Answering Machine: Crazy special Warrior/Pacer mega-trade spectacular
Three days ago, I said that I didn’t like single-topic Answering Machine editions. That I thought they were a little boring.
Then… hello:
-The Warriors traded Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Ike Diogu to Indiana for Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson, something I have preached and urged for years…
-I tapped out a few blog items of intermittent interest, more notable for their speed than for their coherent fluidity…
-Viewing/response records for this endeavor got shattered, the excellent comments continued to come and Wilmer (my bloggy conscience) pointed out that I should respond quickly.
Wilmer’s right. This was the “American Idol” finale of Talking Points blog items–OK, I don’t really understand that comparison, and I’m the one who wrote it.
But you get the point, I hope. HUGE numbers. EYE-OPENING numbers. Blog-changing numbers. That’s what I’m trying to say.
If 140+ comments, a fast-break stampede of page views and the dawning of a Warrior era that I have anticipated for years can’t prod me to a quick-trigger, Trade-and-Trade-Only Machine, nothing will.
So. I’ll try to move it along swiftly and breezily, but I also want to address many of the excellent points fired back at me.
As always, the comments may be shortened and edited and I chose the ones I thought triggered the best debate or ripped me the best (not so much on this item).
-Ken G. wrote: Now that Murphy and Dunleavy are moving to the midwest, their ultimate goal of having matching mullet haircuts will not only be realized, but will actually be in style!
Their master plan reveals itself at last!
*My response to Ken G.’s response: OK, I think I need a new rule–Commenters are not allowed to be this much funnier than me. Or to think of much funnier lines than me. Or ever do this again. Hilarious. To think: Indiana not only got a new forward tandem, they got a 44% FG shooting boy band.
Put it this way: I was as much a fan of Dunleavy and Murphy’s new shaggy Beatle cuts as I was of their games.
-Andrew Maloata wrote: I’ve been reading your column for awhile. I think you’re partly crazy most of the time, but in this case you were right and Mullin finally pulled it off. I can’t believe Larry Bird was sold on those guys. He is still calling the shots out there, isn’t he?
*My response to Andrew’s response: Indiana CEO Donnie Walsh, Bird’s boss, made this deal, though it sure sounds like Bird was on board. Bird probably was the Pacer instigator–it seems like he has a shorter fuse and more attraction to the Dunleavy/Murphy style of player.
But Walsh is Mullin’s mentor. Walsh is the guy he probably talks to more than anybody in the league. I’m sure the two have been moaning to each other for months, flicked around names for fun, then for sort of serious, then for serious… and finally decided to do it.
I just can’t believe Walsh pulled the trigger on it. If he’s been talking to Mullin about a deal for months, he must’ve been watching some Warriors games, right? Any part of Murphy’s legendary no defense and Dunleavy’s vivid invisibility? Copies of their monstrous contracts? No, no and no?
OK, done deal, Donnie. You sure you don’t want to add Adonal Foyle for Jermaine O’Neal, too?
-Art wrote: Why would Indiana make this trade!?! The Warriors steal one here. I guess P.T. Barnum was right!! WOW…
-Jason wrote: There is a GOD and hes having mercy on our souls. 12 years and counting…. AMEN and THANK YOU MULLIN!
-Gary wrote: Mullin and Higgins just saved their jobs. This looks like a great trade. Will be anxious to see how the $$$ and contracts net out. Can’t believe we didn’t surrender JR, Pietrus, Ellis, or Biedrins as part of the deal. Wonder what game footage the Pacers watched on Dunleavy and Murphy… maybe Duke and Notre Dame?
* My response to their responses: The Baron Davis deal showed that Mullin and Higgins could take the right risks. The big contracts for Murphy, Dunleavy and Foyle showed that they could misfire. The long… long wait for a move like this showed that they could test everybody’s patience.
And this deal… this whopper… this absolute THIEVERY showed that Mullin and Higgins can make the deal they have to make–with the help and prodding of Don Nelson, of course.
Nelson prodded Mullin. Bird and Rick Carlisle prodded Walsh. That’s how this deal came off. And even if Harrington is only OK and Jackson blows up and Jasikevicius is lousy… it’s a great deal JUST to dump the Murphy/Dunleavy contracts.
-RexyBlue wrote: Playoffs time…Playoffs time… Go WARRIORS!
-PhilB wrote: This is a tremendous trade, one that I had personally proposed (check my previous posts on your blog). Anytime Mullin and Higgs can dump two unwieldy contracts without giving up either Biedrins or Ellis is huge. Harrington gives us that critical “third” scorer alongside JRich and Baron.
-JC wrote: Dunleavy is GONE! Yeah, what a glorious day! Murphy is solid but Indy, you can have these 2. Did I mention, that the only people that wear rubber band headbands are women athletes? Dunleavy will NEVER amount to anything. Murphy can’t play D or even block out anymore.
