NBA Draft and Free Agents 2011: 5 Questions Facing the GS Warriors
With expiring deals, a lottery pick and many other changes coming, this is a pivotal offseason for the Golden State Warriors.
Although it seems we say that every year, with new owners embarking on their first offseason, a new coach/philosophy and hopefully new players, this year we may actually mean it.
Here are five big questions facing the Warriors franchise this summer.
1. Will They Get Defensive Help for Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry?
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How many times have we heard whether or not Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry can play together? We should be asking how lucky we are to have two guards in the same backcourt who are that talented and look for pieces to help them thrive.
Sure they are not great defenders; the problem is that they are on the floor with other players who are equally bad on defense. Maybe worse.
With no low-post defensive presence and no other guys that are "defensive" players, what real chance do Ellis and Curry have of defending anyone with no help?
David Lee, Curry and Ellis are not going to be making any All-NBA defensive teams anytime soon, but couldn't the same be said about Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and O.J. Mayo? The reason the Memphis Grizzlies played so well is that they were playing team defense.
It didn't hurt that they had Tony Allen and Shane Battier either, though.
The Warriors have zero guys like that, but if they acquire defensive pieces this offseason, maybe the Warriors can be the 2012 Memphis Grizzlies.
If the Warriors can get a defensive-minded player to defend on the perimeter as well as down low, it's going to make things a lot easier for everybody.
2. What to Do with Andris Biedrins
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I love playing general manager and figuring out deals, but I just can't think of any deal to put into ESPN's draft machine which the other team would consider doing that involves Andris Biedrins that would also be beneficial to the Warriors.
Three more years and $27 million is going to be tough to unload, and while it is not ideal, it could leave the Warriors with a $9 million per year player as their eighth man.
David Lee didn't really play up to expectations this year, but I think a lot of that blame could be set on Andris Biedrins, as Lee was getting almost no help anywhere down low.
Ideally, we would all love to have Biedrins play the way we all thought he was going to after he signed his current deal, but it really doesn't look like that is going to happen, does it?
So the Warriors front office has a big decision coming up with Andris Biedrins: Do they try to trade him and hope he improves, or keep playing him, clinging to hope that he will play good basketball?
What if the NBA and its union put in an amnesty clause allowing a team to waive one player while clearing their salary off the books (but where they still have to pay him)? Would that be something to consider?
There are a few options with Andris Biedrins, but no answers.
3. Who Will Be the Next Coach of This Team?
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Keith Smart was recently fired, despite the backing of the players, because Joe Lacob wanted to bring in his guy.
No real harm in that.
The only problem I see is that almost this entire team was built around Don Nelson's system, making it all the more important to have a new coach in place before the draft so the new coach can draft a player that will fit his system.
Of all the coaches that have been rumored to come to the Warriors, I actually have no problem with any of them. I'm just hoping they hire someone we've actually heard of.
Two of the guys being mentioned who didn't turn them down for interviews are Mike Brown and Brian Shaw.
Mike Brown would be coaching with a chip on his shoulder, which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. He would want to prove to everybody that he could win without having one of the best players in the league on his team.
If Brown can win with this team, it would prove that he deserved to be named NBA Coach of the Year in 2009, and it would quiet a lot of critics.
If he fails, the argument that "anyone can coach a team with a LeBron James on it" would be a whole lot stronger.
Brian Shaw would be a fine choice, too, with him bringing the triangle offense. Coming from the Los Angeles Lakers and his playing days in Boston, Shaw is from winning organizations and is exactly the mentality the Warriors need right now. Although, who doesn't, right?
David Lee is a good enough passer for the triangle offense, and this way if Andris Biedrins is on the floor, they can try to get him completely out of the offense at times.
However, it's not going to matter who they get if they don't bring in anyone that can defend.
4. What Is Going to Happen with All the Salary-Cap Space?
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The Warriors didn’t use their expiring contracts at the trade deadline, with an eye on this summer. Now we’ll get to see if that was a good move.
It was a gamble, with the future of the NBA being uncertain. In a normal year, if the Warriors had around $19 million in expiring contracts, then the Warriors could spend that much in free agency.
Now, if the new CBA includes a hard cap, the $19 million in expiring contracts could turn into expired Milk, useless.
If we see a hard cap, the suggested number would be around $58 million, leaving the Warriors with nine players and just $9 million of spending money.
We're not even sure if there will be basketball at all next year, and it's even cloudier on how the new free-agent market will work.
Let’s just hope that this new CBA will help turn those expired contracts into something like expired beer, still useful.
5. Who Are They Going to Bring in This Summer?
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Well, the NBA is going to go on at some point so the Warriors will still have to fill out a roster.
Like I said before, I hope that Ellis and Curry stick around and that they get some players that complement them, i.e. defenders.
We know that David Lee isn't going anywhere and Dorell Wright should be back.
But how are they going to fill out the rest of the roster?
Do they try and move Andris Biedrins?
Getting someone who can contribute right away from the draft is going to be the easy part of the summer's to-do list.
As soon as they hire a coach, signing the right guys to the right contracts is key. With Biedrins' contract on board, the Warriors cannot make any mistakes spending their free-agent dollars.
If there were any chance of landing Nene, that would be a dream scenario.
Wilson Chandler would also be a great fit, but for him and other restricted free agents, are the Warriors willing to sign them and wait to see if their deals will be matched while they watch other unrestricted free agents sign with other teams?
There are many options and there is a lot of change coming this summer for the Warriors, and with the way things have been going, it doesn't look like that is going to be the worst thing in the world.
