From 1975 to the early 2010s, misery kept piling on and on for the Golden State Warriors franchise. They traded away future Hall of Famers for scraps, gave a high-potential rookie a shocking contract that allowed him to enter free agency after just one season, and failed to capitalize on whatever momentum they had been building. But through the years, the Warriors have had some incredible hits in the NBA Draft, with some of their most recent high-level draft selections allowing them to restore the franchise to its former glory.

With that said, here are the 10 best draft picks the Warriors have made in its extensive history.

(For the purpose of this list, only the players' impact in a Warriors uniform will be taken into account. So the Warriors may have drafted the likes of Robert Parish, Vince Carter, and Penny Hardaway, but they won't be considered for inclusion on this list.)

10. Mitch Richmond

The Warriors, with the idea of bolstering the team on the boards in mind, traded away Mitch Richmond, a crucial member of the Run TMC trio, in 1991, just three seasons into the Hall of Fame shooting guard's career.

Richmond was immediate impact personified for the Warriors, as he averaged upwards of 22 points per game in all three seasons he played for the franchise. It's too bad that the Warriors pulled the plug on Run TMC before it even had a chance to truly take off.

9. Tim Hardaway

The Warriors drafted the man with the killer crossover with the 14th pick of the 1989 NBA Draft — an outstanding pick, since Tim Hardaway was arguably the second-best player taken during the draft (trailing only Shawn Kemp).

He was part of the iconic Run TMC Warriors trio of the early 1990s, a sight for thrill-seekers given their carefree nature on the court. Hardaway was an incredible floor general for the team, a perennial 20-10 threat until the team dealt him away in an ill-fated trade to the Miami Heat.

8. Chris Mullin

The final member of the iconic Run TMC Warriors trio to appear on this list, Chris Mullin was drafted by the Dubs first in 1985 with the seventh overall pick. It didn't take Mullin long to get going in his career, as by his third season, he had become one of the most dangerous perimeter scorers in the NBA.

Mullin had troubles lifting the Warriors to the playoffs on his own, but when Mitch Richmond, and later on, Tim Hardaway came on to give him some help, they were in business. With Don Nelson at the helm, the Warriors played at a frenetic pace, and as a result, the iconic trio flourished, with Mullin leading the way during the 1990-91 season with an average of 25.1 points per night.

It's easy to imagine Chris Mullin finding success in this era of basketball, as he was a lethal marksman from the perimeter who would have done immense damage from three had the league focused on that part of the game back then. Even then, he still had a career he should be proud of. In 13 seasons with the team, Mullin tallied 16,235 points on an efficient 51.3 percent shooting from the field.

7. Nate Thurmond

It's quite a shame that Nate Thurmond didn't get much of an opportunity to play alongside Wilt Chamberlain, as the two would have formed an unstoppable interior duo for the Warriors in the early 1960s. Alas, Chamberlain departed the Warriors during Thurmond's second season with the team. This may have not been helpful for the team, but it allowed Thurmond to blossom into one of the more underrated big men of his time.

Thurmond was one of the best rim protectors in the 1960s, and his presence helped keep the Warriors afloat. In 1967, Thurmond, along with Rick Barry, even led the Warriors to a clash against Chamberlain in the NBA Finals, which they lost.

In 11 seasons as a Warrior, Nate Thurmond tallied 14,437 points and 14,464 rebounds to go along with many blocks that the NBA failed to record prior to the 1973-74 season.

6. Klay Thompson

It seems downright blasphemous to see Klay Thompson, the player the Warriors selected with the 11th overall pick in 2011, outside of the top five. But that only speaks volumes about the quality of the players above him on this list and isn't meant to detract from what has been an incredible career for Thompson to this point.

Thompson formed one half of the most iconic backcourt in NBA history, the Splash Brothers, owing to his and Stephen Curry's insane ability to make threes. In many ways, Thompson was the perfect backcourt partner for Curry. He was a tall wing who didn't need much of the ball as he wasn't particularly adept at creating for himself unlike Steph, and he was a marvelous on-ball defender who allowed the Warriors to hide their star point guard on that end of the floor.

Klay Thompson has had tons of memorable moments in a Warriors uniform. Scoring 37 points in one quarter. Exploding for 60 points while needing just 11 dribbles to do so. His insane scoring binge in Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals to save the Dubs from elimination. Thompson will forever be synonymous to a Warriors uniform, and his number 11 jersey will soon find its way on the Chase Center rafters.

5. Paul Arizin

It's not always an easy task to evaluate players who played in the NBA during the 1950s. One will find it difficult to argue that players such as Paul Arizin are better than those who came along much later in life. But the fair thing to do is compare them to their peers, and for that, Arizin stands out as one of the best of his time.

Drafted third overall by the Warriors in 1950, Arizin immediately became a star for the franchise. He averaged 20 points or more for the franchise in all but one season — his rookie campaign — and his consistency became the lynchpin for the team's success during that time.

In 1956, Paul Arizin was the best player on a Warriors team that won the championship — a huge deal when it comes to measuring up all-time greats with other elite players. But again, Arizin's era works against his favor. During his time, there were only eight teams in the NBA. He was a big fish, make no mistake about it, as he notched 10 All-Star selections and retired with 16,266 points to his name. But he was a big fish in the small pond that was the NBA in the 1950s.