* My response to their responses: As much as I like this deal for the Warriors, and as much as you have to believe it’ll be better for them to have Harrington getting all those open shots that Matt Barnes has been missing lately, I still don’t see the Warriors making the playoffs this season.
Before this season, I thought they’d go 40-42, finish 10th. Be better, but not good enough.
As the Warriors treaded water, then started to sink (especially as Dunleavy, Murphy and Diogu flailed under Nelson, I siphoned off victories… probably down to about 37 or 38.
Now I’m back up to 40 or 41 wins, but that’s not top eight. And that’s only if Harrington and Jackson blend in smoothly and if nobody else gets hurt.
41-41. I think that’s my new pick. But when you start looking at 2007-08, with Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, Jason Richardson, Jackson, Mickael Pietrus, Andris Biedrins, Harrington, Barnes, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Patrick O’Bryant, possibly Kelenna Azubuike…
Playoffs next season. I might just predict that. Might. (This is exactly what I thought watching Azubuike play 48 minutes and score 26 last night–could he be better than Dunleavy RIGHT NOW?)
(This is also what I thought: I’m NOT wrong about O’Bryant being a pretty special talent. He’s tenative, sure. But he’s so long and smart… he’s going to play center in this league. I think. Maybe not for Nellie. But he will.)
-David wrote: Being a Pacer fan, seeing Stephen Jackson go is quite possibly the best thing that’s happened to the team since acquiring Jermaine O’neal for Dale Davis. … Warrior’s fans beware, he’ll steal shot attempts from your real scorers (Davis, J Rich, etc), and will produce less than half as much.
-dean wrote: As a long time Pacer fan who is STILL missing Reggie Miller, as is the entire franchise, i’m glad we can finally get past the black eye that was Stephen Jackson, even if it costs us a couple victories this year…that jackass is the reason the ThrowDown in Motown got so out of hand….
i’m surprised all these Golden State fans are glad to see Dunleavy and Murphy go…they’ve always played tough against the Pacers…and yes, Bird and Donnie Walsh (especially Donnie) are geniuses.
-Tony Rhodes wrote: I think the Pacers got the better deal in the trade. Mark my words… Murphy is going to be an ALL STAR… before Nelson came to town he was averaging a DOUBLE-DOUBLE a game!!! Plus he can hit the 3!! Dunleavy he was playing some point last year and was doing pretty good. Ike is going to be a decent player he just needed more time to play.
* My response to their responses: This is going to be fun, as fun a trade to study and analyze and re-analyze since the Shaq-to-Miami deal.
Warrior followers get to see if Dunleavy, Murphy and Diogu will look better as Pacers–DOUBT IT!–and Pacer followers get to see if Jackson will go insane and Harrington will pout with the Warriors.
Why, it’s about the most enjoyable set of factors I could’ve imagined. The Warriors were stuck. The Pacers were stuck. Thank God they both decided to switch it up.
Somebody’s going to win, and it won’t be the Pacers.
-de Nada wrote: Holding out for KG, as much as that floats my dreams, wasn’t gonna happen down here in *reality*, especially since the TICKET has the Timberwolves playing solid right now.
A good trade, for both teams really, but it still leaves the Warriors wanting on D. What would it take to get another big man, just somebody decent, like Nazr Mohammed, now that C-Webb is in Detroit?
-Prasad wrote: If Jackson goes to jail and cannot play, can his contract be voided, and be of the books for the Ws?
*My response to their responses: I could see some more moves for the Warriors, but just not right now. This is a huge shake-up and Mullin and Nelson need to see how it works when it settles.
Do they need a power four? Can O’Bryant get more minutes behind Biedrins? Is Pietrus a nice fit with Jackson or with Harrington or with neither?
I like Nazr, but he’s expensive, he hasn’t been playing great and I’m not sure he fits in Nelson’s system. I’d keep an eye on him. I definitely would’ve thought about Pietrus/O’Bryant for him before the mega-deal. But now the Warriors have to see what they have.
On the subject of Jackson’s upcoming trial and jail time. I’m not sure what happens, cap-wise, if he’s imprisoned. I’d have to believe there are clauses in the CBA that wouldn’t force the Warriors to pay him if he’s convicted of a felony and if they’re not paying him, it wouldn’t count against the cap. That’s a guess. But a reasonable one.
-Larry wrote: If they could only get rid of Foyle they would purge all the dead money and weight. Need another big guy, and some D though.
-Skip To My Lou wrote: How can u say it would have been “semi-acceptable” to trade J-Rich,yet “NOT acceptable” to trade Monta.J-Rich is a far superior player than Monta Ellis with,far more upside down the stretch,if Richardson was included in this trade then Indiana clearly would have had the better deal.Comparing J-Rich to Ellis is a school boy error.
