Golden State's View to the Future

Ever since Monday night, when Baron Davis suddenly upped and walked away from the $17.8 million remaining on his contract to reportedly "go home" to his beloved Los Angeles, every single Warrior fan has been frantically asking, "What do we do now?" Now, I've discussed this with several of my good NBA-loving friends, and I'd like to share some ideas, spread the wealth. I would say something about Seattle settling today to keep the name Supersonics in Seattle while letting Clay Bennet whisk Sam Presti, PJ Carlesimo, Kevin Durant, and the rest of the organization away to Oklahoma City, but there's not much for me to say there beyond, it makes me sad. I could talk about how stacked the Clippers are supposed to look, but they'd only be adding an 11th team to a race for 8 playoff spots. So let's stick with the Warriors' options.

Granted Baron walking away from $17.8 million was shock to everybody, the Warriors really didn't have any long-term plans for him. The future of the franchise belongs to Monta Ellis, and they're just going to have to start a year early. So what do the Warriors have to deal with now? Well firstly, they have their inherent problem of lacking size. They need a big that can play alongside Andris Biedrins, but also run Don Nelson's small ball with the rest of the team. While Al Harrington can do the latter, he's more of an oversized 3 than an undersized 4. He comes in and shoots treys all day and gets pounded day after day by the big interior players. Of course, the Warriors can hedge their bets and hope that Brandon Wright and/or Anthony Randolph develop into the kind of player that they need, but defensive tenacity isn't exactly something learned in the Nellie small-ball system, so it's probably easier to just bring it in. The second issue is that now the Warriors have no real point guard, they have a potentially point-forwardesque Stephen Jackson, Monta Ellis, whom anaylsts have promptly labelled a "combo guard" which to me says, he doens't have the handles to play point and is either undersized (which he is) or isn't enough of a shooter to be a 2, theoretically you can thrive like Allen Iverson, but it's not ideal, and finally they also have reserve guard CJ Watson. All in all, it's not looking very pretty for the Warriors. One report I've read, says that the team as is, would have a starting 5 of something like; Monta Ellis, Kelena Azubuike, Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, and Andris Biedrins, with Brandon Wright, Anthony Randolph, and Marco Bellinelli coming off the bench. If this were the case, the Clippers would simply replace them on the list of 10 Western Conference playoff contenders instead of adding to the list, in short, it's not particularly awe-inspiring.

Baron's going to the Clippers for a 6 year $65 million contract does guarantee one thing, the Warriors are now legitimate bidders on the free agent market. Regardless of if Bellinelli, Azubuike, and Wright are ready and able to step it up (I still think Nellie will bench Randolph for the entirety of the regular season, watch for all his minutes in the pre-season), the Warriors can afford to bring in solid players. If there are no major bidders, Warriors can also pick up some of its free agents like Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus for a quick sign-and-trade. The only splash I've heard the Warriors making thusfar are throwing a 5 year $95 million offer at Gilbert Arenas (which the Wizards matched, and while rumored at allowing a 6 year $125 million contract, the Wizards are rumored to be offering Arenas something that figures between $125 million and $127 million), and another max contract of $90 million for 5 years at the Clippers' Elton Brand. Of course, it looks a lot like Brand opted out so Davis could go to LA, but no one knows for sure, however, many Warriors fans I'm sure would view it as poetic justice if Brand decided to move north. However, I don't really anticipate these offers to pan out, so let's look at some other options both through free-agency and through trade.

Free Agents:

Josh Smith (PF, Atlanta) - So as I've read, Josh Smith is the only player in the NBA to net 225 blocks and 25 threes in one season. As far as style of play, he's definitely someone who will fit into a fast paced small-ball system well. He may disappear on defense sometimes, but he gets his boards (and his blocks), which is enough for a coach whose system has basically no defense. A lot of people are leery of his attitude, but hey, the kid's 22, he'll grow, and besides, didn't New Orleans get rid of Baron beacuse of attitude problems anyway? Reports that Ed Stefanski loves the kid and is willing to offer a 5 year $55 million contract for him, which of course Atlanta could match, Warriors can throw a considerably larger amount, and hope that the Hawks can't keep up, but who knows? I say, take the $90 million they were going to give Brand and give $60 or so to Smith, then use the other $30 million to fill other needs, like a point guard.