4. Draymond Green

Draymond Green does not have the raw numbers or sheer amount of accolades that Paul Arizin had, and he isn't nearly as capable of Klay Thompson when it comes to putting up explosive scoring nights. But Green lands at the number four spot nonetheless due to how invaluable he has been for the Warriors' four championship-winning teams over the past decade — an unbelievable return for someone the Dubs selected with the 35th overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft.

Calling Green a draft steal would be the understatement of the decade. The 6'6 forward, after emerging as a starter for the Warriors in 2014 and never looking back in the aftermath of David Lee's injury, has firmly established himself as one of the greatest defenders of his generation, and arguably one of the top five most impactful defenders in NBA history. His combination of defensive instincts, low center of gravity, foot speed, quick hands, and preternatural smarts makes him such a defensive force — the perfect complement to the more offensively-inclined games of his co-stars.

Moreover, Draymond Green, despite not being the best scorer ever, is a plus on offense thanks to his elite playmaking ability while running dribble handoffs and low-post split actions. The Warriors could not have drafted a more ideal player to pair with Stephen Curry in Green, with the fiery forward being the yin to Curry's yang — with all due respect to Klay Thompson.

3. Rick Barry

These days, many people know Rick Barry by his unorthodox shooting mechanics from the free-throw line — the “granny” shot, as many call it. But during his heyday, Barry was one of the best small forwards of his time. He had excellent ball skills for a guy of his size, and on the perimeter, he was as deadly of a scoring threat as there was. He was also a menace defensively, unafraid to get into the face of his opponents, while bringing an incredible swagger that helped him win the mental game over the opposition.

Barry's Warriors stint, however, didn't come without its fair share of adversity. The 6'7 small forward wasn't exactly the most affable, so he had a tendency to butt heads with the powers that be. And in 1967, it all came to a head when Barry, despite coming off a season in which he averaged 35.6 points per game, decided to leave the Warriors after clashing with his coaches and growing frustrated with his low salary.

Rick Barry would return to the NBA in 1972, not missing too much of a beat as he eventually led the Warriors to a championship in 1975 — the third in franchise history. They had a golden opportunity to repeat in 1976, but Barry couldn't get out of his own way. He has denied these allegations, but at the moment, it seemed like he refused to shoot in Game 7 of the 1976 Western Conference Finals against the Phoenix Suns after his teammates failed to come to his aid during a first-half fight.

His stint with the Warriors was definitely an eventful one, but it had more high points than low points. And at the end of the day, Barry was the best player on a Warriors team that won the championship, which has to count for a lot in the grand scheme of this list.

2. Wilt Chamberlain

Picked third in the 1959 NBA Draft as the Warriors' territorial pick, Wilt Chamberlain was a game-changing presence for the franchise from the get-go. After one season touring the world with the Harlem Globetrotters, it was clear that talent coursed through Chamberlain's veins, and immediately, he became one of the most dominant monsters the league has ever seen.

For his time, Chamberlain's athletic abilities were off the charts and borderline alien, as he would tower over everybody not just with his height but also with his hops. He could do whatever he set his mind towards, and as a result, he stuffed the stat sheet unlike any other NBA player in history.

In just his third season, as a 25-year old, no less, Wilt Chamberlain put up one of the most unbelievable seasons one will ever see in NBA history. He averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds while averaging 48.5 minutes a night; at this point, it remains unclear which among those statistics is the most perplexing.

The only blemish on Chamberlain's record as a Warrior was that he was unable to lead the franchise to a championship, falling short to Bill Russell's Boston Celtics multiple times during his stay in the Bay. His statistical accumulation skills may be unparalleled, but when it mattered during his stint with the Warriors, he was unable to lead the team to glory — unlike the number one guy on this list.

1. Stephen Curry

In terms of raw numbers, Stephen Curry may never have his fellow Warriors legend Wilt Chamberlain beat. Chamberlain was simply a master in accumulating stats, and Curry, for better or for worse, has missed a ton of games all throughout his Hall of Fame career. Curry battled through a ton of ankle problems during his first few years in the league, he missed basically the entire 2019-20 season due to a hand injury, and he has missed a considerable amount of time over the past two seasons.

Nevertheless, Curry still stands out as the greatest draft pick the Warriors ever made, and it's not particularly close. It's not too much of a stretch to say that the stars had to align for the Dubs to acquire the greatest shooter of all time via the draft, as the Minnesota Timberwolves passed on him twice, and now, the Warriors franchise has exploded into the limelight, never to look back.

Thanks to Stephen Curry's game-breaking gravity, exceptional unselfishness as seen in his relentlessness when moving off the ball, and exceptional consistency, the Warriors won four championships since 2015. For as long as Curry is on the roster and healthy, the Warriors have a fighting chance every single night and an opportunity to win the championship every single season.

We haven't even gone into just how much Curry has changed how teams weaponized the three-point shot, and how the Warriors star instilled in every young guard the audacity to throw bombs from long distance. Simply put, Curry is the very definition of a legend, of a player worthy of the top spot on this list and perhaps even a place in the top-10 greatest players of all time.