2010 NBA Draft: Trade Ideas for Golden State's Sixth Overall Pick

Being unemployed has its benefits.

While I think the amount of drinks I owe the boys is now reaching four-digit numbers and I’m seriously considering dealing drugs to pay for fuel, it does leave you with free time when uni isn’t in session.

Like now.

And with plenty to talk about, such as the NBA Finals, rugby league’s State of Origin and the lousiness of the NSW team (which, for the record, was why NSW was a trending topic on Twitter yesterday), and the NBA Draft, I actually have a semi-constructive use for my time.

A few days ago, I posted an article right here claiming that I would trade Anthony Randolph for the fourth pick, and, by extension, DeMarcus Cousins.

Damn, was that a mistake. I got well- and truly-ripped a new one there.

That considered, I decided to ponder some other possible trades we could make for this pick which don’t involve Randolph or Steph Curry. 

I concluded that, using that logic, we would have to look at trading down.

Thankfully, as I’ve said ad nauseum, what this draft lacks in superstar-quality players it makes up for in sheer depth. You have guys who could go in the middle of the second round who have more than fair shots of being quality NBA players.

However, after the top five, the quality of the class does fall off the proverbial cliff a bit. Therefore, I came up with some trade ideas that could happen…if Warriors management had a brain cell between them.

I’ve tried to stay away from the usual Monta for Iguodala, OJ Mayo type trades here—I’m thinking outside the box. I like to do that, even if it means y’all hate on me.


Trade Idea No. 1

Warriors get Richard Jefferson and the 20th overall pick.

Spurs get Corey Maggette, Vladimir Radmanovic, and the sixth overall pick.

The Spurs have apparently demonstrated an interest in moving up the draft. Since they’re unlikely to get into the top five without giving up a major piece (i.e. Tony Parker), this may be as good a deal as either team could do.

For the Spurs, this would be a tacit acknowledgement that Father Time is beginning to catch up with Tim Duncan and that they’re starting to look to the future.

While they take on a bad contract (Maggette) for salary cap reasons, on a good team like the Spurs he could come off the bench and play an instant offensive role, which is ideally what he should be doing for a team anyway. Radmanovic is an expiring deal throw-in.

For the Warriors, Jefferson is a near-ideal player for where they're at right now. He brings veteran experience and stability to a team which could really use some, he’s the perfect complimentary player to Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis (plays decent defense, doesn’t need too many touches to be happy, and does the little things well), and he’s in a contract year so he’ll be motivated to do better.

That, for me, is the other reason to bite the bullet on this trade—Jefferson, next year, becomes a $15 million expiring contract.

By 2011, our new ownership will be in place and they’ll probably have cleaned house and put in a (hopefully competent) new set of people in the job.

Let’s assume Larry Ellison bought the team. You have a team owner with pockets as deep as the Mariana Trench, $15-20 million in cap space, good young players, coaching and FO (hopefully for the latter two) playing in a big market in front of the best fans in the NBA.

You know what I’m thinking?

Summer of ‘Melo, baby!

Even if that pipe dream doesn’t pan out, you still have a decent team.

I’m not sure who the Spurs would use the sixth pick on (a future replacement for Duncan in someone like Ed Davis, perhaps? Or maybe a guy like Al-Farouq Aminu and look to take the team in a new direction?), but the Warriors could use the 20th to plug their main remaining hole, specifically, a big man who can play in the low post at both ends but is also mobile enough to play in a transition-based offense.

Nellie or no Nellie, a team with Stephen Curry and Anthony Randolph as two of your main guys cannot win if you have them playing in the half court. Ideally, they would play a similar style to the current Celtics team—look to push the ball where possible on offense, but not to the detriment of defense.

While this may be a stretch from day one, the late-20s of this year’s draft has plenty of big man projects like Solomon Alabi, Daniel Orton, Hassan Whiteside et al who could well develop into that kind of dominant big man with the right coaching. However, that’s a whole other story.

The point is, I honestly do not see how this is a bad trade for either team. San Antonio starts planning for the future with the pick while getting a guy who can help the Duncan/Longoria/Manu nucleus to one last title in Mags, and the Warriors can look to build the team around Curry and get him the kind of help he needs to become as good as we all suspect he can be.

Trade Idea No. 2

Warriors get Jeff Green, the 26th and 32nd overall picks, and a lottery-protected 2012 first rounder.

Zombie Sonics get Brandan Wright and the sixth and 34th overall picks.

Once again, this is merely based on a couple of one-line rumours I’ve heard about the Zombie Sonics wanting to move up in the draft.

Personally, if I were Sam Presti, I wouldn’t bother.

I’d quietly take Daniel Orton with the 21st, Devin Ebanks with the 26th, and Jarvis Varando with the 32nd and voila, you’ve surrounded the best under-25 player in the league with a near-perfect supporting cast of role players, sidekicks, and guys who will be near unstoppable in a couple of years.

But that’s just me.

If Presti wants the sixth pick, it’s clear that he’s hoping to find a guy to plug the main hole the Zombie Sonics have right now—the lack of a true big man who can establish a presence in the low post at both ends of the court (notice a trend here?), and he believes there’s someone in this draft around there who can give his mob just that.

In Wright, he also gets a good young power forward who is an injury-free season off becoming a solid contributor and the answer to the Zombie Sonics PF question.

The Warriors, in the meantime, get another Jefferson-type player to compliment Curry in Green.

