The audio is below via our man on the spot, Stephen Brotherston, but my quote of the day comes from Ujiri thinking about taking the second round picks seriously:
They are valuable, depending on roster spots, trades, who is available, to move up, they are very valuable to us and I think this year we are taking them very serious.
The other has to be him conceding that the draft is a bit overhyped and that he’ll take the best player available:
“We have needs on the team, but at some point you go best player available,” Ujiri said. “Especially in this kind of a draft maybe because it’s a little overrated from the beginning when we first started talking about it until now, but it’s pretty good, there is talent. Maybe the two-guard position there is a couple of younger guys there that are pretty good.”
I’ll say this: I’ve covered this team for a long enough time to know that every single interview given from now till draft day means nothing. Don’t try to read too much into any of the quotes, nor any of the interviews. Ujiri calling the draft overrated could simply be him posturing for a move to trade-up, or maybe he does think the lot is hyped a bit too much. Nobody gives out any hints or real info in these interviews, and if they did, they’re probably be very poor at their job since this entire period is about keeping your cards close to your chest and making sure other teams over-value your picks etc…so..yeah..
And second-round picks are important, in fact, the exchange rate for a second-round pick compared to a first-rounder now stands at 3-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
