"Baron’s gone to Clips! We’re fuct. Same old Warriors." (A text I received last week from my buddy)
Because of their franchise's incompetent history, Warriors fans all over were sending similar texts to each other, when Davis, the catalyst for their turnaround, bolted the Bay for L.A. and a five-year, $65 million deal.
While losing an All-Star point guard—he was an All-Star last year, nobody can convince me otherwise—coming off the best year of his career hurts, the Warriors have many options to retool.
Mention the word rebuild to a die-hard W’s fan and you will likely be subject to an expletive-laced tirade aimed at owner Chris Cohan and GMs of the past and present (Mullin, St. Jean, etc.).
Throughout the '90s and 2000s, the Warriors were perpetually rebuilding. Whether it was smart drafting (Todd Fuller over Kobe, Mike Dunleavy over Amaré, Adonal Foyle over T-Mac), shrewd free agent signings (Derek Fisher: six years, $37 million), or frugal extensions for their existing players (Troy Murphy: five years, $58 million; Adonal Foyle: five years, $41.6 million), the Warriors’ front office found ways to stay in mid-lottery purgatory.
Excuse me, after writing that, I spent seven minutes fighting the urge to stab myself in the eyes with freshly sharpened pencils. Everything changed on February 24, 2005. On the day that brought Baron to Oakland in exchange for Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis (and a season crappy enough to bring the Hornets Chris Paul), the Warriors' fortunes seemed to change.
That trade, along with moves for Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington, seemed to finally put the “build” back in rebuild.
With or without Davis, the Warriors have a strong young core of players to build around—Monta Ellis (age 22), Andris Biendris (22), and Brandan Wright (20). They must focus on this young trio, and add players that are going to be entering their primes around the same time.
Warriors fans and pundits have clamored for names like Brand and Iguodala—but there is one guy from the city of snap who would be the best fit for the new-look Dubs.
3 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Khalid Shakran about 1 year ago
Everybody in the NBA would love to have J-Smith, but the problem is that, the Hawks can match any offer any team puts on the table. The point about Monta being a point guard. I don't think it'll ever happened, unless tremendous amount of time and effort is put into it. See, point guards have their own look, starting from COLLEGE, which the "Mississippi Bullet" did not attend. Point guards usually come into the league with the feel for playing the position, or THEY DON’T and never do and Ellis has, through three seasons, mostly shown the DON’T side of it. For example, Ellis has averaged 3.4 assists and 2.2 turnovers in his career and got it to 3.9/2.1 last year. A.I, Agent 0, Jason Terry all passed that 5.0 assist mark in their second or third seasons, which Monta hasn't done. I'm not saying he cant, it definitely occur, but it's going to take a crap load of time.
But see, people are making assumptions a lot, and it is perfectly fine. We haven't seen our draft prospects in play yet. Maybe we don't really need a power forward after all. Hendrix might be a solid "boozer" like player.
Al-Harrington is going to be traded. If Mully is smart, I would trade: Al, Air France, and Barnes for a star player. I don't care who it is, just a player who can, according to Mully "be a difference maker."
Like you said, it's been "rebuilding" forever for the Warriors. And I don't want to walk in Oracle Arena again and see them getting whipped on a nightly basis.
Solid article though. Nice Job.
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Aron Glatzer about 1 year ago
I also don't believe Monta has the instincts necessary to be a point guard. With Baron out in that crucial late-season game against Denver, Monta was a turnover machine, constantly getting caught in the air before forcing a bad pass. He is a flat-out scorer, not a point guard. I'm not sure they need Josh Smith, although I do like the youth factor. I say lock up Monta, Biedrins and Azubuike (to a lesser extent) and stay the course and let these youngsters develop, setting up a potentially scary team in three years. A front line of Randolph, Wright and Biedrins in their mid-20s could be lethal if handled correctly.
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Thomas Brown 11 months ago
barons a choker
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