With the No. 28 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, the Warriors selected Jordan Poole from Michigan.
Golden State brought him to Oakland for two pre-draft workouts -- Poole's first and last of the draft evaluation process.
The 20-year-old recently sat down with Anthony Slater of The Athletic and revealed an interesting anecdote:
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The Athletic: Did you get a sense you were very much on their radar?
Poole: Going into my first workout, I knew that they really, really liked me. They were asking one of my coaches a lot of questions about me. Then when they brought me back for a second workout, that’s when I really knew they were extremely interested. It was just a matter if I could show them whether I could guard in that second workout.
The Athletic: What’d they make you do?
Poole: We did regular three-on-three and stuff, but they just made an emphasis on guarding. They let me know, right before the workout, ‘We know you can score, we know you’re offensively gifted. Let’s see if you can compete defensively.’
Golden State Warriors
A couple days after the draft, Warriors assistant GM Larry Harris said the following about Poole during a radio appearance on KNBR 680:
"Offensively, we think he's far ahead of where he is defensively. His athleticism and his quickness and his IQ allows him to be a better defender than what we saw in college.
"He's aware of that, but I wouldn't say it's something he can't do or he's against it or he's allergic to it."
On June 26, Tim Kawakami of The Athletic asked Steve Kerr on a podcast: "Did the scouts tell you, 'Hey, Jordan Poole -- he can shoot but there might be a defensive question mark.' Is that the general scouting report on him?"
Kerr's response: "I think that's fair to say. There's no doubt about his shooting ability and we needed that desperately. Defensively, you put him out there and you see what he's got and then you start working with him and try to get guys better and better."
During six Summer League games, Poole didn't do anything that made you say to yourself: "That guy can't defend." Obviously, things will get exponentially more difficult when the regular season arrives, and there will be plenty of growing pains on that end of the floor.
[RELATED: Outsiders Film Room: How Dubs first-rounder Poole can help]
As for his offense -- the Milwaukee native struggled shooting the ball his first two contests in Sacramento and the opener in Las Vegas. But over his final three appearances, Poole averaged 18.7 points and shot 44 percent overall.
Dubs fans are going to enjoy watching this guy for years to come.