Warriors Woes

Only 2 years removed from the "We Believe" campaign, no team has drifted further from a title than the Golden State Warriors.  Sure, Nellie-ball has revitalized excitement in basketball, it's fun to watch.  They had one successful playoff run, ousting the top seeded Dallas Mavericks from the first round of the playoffs, then were again only a couple of games shy of clinching that much desired 8th spot in the Western Conference playoffs again last season.  It sounds kind of like the low-budget production of what happened with Dallas a couple years ago, losing the Miami in the finals, the losing in the playoffs (to Golden State), then losing in the playoffs again (to New Orleans).  

Yet all of us still are kind of rooting for them inside.  However ingenious Don Nelson is though as a head coach, you have to admit, the roster kind of, well, maybe more than kind of, is bad.  If I were Don Nelson I'd have a hard time deciding if I wanted to start CJ Watson or Brandan Wright next to Jamal Crawford, Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, and Andris Biedrins.  It all kind of went downhill when Baron Davis opted for more years and more money with the Clippers down in Los Angeles, and the Warriors didn't match, because that's understandable, Baron Davis isn't renown to be healthy, and asking for a 5-6 year contract isn't  really what we're all looking for.  Of course, then the front office goes and extends Stephen Jackson for 5 years for like $35 million.  Then, Monta Ellis, the future of the franchise, who just signed a $11 million peryear contract (I think like 6 years) goes celebrating on a moped and wrecking his ankle.  Warriors are definitely still crossing their fingers about him coming back.  Things are just not looking pretty for the Warriors thusfar this season.

Honestly, there isn't a whole lot you can do with this roster, it just looks ugly.  Additionally, you don't have a lot of cap flexibilty to work around it.  Corey Maggette was the result of a quick reaction to Baron Davis leaving, taking $50 million over 5 years...  Maggette, definitely is not a player worth that kind of money.  Lemme give you an idea of who you can get for that kind of money.  Let's say Maggette is worth about $10 million per year right now (I think the actual number is like $9.6 million with bonuses or something), and we understand that the Warriors just lost Baron Davis, Matt Barnes, and Mickael Pietrus in free agency (to the Clippers, Suns, and Magic respectively).  These guys I'm comparing aren't free agents, but I use this as an illustration of how Maggette isn't worth the money.  So let's first compare swingmen, those in the SG/SF ilk.  Caron Butler makes an average of $9.78 million over the next 3 years, Gerald Wallace an average $9.47 over the next 4 with an $11 million player option in the 5th, Ron Artest is an $8.45 million expiring contract, Josh Howard makes $10.4 million per over the next 2 years with an $11 million team option in the 3rd.  These are all guys that right now, salary-wise, you could trade Maggette for straight up.  All players that I'd rather have on my team.  Sure Maggette can score and get to the foul line, but that's it, he's like a poor man's Paul Pierce.  Granted, Paul Pierce is making max contract, but still, there is better to be had for the same price.  The Maggette move, right now, looks less like lateral movement to make up for Baron and more a step backwards.  It's money poorly spent.  Even worse, it leaves the Warriors in no position for the free agency in the coming years, 2009 to include names like Allen Iverson, Shawn Marion, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, and likely Carlos Boozer and Hedo Turkoglu, and of course the 2010 fiesta with names like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and Amare Stoudemire just to name a few.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, Jamal Crawford, Stephen Jackson, and Corey Maggette don't coexist very well on the floor.  They're all volume shooters, and chuck threes with regularity, and not a great amount of consistency.  Better than say Ricky Davis but that's not  really saying much.  They'll score in bunches, but they don't really add up to a whole lot.  If you look at the contracts, Jackson and Maggette go out to 2013 and Crawford to 2011, they've just signed Biedrins and Ellis on major contracts with player options out in 2014.  They've locked themselves with this lineup for a while.  Unless they can get rid of it.  Maggette becomes tradeable in a couple of days, but because of what the Warriors threw at him in a knee-jerk reaction to Baron Davis and being spurned by Gilbert Arenas and Elton Brand, there aren't a lot of people that would want him.  Maggette needs to end up on a team that doesn't mind having a black hole on the court, and honestly, there aren't a lot of them out there.  Jackson's contract is somewhat reasonable, averaging out to about $8.6 million per year, but then you consider that you have to hold him until he's 35, then that gets a little out of hand, or rather, undesireable. 

To be honest, I really don't think that Maggette can be had for fair value in return.  There really isn't much of any solution to be had, and I know people already calling for Blake Griffin or Ricky Rubio via ping-pong balls.  However, given the Warriors' luck in drafting (Joe Smith, Todd Fuller, Ike Diogu, etc...) there might be some doubts about that front office will take those talents.  However, if the Warriors want to build for the future, I don't think they can afford to keep Maggette and Jackson in the picture. 

This is where my trade mongering comes in...  The best that the Warriors can really hope for in return is expiring contracts and maybe some depth, and they have to trade to a team that's hurting and looking to get better on the fly.  One possibility is Maggette for some package like Jason Collins, Kevin Ollie, and Calvin Booth (all expiring contracts).  So why would Minnesota do something like this?  Well, for one, they desperately need scoring on the wings, while Corey Brewer is improving, he's now out for the season with a knee injury, and he wasn't the scoring answer they're looking for, Randy Foye hasn't really panned out either.  Maggette is the kind of scorer that can play next to Mike Miller and Al Jefferson, and just has to worry about scoring.  Of course, Jefferson isn't a great passer, but if they develop Love, who is a good passer, then it's a maybe.  Another possibility would be Stephen Jackson for Chris Wilcox.  Knowing Sam Presti, Oklahoma City will likely ask for draft picks in return, but, this does give Golden State a solid rebounder to start at the 4 next to Biedrins while developing Randolph and Wright at the SF slot until the add more weight.   Additionally, it gives more burn to the new guys, DeMarcus Nelson and Anthony Morrow as well as the other players that we'd like to see more of, like Kelenna Azubuike and Marco Belinelli.   Wilcox expires end of this season, and the Warriors now have more cap room to work with.  For OKC it's a matter of what the need is.  With Kevin Durant at the SF slot now, their SG has become really weak.  Unless Scott Brooks decides to play Westbrook at the SG slot (which he hasn't) he's left with starting Damien Wilkins.  Jackson at the very least bolsters their wing spot as well as gives a little veteran leadership.  Hopefully he doesn't go getting into trouble like in Indiana.  But that's my call, and how the Warriors can be fixed.  It's obvious that the Warriors won't win anything this season, unlike other teams they're not much better than the 6-15 record they hold.  So develop the young guys I say.