NBA insider Brett Siegel reported Friday afternoon that the Warriors tried to acquire both of the Hornets’ first-round picks in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft. Charlotte, however, was uninterested, as the Hornets hope to continue building around Kon Knueppel, LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.
Siegel also mentioned that the Warriors could be a candidate to trade down in the draft, saying, “The Warriors are said to be open to moving down in this year’s draft for the right price, and the idea of adding another pick in the late teens in addition to this 11th pick is not out of the realm of possibilities.”
Although there is plenty of talent available at No. 11, Golden State has been linked to Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz as a “dark-horse” candidate if the Warriors were to trade down. Stirtz, a four-year college point guard who played most recently with Iowa, finished second in shooting percentage (74.6%) throughout all shooting drills at the 2026 NBA Draft combine. Only Alex Karaban (74.8%) of UConn finished higher.
After earning the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Award in his lone season at Drake, Stirtz joined the Hawkeyes for his senior season. There he posted 19.8 points per game, 4.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 37 games. He worked out with Golden State as recently as Thursday.
This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: All-Big Ten selection emerging as draft day ‘dark-horse’ for Warriors
Reporting by Mack Baltes, Warriors Wire / Warriors Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mack Baltes, Warriors Wire | USA TODAY Network