* My response to Skip’s response: It’s my age-old battle with a majority of Warrior fans–I like Jason, I think he’s a nice player, I just don’t think he’s irreplaceable. He can’t play much defense or create offense. He’s a scorer. That’s all. Which is good. But all.
Now that he’s got a wobbly knee, I’m not sure what he is. Ellis is a more valuable player in my mind–he plays defense, he’s a burst of speed and he can get to the rim on anybody.
But I’ll have this argument again and again on Richardson. No way to avoid it. He’s probably the best non-my-kind-of-player in the NBA, and he happens to be in my town. Sets up for a lot of arguing.
-eric wrote: Including Ike Diogu somehow reminds me of three kids named larry, antawn, and gilbert. Heard they did pretty good somewhere else.
(Do they think Davis is the guy dragging down the Warriors? Sheesh.)
Some of the national response has been sharp and knowing (Marc Stein). Some has not. I mean, anybody who says Murphy is a winning player is basically admitting that he hasn’t watched any Warrior basketball for the last two years or is a flaming dunderhead.
It took Don Nelson two games to decide what he had with Murphy. Is Nelson wrong? No.
Diogu is a different thing. Maybe he’ll be good. But he’ll have to be an amazing talent to get big production out of that short body and those slow feet of his–Charles Barkley did it… and who else? That has always been my deal about Murphy–who’s the model of a great player with his skill set? And if anybody ever says Dirk Nowitzki to me again, I’m swiping his NBA league pass right now.
Diogu is not Gilbert Arenas. He’s not even Antawn Jamison and I was no Jamison fan. He’s Clarence Weatherspoon. Kenny Thomas. Shareef Abdur-Raheem at best and I really doubt he’ll get close.
-Gary wrote: If Sarunas works out well as part of the deal, does it pave the way for Little Donnie to come back to the Warriors as asst coach to Dad? You may have heard about the Donnie and Sarunas connection on other blogs. If this happens, will Little Donnie replace big Nellie when he decides to step down?
* My response to Gary’s response: That’s an awful lot of future planning to put on a throw-in player on a mega-deal. Too much.
-hapkidokid wrote: On behalf of Sharks fans everywhere, may i say, “Please trade, work-out; Go Warriors!”
* My response to hakidokid’s response: He’s referring to my suggestion that if I’m wrong about this deal benefiting the Warriors, I’ll swear off NBA stuff and go straight to permanent Shark coverage.
He doesn’t want it. That’s the spirit of this blog! Love it. Love that.
OK, hope that wasn’t too boring. The responses–and the issue–was worth it. And if you think it wasn’t, blame Wilmer.
I know I will.
regarding your comment about the warriors next year… i hate to be a pessimist, but we’ve all been saying “next year” for …. years in fact.
i do believe the warriors will improve, but IF they do achieve playoffs next year, they would most likely become the memphis grizzlies in first round. i like al harrington’s post/mid range but they still need bigger men inside. after all, the championship teams all have them…
duncan, nowitzski (F), and shaq only a little bit
i would love mullin even more if he was able to pull off a player similar to amare
Wordlife, dig the reaction; more like a conversation, less like some sports character just telling you shise. Very nice…
140+ messages means there are a ton of frustrated GSW fans in the vicinity. In an area with such dedicated support it’s sacrilege to offer up uninteresting mediocrity year after year (after year after…).
Of course a link off NBA.com probably didn’t hurt either.
Naturally the Warriors want to check out what they have for a bit, tool around and see what works - no doubt. But we’ve got extra swingmen and a need for D in the front, definitely; and even if everything works out aces that need will still be there.
So when you say Nazr’s expensive, you mean he’s only half as much as Foyle? But he might be too slow still; Marvin Ely would seem to be a good fit, both as a player (who’s not getting much playing time) and with a cheap, expiring contract.
Damn I’ve gotta say it’s just nice waking up in the AM and knowing Dunleavy’s not on your team! Makes the clouds a little puffier, or something. Hate to be a hater but that’s the sad truth isn’t it? Kellena probably is the better NBA player at this point! Cat looked the part last night anyhow, at about 1/20th the cost!!
Cheers!
It’s almost 72 hours after the trade announcement now.
My gut tells me this… I don’t care if the new “Nellie Warriors” make the playoffs or not this year, since a chemistry change this large at mid-season is always tricky. I am still just delighted with the trade, if only becsuse of unloading those big contracts.
What we know so far (I think) about future prospects for the Ws…
1. BD is really, really a happy camper. Not only does Nellie love him, but Nellie and Mullin brought in some of his buddies for him to play with.
2. Biedrins and Ellis will only get better. They are still learning the game. I think we all agree: We just love these kids. They got game.
