SAN FRANCISCO – Mike Dunleavy Jr. will find himself in an unfamiliar spot this week.
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The Warriors’ general manager has spent the past three offseasons mining the late first and second round for unheralded talent in the NBA draft.
But on Tuesday, Dunleavy will select using a coveted lottery pick, and is expected to use the No. 11 selection to add an immediate contributor to an aging roster.
“We’re in a range right now where we feel this draft is very strong, and with the 11th pick we’ll get a good player,” Dunleavy said at a press conference last week. “I’m probably a little bit more at ease and comfortable that we’ll get that versus drafting later on.”
The 2026 class has long been heralded as one of the best in recent years, which means the Warriors should be able to find a better player at No. 11 than they would in other drafts.
Yaxel Lendeborg, Labaron Philon and Brayden Burries are among the talented athletes the Warriors have worked out over the past few weeks.
“Everybody has talked about this for multiple years about how great a draft this is,” Dunleavy said. “You start to see it and understand there’s not a whole lot of warts. I think that’s the biggest takeaway.”
The Warriors need a little bit of everything, lacking guard depth behind Steph Curry, having essentially zero wings with Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody sidelined with knee injuries for the majority of next season, and little center depth even if injury-prone veterans Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis come back.
The draft is the easiest way to add cheap talent, and through three years, Dunleavy has an excellent track record considering where he has been picking.
With the No. 19 pick in 2023, the Warriors brought in Brandin Podziemski. For as divisive as he can be among the Golden State fanbase, the combo guard has been a consistent contributor since the beginning of his career and is expected to sign a lucrative extension this summer.
In the second round, Dunleavy added Trayce Jackson-Davis, who started 54 games in two-and-a-half seasons with Golden State before being traded to Toronto.
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With their second-round pick in 2024, the Warriors chose center Quinten Post, another big man who has started 49 games in two seasons in the Bay Area. Post is now a restricted free agent. Last year, the Warriors hit on Will Richard with the No. 56 pick, getting a shooting guard who played 69 games for Steve Kerr as a rookie.
His only real miss was Richard’s fellow second-round pick Alex Toohey, who did not make the team after injuring his knee.
After spending the past two years exclusively in the second round, Dunleavy will use his highest pick since Podziemski.
“Frankly, I know we’d love to be in the playoffs, and because of that, we would be drafting 15,” Dunleavy said, “but I feel a whole lot better drafting 11 today than it would be if it was 15.”
There have been recent reports that the Warriors are interested in trading down in the draft in hopes of acquiring another first-rounder.
Dunleavy did not rule out moving in either direction, but did note that with the new draft lottery rules essentially flattening the odds, getting other teams to trade future first-round draft picks could be more difficult after this year.
“I think there will be a tremendous amount of activity in terms of calling, reaching out and seeing if things are available,” Dunleavy said. “I do think that because of the strength of the draft, teams are valuing the picks even more than they ever have.”
Whoever the Warriors choose, assuming they do not package the pick for a veteran, will be expected to play a substantial role in the rotation on Day 1.
“That guy has to play,” coach Steve Kerr said a few weeks ago. “He’s got to earn it, but we’re committed to absolutely, you know, the development of our young players and trying to do this thing in a way that allows for, you know, success down the road.”
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