SAN FRANCISCO – [Larry Harris](https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/05/20/warriors-needed-some-luck-to-nab-draymond-green/) still hasn’t decided which lucky trinkets he will bring to Chicago as [the Warriors’](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/05/05/kurtenbach-stay-together-for-the-goat-a-steve-kerr-warriors-breakup-would-be-a-massive-mistake/) representative during Sunday’s NBA Draft Lottery.
Regardless of the keepsakes Harris decides to take with him to the Midwest, the Warriors’ assistant general manager is guaranteed to bring a history of being the subject of good fortune.
“To be honest with you, when they called me and told me, I felt honored,” Harris said during a conference call on Friday. “You know, there’s a lot of pressure to get the No. 1 pick.”
The draft order will be revealed at noon.
The Warriors have just a 9.4% chance of earning a top-four pick, 77.6% odds of remaining at No. 11, and a 13% shot at falling below that. This year’s crop of talent is expected to be special, with AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson headlining the ballyhooed group.
Harris will try to channel some of the lottery luck he experienced back in 2005 as the general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks. He took a fishing lure, a wooden rooster and a purple and white bracelet to the proceedings in New York City.
Milwaukee had only a 6.3% chance — the sixth-best odds — of getting the top pick in that year’s draft.
“What I do remember is sitting up there at six … and when it came to where we were and they flipped over the card and it didn’t say ‘Milwaukee Bucks,’ I was like ‘Oh my God, we’ve got a chance,’ ” Harris said. “When it got to three, I was like, three is good enough. But once it got to three, I got greedy, like we have to go all the way. We can’t be two, and we ended up getting one.”
The Bucks used that selection to take center Andrew Bogut, who would make an All-Star team in 2010, but is perhaps best known for his days as a Warrior.
“I got a lot of advice on who we should take for a long time, and certainly took it all in, and it was a great process and we ended up with the player we really wanted,” Harris remembered.
Bogut was famously traded to the Bay Area for Monta Ellis in 2012, signaling Golden State’s desire to build around Steph Curry. By that time, Harris was a member of the Warriors organization.
Bogut was a part of the 2015 title team, and his injury during Game 5 of the 2016 Finals was a significant reason the Warriors did not repeat.
Now, Harris and the front office has a chance to add a major talent, or trade chip, to the roster.
“It would be great to have the No. 1 pick, two, three or four,” Harris said. “But if we stay at 11 or stay in that range … I will say this, we feel really good in the early stages of our draft prep for one through 15, 16, 17.”
After going 37-45 this season, the Warriors have their first lottery pick since 2021, when they picked both Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.
Harris has been to around 90 college games this season, and estimated that the entire scouting department has been to at least 1,000 total games in preparation of this moment.
This is not including team owner Joe Lacob, who attended the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 men’s NCAA tournament games in San Jose, and has been known to give input on picks.
“If I were to tell you that Joe likes the draft, that would be the understatement of the year,” Harris said. “He loves the Warriors and he loves the draft.”
Harris was sure to emphasize that any selection, regardless of where the Warriors end up, will be ultimately up to general manager Mike Dunleavy on June 23 when the first round takes place.
Excluding a trade for a high draft pick some day, Harris hopes he won’t be back as a team representative at the lottery for a while.
“Hopefully we’re dipping our toes in, and we get back out and get back in the playoffs,” Harris said.