Emerging: Legendary 2x All-Star Explains His Decision to Join the Golden State Warriors

It appears the Golden State Warriors can’t go any significant length of time without a frustrating reminder of their fateful selection at the 2020 NBA Draft.

Armed with the second overall pick after a league-worst record in 2019-20, the Warriors had an opportunity to add another significant piece to a team hoping to quickly bounce-back into championship contention.

They did achieve that, winning another title less than two years later. However, it had nothing to do with their selection in that draft, with James Wiseman turning into one of the franchise’s biggest mistakes over the last decade.

Indiana Pacers’ star Tyrese Haliburton has stated that the Golden State Warriors were his dream destination ahead of the 2020 NBA Draft

Wiseman showed promise in his rookie season, though didn’t overly help winning before a knee injury ended his campaign after 39 games. Further complications from the injury ruined his second season, and 21 games into his third season he was traded to the Detroit Pistons.

Almost any other player in the lottery would have been a better selection, but there’s one in particular that’s come to haunt the Warriors in the last couple of years. The franchise certainly liked Tyrese Haliburton, but picking the Iowa State product second overall was always going to be a stretch.

In a recent interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, Haliburton revealed that Golden State would have been his dream situation ahead of the draft where he was ultimately taken 12th by the Sacramento Kings.

“There were a lot of teams I wanted to go to. I like Golden State a lot. That was like the dream. But I knew they probably wouldn’t pick me at two. My workout with them, I probably missed like five shots. I’m giving you my best possible interview here. I was still like, they’re probably still not going to pick me.”

– Tyrese Haliburton

Haliburton has developed into one of the league’s best players since his move to the Pacers, having been selected as an All-Star in the last two years including as a starter in last week’s game in Indiana.

The 23-year-old’s admission adds further pain to Warrior fans who can now only dream of how he would be fitting with this version of the team. On the bright side, perhaps the rise of another young guard in Brandin Podziemski will lessen the agony of missing out on Haliburton.