5 Best Second-Round Draft Picks in Warriors History

Draymond Green is one of the best players in Golden State Warriors history, but no one knew it was coming when he was drafted.

The Warriors took him with the 35th pick in 2012 to little fanfare.

All he's done since is make nine All-Defensive teams and win four titles and a Defensive Player of the Year award.

But he's not the only great second-round pick in Warriors history.

Let's rank the top five, mostly based on their career accolades, even if most of them came on another team.

5. Monta Ellis (No. 40 Pick in 2005)

Ellis never got an All-Star nod or an MVP vote, which is the reason he ranked fifth. But if you have an issue with him being this low, I get it.

Ellis averaged 19.6 points per game over 6.5 seasons in Golden State. In his best season, he averaged 25.5 points per game.

Ultimately, the Warriors made the right decision trading Ellis for Andrew Bogut, as Ellis' issues on defense and shooting threes made him a questionable fit with Stephen Curry. But Ellis was a great scorer and underrated passer who deserves credit for his contributions to the Warriors franchise.

4. Phil Smith (No. 29 Pick in 1974)

Smith spent six seasons with the Warriors, earning two All-Star nods, one top-10 MVP finish and a championship.

He was a rookie on the 1975 title team, averaging just 6.4 points per game in the playoffs.

In next year's playoffs, he averaged 29.5 points per game in a six-game series win over the Pistons before the Warriors lost in the conference finals.

3. Gus Williams (No. 20 Pick in 1975)

Williams played just two seasons with the Warriors, and when the Dubs lost him in free agency, they couldn't have known that he was about to become a star.

In six seasons with the Sonics, Williams averaged 20.3 points with three All-Star nods and two top-10 MVP finishes.

He averaged 26.7 points per game in the '79 playoffs, leading the Sonics to an NBA championship.

2. Gilbert Arenas (No. 31 Pick in 2001)

The Warriors lost Arenas to free agency after two seasons, which led to an NBA salary cap rule change.

The Wizards signed Arenas to a six-year, $60 million contract that the Dubs legally couldn't match. The NBA eventually added a provision to make it so teams could go over the cap to keep their own second-round draft picks when they got big second-contract offers.

Arenas received three All-NBA nods, beating out both Williams (2) and Smith (1). In his best three-season stretch, he averaged 27.7 points and 5.7 assists.

1. Draymond Green (No. 35 Pick in 2012)

I mentioned some of Green's accolades on the intro, but it should also be noted he made four All-Star teams, which is more than anyone on this list.

But what made his No. 1 ranking on this list obvious was his playoff contributions.

Green's playoff net-rating rankings among Warriors from 2015 to 2019 are as follows:

2015: 1st
2016: 1st
2017: 1st
2018: 2nd
2019: 2nd

His fingerprints are all over the Warriors dynasty.

Curry, Klay Thompson and Green are three of the greatest Warriors ever as well as three of the Warriors' greatest draft picks.

Add us as a preferred source on Google