Overview
- ESPN’s Jeremy Woo projects Golden State to take 19-year-old Karim Lopez at No. 11 after a 37–45 season left the team with the 11th-best lottery odds.
- Lopez is a 6-foot-9 Mexican forward who spent two seasons with the New Zealand Breakers in Australia’s NBL, averaging 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds last year and logging minutes with Mexico’s senior team in 2024 Olympic qualifying.
- Woo labels Lopez the top overseas-based prospect in a thinner international class and notes that strong shooting and athletic testing in workouts could push him into the top 10.
- An alternate Bleacher Report mock has the Warriors winning the lottery and selecting BYU star AJ Dybantsa at No. 1, a scenario that aligns with their roughly 2% chance to land the top pick when the lottery is held on May 10.
- Key dates now drive the picture with team workouts, the early-entry withdrawal deadline on May 27, and the first round of the draft on June 24 in Brooklyn, as Golden State weighs wing help around 38-year-old Stephen Curry and uncertainty around Steve Kerr’s future.