“I’m willing to be wrong on this, the last few years I’ve said it: I don’t expect these guys to have that much of an impact as rookies,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said. “It’s hard to do that…Sure, maybe these guys have a chance. Don’t want to bank on it. I think our roster will be good and deep anyway, but we don’t think these guys are years away.” 

Players taken so late in the draft typically sign two-way deals or multi-year contracts at rookie minimum rates. It’s valuable for teams — especially ones with top-heavy salary sheets such as the Warriors — to have cheap players on the back-end of their rosters. 

How free agency plays out will determine in what capacity they join the Warriors’ roster.

In the National Basketball League (Australia), Toohey demonstrated strong feel for the game and solid defensive instincts. The 21-year-old has room to grow as an outside shooter but projects as a potential role player. 

Toohey played in his native Australia after committing to Gonzaga as a high school prospect. He also had offers from Michigan and Villanova. 

Dunleavy noted Toohey’s defensive versatility as a particularly appealing trait. Toohey averaged 1.4 steals and 0.8 blocks in 23 minutes per game. 

“He’s super versatile and creates a lot of plays which is important for our defense,” Dunleavy said. “For us, defensively with Draymond and Jimmy and Podz and guys who can kind of disrupt, this guy fits in that mold.” 

Richard, meanwhile, helped the Gators to the 2025 national championship. The 22-year-old was a key guard for Florida who shot 36% from behind the arc. He scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the title game.

Richard averaged 13.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game as a true senior for Florida. He played a role similar to what he could be asked to do as a Warrior, giving him a better chance of contributing right away. 

“We see him as a two-way player,” Dunleavy said. “Shoot it, defend it. I think he’s a pretty good on-ball defender, very good off-ball defender.” 

The Warriors had both players high on their board, Dunleavy said, and brought each in for workouts. 

Dunleavy had signaled before the draft that the Warriors were unlikely to move up into the first round, but wouldn’t necessarily stand pat at No. 41. Trading down gave them an extra dart to throw at the board. 

The idea was to get at least one player, on a super cheap salary slot, who can contribute right away. Dunleavy’s track record suggests it’s possible, as he selected Quinten Post last year with the 52nd pick and Trayce Jackson-Davis with the 57th pick the year before. 

That doesn’t mean Toohey or Richard will continue that trend of late-round hits. At least some time developing with the Warriors’ G-League affiliate in Santa Cruz is likely in their futures. 

The Suns took Kentucky guard Koby Brea with the 41st pick that previously belonged to Golden State. Brea led the nation in 3-point shooting percentage as a senior before transferring to Kentucky and leading the SEC in the same category as a fifth-year player. Brea donned a Warriors cap in the Barclays Center after the selection even though he was heading to Phoenix. 

Before Brea was selected, several players who possibly fit the Warriors came off the board. Sion James (33), Johni Broome (35), and Micah Peavy (40) each worked out for the Warriors during the pre-draft process. 

The Warriors initially traded the 41st pick to the Suns in exchange for the 52nd and 59th pick. They acquired the 56th pick — which became Richard — from Memphis for Justinian Jessup’s rights and a heavily protected 2032 second rounder, per source. 

Golden State had picked Jessup with the 51st pick in 2020. He has played in Australia, Spain, New Zealand, and France since then. 

The Warriors also signed undrafted free agents Chance McMillan and L.J. Cryer to Exhibit-10 deals, a source confirmed reports by ESPN and Chancellor Johnson.

McMillan is a Vallejo native who spent a year at Golden State Prep before a five-year college career that ended at Texas Tech. The 6-foot-2 guard shot 43% from deep as a fifth year and averaged 14.2 points.

Cryer, an All-American at Houston, led the Big 12 in 3-point shooting percentage three years in a row. The sharpshooter is likewise an undersized guard at 6-foot-1.