Projected as a lottery pick as a freshman teammate of Blake Griffin at Oklahoma in 2008-09, Willie Warren saw his fortunes turn this season after Griffin’s departure, an ankle injury and some attitudinal issues with head coach Jeff Capel. The Clippers capitalized on Warren’s free-fall by plucking him with the 54th overall pick. Warren is an undersized 2 who can break down defenders off the dribble and has a nice stroke from long range — though his accuracy fell off the table during his sophomore season in Norman. He turns the ball over a ton and can’t really defend either guard position.
Here’s Jonathan Givony of Draft Express boiling things down:
Warren seems like a high caliber offensive weapon who could win games for his team when his shot was falling, but there’s much more to the story. Despite his outstanding shooting in pick and roll situations and prolific one-on-one ability, he turned the ball over on nearly one-third of his possessions running the two-man game and on a quarter of his isolation touches. He was also the worst spot up player in terms of PPP (0.72). Warren clearly has some outstanding natural offensive tools, but his decision-making leaves a lot to be desired, that became much more apparent this season in the absence of Blake Griffin than it was last year.
For a more visual sampling of Warren, you can watch this:
Happy to have Aminu, @EBled24 and my boy Willie Warren as new teammates. Can’t wait for next season!!!!