Green, once again, isn’t going to threaten to be a superstar of the game, but he does all the little things right. He can do everything on the court competently (score, pass, rebound, defend, make threes), play anywhere between two and five (if you’re playing small ball), and gets his job done with little fuss.

In short, the kind of guy you need on a good team.

His presence would also allow us to make a complete salary dump trade for Maggette in good conscience knowing the 3 spot is filled. "Hello, Mark Cuban? We’ll take a conditional second-rounder, a couple of expirings, and a six pack if you take him off our hands." Or we could arrange for him to get clubbed in the knee, Nancy Kerrigan style.

With the Zombie Sonics picks, I’d recommend taking the two big guys I pimped in my second-rounders article, Jarvis Varnado and Jerome Jordan (Varnado with the 26th and Jordan with the 32nd) and trot out a starting five of Curry/Ellis/Green/Randolph/Biedrins with a resigned Anthony Morrow, Varnado, Jordan, Buike and a backup PG (resigned CJ Watson?) on the bench. If everyone stays fit and we get some kind of team defense, that’s a playoff contender in a year or two.

Trade Idea No. 3

Warriors get Nic Batum, Patty Mills, Joel Pryzbilla, the rights to Victor Claver, and the 22nd overall pick.

Blazers get CJ Watson, Brandan Wright, the sixth overall pick, and a 2013 lottery-protected first-rounder.

This is another one where I can’t see how it fails.

Batum would be the main piece of the trade on the Blazers side—while he’s a good defender and a high-IQ player who’s been compared ad nauseum to Scottie Pippen, he’s still quite raw and anything can happen.

Claver is another European guy—a more conventional Euro in that he’s a big small forward (or an undersized PF) who’s a good shooter and another high-IQ guy. While he’s also a nice piece, neither of them quite compare to what they could get with the sixth pick (at the very least, you get Al-Farouq Aminu, who’s a better defender than Batum and will probably become a more effective scorer as well).

The Vanilla Gorilla is a salary throw-in (the Warriors could probably buy him out) and Patty Mills is an emotional pick on my side, given that he not only played his college ball at Saint Mary’s, but I’ve known him since high school.

With hindsight, one of the three great moments of my life was when I beat him in a game of H-O-R-S-E after he had destroyed me when I tried out for the AIS team.

If it ever came out that he won a practice game of H-O-R-S-E against Brandon Roy, it would become the second-greatest. And if he somehow ever won the All-Star H-O-R-S-E challenge? Well, if I died at that moment I would die feeling like a big man, no matter what.

FYI, B-Roy—if you’re reading this and want to ever take some of the 15th man’s money, he can’t make a double-clutch reverse layup or a round-the-back layup to save his life.

Also, Hi! I’m a big fan. I watched your 50-point game against Denver last season and thought for a second that you were Batman. I was a bit drunk. But you’re still cool. Any chance you’d ever come play for us?

My stories and delusions aside, how does this deal then benefit the Warriors?

Well, as I mentioned earlier, once Claver comes over from Europe (possibly next year) he’ll give us a true inside-outside offensive threat—he can shoot the three, handle the ball, and play above the rim. Dude has some hops for a white guy.

Batum can, in the short term, become our Matt Barnes who comes in and plays lockdown D on the opposition’s best player, as we wait for his offensive game to develop. If it doesn’t, well, once Claver comes we can cross that bridge.

What about Portland? They get Wright, who’s a good offensive post player and should become a solid defender once he learns to use his physical tools. Have him as a backup to Aldridge and you’re good there. CJ Watson becomes the third-string PG in Rip City—admittedly, I only threw him into this deal because I wanted to bring Patty to Golden State.

Larry Riley, if you’re reading this, I just want you to know that I will sell my car, start dealing drugs and buy cigarettes for the high school kids who hang out by Rockdale Station to get the money to buy enough Patty Mills Warrior jerseys to make it worth your while.

Also, you couldn’t have done any better for Captain Jack? Not even a couple of MJ rookie cards signed by the man himself?

I have got to stop trying to talk to people I hope are reading through my articles.

Anyway, as for the sixth pick, I don’t give a toss what Portland would plan to do with it. I’d still say we try and use the 22nd on Daniel Orton (unlikely, since word is he’s got a guarantee from OKC) or Hassan Whiteside, then drop the 34th on my boy Varnado.


Trade Idea 4

Warriors get Lamar Odom and Sasha Vujacic

Lakers get Anthony Randolph, the sixth pick, and two future unprotected first-rounders.

OK, that’s a sick joke on my part. The thought of Sasha Vujacic being on my team…eurrgh. I can’t not hate that guy. Even Lakers fans hate him, for God’s sake.

Nah, I just wondered—if Mr. Khloe Kardashian was traded to the Warriors, what would the odds be on Kim dating Stephen Curry and Kourtney hooking up with Anthony Randolph?

I felt a need to seek other opinions for this one.

Personally, I’d give Kourtney/AR a 3-2 chance of happening (he seems young and stupid enough to go for it), but I figure the more grounded Steph realizes the dangers of being in a relationship with America’s new favourite celebrity whore and turns her down.

Then again, he is a dude and she’s got a great arse. Five-to-one odds.

Ten-to-one that Brody brings Spencer along to a game and that Pratt sees Sonya Curry in the stands and tries to hit on her.

Odds of success?

Assuming Dell doesn’t kill him (or ping him in the back of the head with one of his trademark threes, showing that he’s still got it), 1,000,000-to-one.

Did I just spend ten minutes pondering on how the Kardashian family’s dating habits would impact the Warriors? I think I just did.

I need a life. Peace out.