The 2023 NBA Draft did not go the way Warriors rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis initially had hoped, but it's safe to say it all worked out in the end.
Golden State selected the Indiana product with the No. 57 overall pick in the second round of last year's draft, a selection that is proving to be a steal by first-year Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy.
Jackson-Davis joined 95.7 The Game's "Willard & Dibs" on Friday, where he was asked about his draft night experience and how he landed with the Warriors.
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"The night, it was a little crazy, it was a little shocking," Jackson-Davis said. "So my main agent, James Dunleavy, is obviously Mike's brother, our GM. I guess they were talking behind the scenes but they didn't want to tell me anything, because James wanted me to go to Golden State because he thought that was the best fit, but there was three or four other teams that were looking to get me between [picks] 20 and 40.
"But James said they didn't want it to be on a two-way, so they said if you offer him a main roster spot then we'll come. The Warriors were the only team that said 'We'll offer you that.' "
After being passed up by numerous teams who expressed serious interest in him during the draft process, Jackson-Davis grew frustrated and posted an ominous message on X, formerly known as Twitter, that since has gone viral after the rookie's success with the Warriors.
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"By pick 35-ish [the Warriors] were trying to get another pick. I didn't know this at the time, so I was upset, just watching the draft and watching all these dudes go before me," Jackson-Davis explained. "By pick 50 I'm like, 'OK, I'm upset. I'm tweeting this out.' I'm like, 'all right.' Then pick 57 comes and they finally got one, and then everything squared away. Then they told me afterwards they were trying to get a pick from pick 35, I said, 'Well, if I would have known that, I probably wouldn't have tweeted that out.' But it is what it is."
The post, as Jackson-Davis explained, was not directed at one team in particular, but rather at the handful of teams that passed on him after expressing their desire to pursue him.
"Because Indiana is my hometown, a lot of people thought it was directed towards the Pacers, but it wasn't necessarily directed toward the Pacers," Jackson-Davis added. "There was four or five teams that I worked out for that had said they really liked me between pick 20 and 40, so it was really directed toward them. But at the end of the day, it is what it is, I was going to play with a chip on my shoulder regardless. I think the tweet has aged pretty well so far."
Fortunately for Jackson-Davis, it all worked out in the end. And that's putting it lightly.
The 24-year-old, along with fellow Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski, has been one of the best rookies this season and plays an important role in coach Steve Kerr's rotations -- so much so that Kerr is making a concerted effort to ramp up Jackson-Davis' minutes to prepare him for a prominent role off the bench in the playoffs.