Emeka Okafor (PF, Charlotte) - I'm actually kind of surprised that no one has really talked about him, but of course, I didn't really think of him myself at first. There's no saying how well he'll fit into a small ball system, but I think there's defenitely potential there. He's solid defensively and pounds the boards, more than making up for the weaknesses of Biedrins in the low post. As a restricted-free, Charlotte can always match, but I think he's worth taking a look at. Charlotte really hasn't found a comfortable fit for him yet, so it's a maybe.

Elton Brand (PF, LA Clippers) - Of course Brand is second guessing his tenure with LA, I would too if someone just offered me $90 million for th next 5 years. However, I don't really see him leaving to go to Oakland, honestly I don't think the Warriors have the pieces of a system that would really attract him. Needless to say, he'd be a tremendous fit though, great for the Warriors, poetic justice for the fans.

Roger Mason (PG, Washington) - Mason showed spurts of excellence when both Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels were out with injuries. Now being a free agent, if he were to return to the Wizards he'd continue to play behind those two, he's not a big name, but for cheap, he'll do well under Nellie, and he'll fill the PG void nicely.

Jannero Pargo (PG, New Orleans) - Pargo really stepped it up as the back up to Chris Paul, showing that the Hornets didn't really need Bobby Jackson, which prompted the trade for Mike James and Bonzi Wells. Again, the rationale is similar to that of Roger Mason above. Maybe Carlos Arroyo is another option.

Sebastian Telfair (PG, Minnesota) - He fell out of favor with a tanking Boston, he fell out of favor at Minnesota to Marko Jaric, and now with Randy Foye back, he's a backup at best. Of course, if Gerald Green gets another chance, why not Telfair?

Josh Childress (SG/SF, Atlanta) - This doesn't really answer the question of a legit 4, but they can spend less money and move Monta to the point with Stephen Jackson and Josh Childress at the 2 and 3 slots. This would mean though, they're banking on Brandon Wright really stepping it up, ultimately, it's not a huge improvement, just sort of a replacement for potentially Barnes and Pietrus. He'll definitely be easier to get since Altanta will likely be spending a lot of money on Josh Smith, unless of course, someone makes an offer for Smith that Atlanta can't match.

Corey Maggette (SG/SF, LA Clippers) - With Maggette you run about a full mid-level exception ($5.5 million per year) but you run the same sort of problem that you do with Josh Childress, it doesn't make them significantly better and fill a need that they really need. If they want to tank the season, why add extra salaries? Bring in youth, someone more serviceable.

Andre Igoudala (SG/SF, Philadelphia) - There have been reports of interest, but Iggy is really the face of a franchise, I don't think he'll fit in well in Golden State at all. Other big name free agents like Luol Deng and Ben Gordon add the same kind of problem, again remember, the Warriors need primarily point guards or power forwards.

Chris Duhon (PG, Chicago) - Given the amount that the Knicks are willing to throw at him, I frankly don't think he's worth the bidding war.

Trades:

Kirk Hinrich (PG, Chicago) - This will likely cost them something like Al Harrington, of course, why the Bulls would want Al Harrington what with Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Drew Gooden, and Andres Nocioni already is beyond me. However, Hinrich is moveable, especially with the drafting of Derrick Rose. Not a bad choice if you ask me.

Mo Williams (PG, Miluakee) - There have been murmurings that Williams isn't really necessary anymore now that the Bucks traded for Richard Jefferson. If he's going out the door, then I think a lot of teams who want a dynamic point will be interested. Warriors could stand to take a good hard look.

Chris Wilcox (PF, Oklahoma City) - It really hurts me to not be writing Seattle there, but that's how it is. Chris Wilcox is kind of the hard working guy that the Warriors could really use, he's not your perennial 20-10 Carlos Boozer kind of guy, but he does the job well enough. High energy and efficient. With the Sonics looking to get younger, I don't see this necessarily as impossible. Of course, on the other hand Nick Collison could very well come out the door as well, especially with the development of Jeff Green, and I'm going to guess they'll move Kevin Durant out of the SG slot at some point in time.

Rasheed Wallace (PF, Detroit) - Honestly, the Warriors don't really have anyone to offer anymore, but it can't hurt to try. Wallace basically does the things that the Warriors need and like; he grabs boards and shots the three.

Needless to say, I don't see Ron Artest being traded to anyone in the Western Conference let alone another team in California, so, no go there.