Golden State was afraid that another team was going to trade up and pick Antawn Jamison, the guy the Warriors wanted. To keep that from happening, the Warriors made a deal with Toronto, getting the Raptors to draft Jamison for them while the Warriors picked Carter, the guy that the Raptors wanted. So, the Warriors never really had a shot at Carter. If they hadn't made the deal, Toronto would have drafted him before Golden State had a chance, anyway. It is true that the Warriors had Jamison ranked ahead of Carter on their board, which is not exactly something to be proud of, but so did a lot of teams.
Nobody has a crystal ball.
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