3. Nelson now has the team he wants. Any more additions to improve speed / shooting accuracy / defense would be nice.
If you want to win in the West, speed and scoring ability is primary. Oh yeah, let’s not forget about team defense. It’s a real team game out here. We have great individual players in the West, but the most entertaining team to watch (and probably emulate) are the Suns… they always go 100+, you never know who will be their top scorer on any given night (could be any of 4 or 5 players), and the team assists… wow! Their scoring is typically very balance, except for occasional spurts by Amare or Stevie MVP… or someone else.
We are probably headed in this direction… but it will take a while. I’ll be watching to see if there is an increase in the # of assists / game. This may be a leading indicator of how the new Ws come together.
I just love thinking about the Ws future… since last Tuesday, anyway.
Eric: Sure, it looks like we still need some muscle down low, and maybe we are overloaded with swing players now (Ellis, JRich, Pietrus, Jackson, Harrington, Barnes, Azubuike, Cabarkapa, Powell) but let’s not get silly talking about Amare Stoudemire.
There are no other players like Amare. Period. Yeah, it would be great to have him…or Duncan or Nowitzki or Dwight Howard or KG or Chris Bosch or even David West. But none of those guys are even remotely available. Let’s be happy with what we have for awhile. This is like X-Mas in January and I, for one, plan to enjoy it.
YO TK I agree whole heartedly with you about JR, he can score and throw down eye-popping, put-back dunks, but can’t handle the rock, create for himself or D it up proficiently, and he is making a ton of $. The combined basketball entity that is now PIELLISACKSON, does much more for much less, the answer package him with Foyle, move them to the a team in the east that needs inside D/rebounding help and scoring for an expiring contract and use that $ to resign our young guys and a monster free agent!!!
I would wait to see how this works out before shipping out JR (unless a lockdown 4 or 5 is part of the deal). It’s true, he’s got limitations, no doubt; but he’s also plays with a lot of will and fire, and has been the competitive soul of the Warriors, being what that is, for years now. This isn’t Murphy’s or Dunleavy’s apathetic lacksadaisicalacity we’re talking about after all! No question about whether he’s an NBA baller or a “blend” player. I’m not saying don’t consider it, but let him heal, come back and show what he can do on this retooled team. He deserves the opportunity to earn the $$$!!
Tim, at the expense of sounding Mullinesque, I still like JRich and so does Nelly, and since Don is still in charge…
I do agree that we shouldn’t be in too much of a hurry to deal either Barnes or Pietrus (unless a really sweet deal presents itself) until after the season. We’ll get a chance to see how Jax works out. And if we don’t make the playoffs, that may be a blessing in discuise, what with the lottery and the bigman-loaded, talent-rich 2007 draft awaiting.
We finally get to change his name from Mike Dunleavy to Mike Dunleaving. And there was pandemonium in the streets.
Tim-
Making the playoffs is a tall task but it’s still in the realm of possibility. Let’s just acknowledge that the Mavericks, Suns, Spurs, and Lakers probably have the four top spots locked up. The Jazz, Rockets and Nuggets, even with their own issue with injuries, suspensions, etc., are also most likely going to hold onto spots five through seven.
That leaves the Timberwolves, Clippers, Hornets and Warriors to fight for that last playoff spot. Currently, the T-Wolves are ahead of us, but we’ve got more wins than the Clippers and Hornets and we did that with Dunleaving and Don’tpullmyNBApassforjokingthathe’stheminiDirkNowitzkioftheWest getting minutes. Here’s the good news…we just got better!
So all we have to do is stay ahead of the Clippers and Hornets and improve enough to get a head of the T-Wolves. We’re not talking about whipping up on the Suns, we just have to catch and pass the Timberwolves.
This is the first time is a long time that we could be in the playoff chase all the way into the last week of the season. If you thought you got a lot of responses after the trade, you better get ready to upgrade your web server if the Warriors make the playoffs.
Just like the Warriors to make the playoffs in a year when the draft is deep in potential front court players. Oh well the only thing lamer would be to tank a season to get in the lottery.
Whatever works well; as long as they’re taking intelligent risks to get better, to build a team around BD that can compete deep in the west playoffs.
And I think most agree with the positive trajectory of the recent moves.
Now maybe Warrior fans will stop their pissing and moaning about Chris Mullin?
Mullin is decisive and willing to make a decision.
Bad decisions? Yeah, he gambled and gave big contracts to Richardson, Murphy and Dunleavy. And he fired Musselman and gambled on Montgomery.
The good side? Baron Davis for nothing. He just moved the aforementioned Murphy and Dunleavy, providing contract relief and talent. He drafted Biedrins and Ellis, and the jury is out on O’Bryant and Diogu.
I’d say Mullin is fine, and he will get better too.
(of course, there are those whiners who miss Twardzik and Saint Jean.)