War of the Words

Draft Express is reporting that the Warriors will take Hakim Warrick with the #9 pick in the 1st round. Warrick is in 3rd place for the current Golden State Warriors BLOG Poll "Who should the Warriors draft with the #9 pick?"

This comes as a big surprise to us as well, but there is some strong evidence that Hakim Warrick could end up being picked #9 by the Golden State Warriors. First of all is the obvious fact that Warrick himself is telling anyone who is willing to listen that he is going to be picked 9th. Further fueling these rumors is the fact that he pulled out of a scheduled workout yesterday with the New Jersey Nets, where he was supposed to go up against Ike Diogu. Also participating were Kelenna Azubuike and Ricky Shields. Shields is a guy who has been shooting lights out in basically every workout he’s been to and has seen his stock rise accordingly in recent weeks while other players have fallen. The Nets had to bring in Juan Mendez at the last minute to replace Warrick by the way.

Just to give you some context, keep in mind who his agent is. Warrick is represented by Bill Duffy, who not only is based in the Bay Area, but also orchestrated a promise last year to bring his client Andris Biedrins to the Warriors. It’s going to be at least a week before we can really talk about anything substantial when it comes to promises, but this is something that is clearly out there, has some legs to it, and is not just coming from one source either.