2007-2008 In Review
Record: 48-34
Western Conference Seed: 9
Summer Of 2008
Key Additions: Corey Maggette (via free agency), Anthony Randolph (via draft), Marcus Williams (via trade), Ronny Turiaf (via free agency), Richard Hendrix (via draft), Anthony Morrow (via free agency - undrafted rookie).
Key Losses: Baron Davis (via free agency), Matt Barnes (via free agency), Mickael Pietrus (via free agency), Patrick O’Bryant (via free agency), Austin Croshere (via free agency).
“B-Diddy” got his money; $65 million over the course of five years, to be exact. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which way you look at it), it wasn’t from Chris Mullin and the gang, but rather back home in Los Angeles from the Clippers.
Interestingly enough, forward Corey Maggette opted out of his contract, had his rights renounced by the Clippers, and packed his bags to go the opposite direction by signing a five-year, $50 million deal with the Warriors.
After that inadvertent free agent switch-a-roo, containing the loss of Davis, it was time for the club to make sure that they had themselves a point guard.
With that in mind, the contract of Monta Ellis was extended for six years, making the budding star guard approximately $67 million richer. Whether or not Ellis can learn to run an efficient offense and create for others in varying situations remains to be seen, but after a breakout year of 20.2 PPG, five RPG, and 3.9 APG on a 53.1 percent shooting clip, it’s more than worth the experiment...
If only Ellis could avoid the temptation of riding a moped.
Shortly after signing the aforementioned lucrative contract, the 22-year-old stud damaged his ankle in a moped accident back in his hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. Ellis was diagnosed with a Grade 3 high ankle sprain, a torn deltoid ligament, and a syndesmosis disruption of his left ankle.
Furthermore, Ellis felt the need to lie to the organization about the incident by telling them that the injury occurred while he was “working out.” Disciplinary action is yet to be taken, but one is inevitably forthcoming.
The worst part of the whole ordeal, however, has nothing to do with putting himself in physical danger or lying to the organization. It’s that Ellis will be forced to miss the next three months of action, which may very well ruin the team’s postseason hopes.
It’s probably safe to say that Monta won’t be taking up any extreme sports next summer.
Back to basketball.
7 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Shan 9 months ago
you got it just right...they have no leader now that Baron is gone, even though Stephen Jackson will try to take on the role. I cannot see Monta becoming this teams leader....no way! Even though Monta is arguably the best player. Maguette will help them, but I think they will get beat down on the Westside...oh and Nellie ball while it is dangerous for some teams, mostly Dallas...it is more of a weakness and any decent defensive minded team can overcome the nonexistent threat of "nellie ball"
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Dave Morrison 9 months ago
Awesome article Dustin. I couldn't agree with you more, its all about the growth of the team's youth this season and them getting the opportunity to play. What do you think about the signing of Dan Dickau? Could add some interesting combos out on the perimeter.
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Dustin Chapman 9 months ago
Dan Dickau is.... well, he's Dan Dickau. I personally think that DeMarcus Nelson is a better and more versatile ballplayer, and they should keep him. Dickau was released from a European club recently because of back troubles. Furthermore, there's a reason he hasn't found a home in the NBA by age 27-28.
Nelson can defend, run the floor, and provide a great deal of energy. Dickau, on the other hand, couldn't defend my grandmother in a stationary chair.
Thanks for your comments, guys. I appreciate it as always.
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Rory Davis 9 months ago
Great article and great analysis. I agree with you on all fronts to be honest and I watch Warriors basketball a lot! I think the key is Biedrins. I love your Jessica Alba line too. Something special is going to have to happen for us to get back in playoff contention, and I think the only thing that can make that happen is, as you mentioned, Monta coming back and tearing it up. We'll see. Great work though. Keep it up.
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Yama Hazheer 9 months ago
Great, I was waiting on your Warriors article. Nice read.
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Kyle Johnson 9 months ago
Dan Dickau is a joke. I was at a warriors vs. clippers game last season and saw him play, and I think that is a horrible pick-up for the warriors. Like Dustin said THERE IS A REASON he has not found a home in the NBA. But I guess we'll see how that pans out. Also I just want to say that while Biedrins has shown small moments of decent play, I think the warriors would do better to go out and pickup a REAL center.
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Dustin Chapman 9 months ago
Biedrins is fine at the 5. Golden States problem up front is that they don't have any interior scorers. That's attributed to Nellie's dislike of conventional play than anything.
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