The rumor on draft night was that it would take Curry to make a trade for Stoudemire work, but it later appeared that wasn't going to happen. The rumored deal -- which supposedly would send Curry, Andris Biedrins, Brandan Wright and Marco Belinelli to Phoenix for Stoudemire -- cannot, by league rule, happen until the league reopens for business in the second week of July.

The Warriors have been looking for a talented big man like Stoudemire pretty much since Chris Webber bolted 15 years ago. In fact, they were so desperate in recent years, they even reacquired Webber for an aborted comeback attempt.

Stoudemire has two years remaining on his contract but can opt out of the deal next summer. So acquiring one of the league's supreme talents would almost assuredly require getting him to agree to an extension, one that probably would cost the Warriors $61 million for three years on top of the $34 million he's owed for the next two seasons.

Golden State entered the draft with three primary needs: 1) A superstar talent; 2) A low-post force at both ends of the court; and 3) A pass-first point guard.

The first option wasn't available at No. 7, so their decision came down to Arizona power forward Jordan Hill, an emerging talent but no sure thing, and Curry, an incredibly gifted shooter who demonstrated a point guard's mentality last season.

They opted for Curry, with visions of throwing him into the little-man mix with Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Kelenna Azubuike and Anthony Morrow in a Don Nelson-preferred, fast-paced attack.

"He's a guy who's going to fit in quite nicely the style we play here," Warriors general manager Larry Riley gushed shortly after the pick.