The Trade: Chris Mullin, I Take It All Back
Chris Mullin, I take it all back. In one single move he cleaned out bad contracts, balanced the roster, raised the talent level, and gave us a mean streak. This deal is so unexpected and perfect for the team right now that I feel like sending Mullin a personal apology. I underestimated you. I was totally wrong. Thank you. The only downside is losing Ike, who will probably grow to be a good player in the east. Emphasis on the “probably” and “in the east” parts of that statement. Besides that, only upside for as far as the eye can see:
We now have a legitimate NBA starting five, with size and skills matching positions. Davis, Ellis (and later Jrich), Jackson, Harrington, and Biedrins give Nelson five long guys who can run all day long. Jackson and Harrington are instant upgrades on defense. Jackson is a streaky but proven outside threat. Harrington is a solid post up player and rebounder. Even Jasikevicius, besides bringing a Sarunas back to the Bay, gives the team an upgrade at back-up point guard.
The deal helps our long term cap situation. Powell comes off the books this year and Sarunas next, so they’re basically washes with McLoed and Diogu. Jackson and Harrington, however, are cheaper than Dunleavy and Murphy. They come off the books a year earlier (09-10) and are roughly $3 million cheaper a year. Beyond the raw numbers, we’ll actually have money tied up in contributing players that fit Nelson’s style.
The Warriors are in the contract drivers seat with Pietrus and Barnes. With Jackson and Harrington, we only need to keep one of the guys around. Let them play the rest of the season for their roster spot. Even if we let them both walk, we lose someone who is now at most a 20-25 minute a night bench player.
We still have a potent bench: Jasikevicius, Ellis or Jackson or JRich, Barnes or Pietrus, Powell, and O’Bryant or Foyle. It’s also well balanced with a real playmaker, two scorers and adequately sized, hustling big men. The team still lacks depth at power forward, but Nelson probably wouldn’t play properly sized big men at the spot even if he had the luxury.
We gained a mean streak. Stephen Jackson had a troubled run with the Pacers but is a solid risk for the Warriors to take on. He gets a clean start and a chance to be part of the Warriors best shot at a resurrection in a decade. He also brings a hard-nosed intensity to the Warriors that they’ve lacked for a long time. I don’t want to be seen as encouraging thugdom on the Warriors, but a controlled mean streak will greatly help this team. If Jackson stays out of trouble and hits open jump shots, he will be loved in Oakland.
Powell could be a contributor. He looks like a throw in but he’s got an NBA body, a nose for rebounds, and still has tons of time to develop. He lacks Ike’s offensive game but he may be a better match skill-wise for what this team needs.
Last, but not least, the team finally gets stability. The players here now know that they’re going to be around for the rest of the season. Harrington expressed his desire to be with Davis in the off-season. He now gets his wish. The energy sucking presence of Dunleavy and Murphy has left the building. I’m not blind to the flaws of the players the Warriors take back, but in terms of chemistry and attitude this trade provides a tremendous shot in the arm to a team entering the make-or-break stretch of the season. We’ve got three months to push into the playoffs. Nelson now has his men - it’s time to take care of business.
Chris Mullin and Rod Higgins, thank you.
I couldn’t agree more. The big key is now you have a legitimate scorer at the forward position. Someone beside Baron to go to in the 4th quarter, who can create his own shot and get to the line. Nellie can now work his magic with mismatches. I saw too many times where Dunleavy would have a small guard defending and he wouldnt back him down into the post. That wont happen with Harrington and Jackson. And watch the run game now, with both of those guys on the wings. Pietrus, Barnes and Jackson will be interchangeable at the SF spot. Who ever is producing good that night, you know Nellie will play. Regardless of how it works out Mully had to something.
Someone connect Stephen Jackson with one of Northern California’s finer growers of pot leaf immediately! I think a perpetually stoned Jackson is the only way he can avoid clashing with Nelson the way he clashed with Carlisle. (See Nelson-Chris Webber relations for how bad things can get) Also, how is he going to manage to stay alive in Oakland when he needs to carry a gun to avoid getting beaten up on the mean streets of downtown Indy? But seriously this cannot possibly be considered a bad trade by any warriors fan.
Adam, I am very interested on your take on the Warriors play off chance with this trade.
I will wait for about 5~10 games to see how this whole thing plays out.
I think the team is better but still its going to be a fight to get into the playoffs. The West just has so much talent and the Warriors are still a defender/rebounder away I believe. The Warriors still need a legit power forward or backup center. However they are a better team today and in a much better position to make moves to improve their future. No one thought they would be able to get from under those 2 contracts with talent in return and still keep Ellis and Beidrins.
Call me skeptical. I do not think this trade is that big of an upgrade for the Warriors with regard to talent level, stat, etc… Not to mention potential problem from you know whom. We have too many between-ers (for the 3-4 position). Add Al Harrington to that list.
If you are a GM and have to pick between Al Harrington and Ike, whom do you pick? I rather have Ike. Heck, I even pick Murphy. Just look at the stat from Murphy (before Nelson’s arrival) and compare with Al Harrington.
I think from now until the end of the season, Indiana will have better win-loss record than our confused Warriors. Mullin just reacted to Nelson comments about the talent level when we kept losing games. Nelson never thinks all the losses have anything to do with his coaching, it was all because of his players are not good enough. He sucks Mullin into believing him and a lot of fans to turn against players. Therefore, we need to trade…
We will see how things work out.
The question is: Why Mullin is willing to build the talent of this franchise to fit Nelson style? I wonder how long will Nelson stick around? What should Mullin do with regard to Nelson if the Warriors do not make play off this year? I don’t think The Warriors will, but I will be very happy if they proved me wrong.
AndrewN - You lost some cred when use said you would pick Murphy. Harrington is not a conventional 4, but those guys are rare. He’s better than Ike now and Murphy would never live up to expectation in W’s uniform. As for Nellie suckering Mullin and fans against the players, I guess you didn’t hear the fans booing long ago and also underrate Mullin’s grasp of reality (something I had questioned earlier myself). In the 4th, team will need to execute in 1/2 court and defend, on paper this team’s D is much more athletic and they won’t have to zone so much and they added an inside option and a guy who could rebound. With the number of shots this team attempts, rebounds are huge. I agree though that I am skeptical about Nellie’s scheme delivering this team to the promise land, but this trade is a needed step. Even if Dunleavy and Murphy improve their stats in Indy, it’s in the East so take it with a grain of salt since there’s no chance they could have done so in GS.
I believe this trade will allow the Warriors to play .550 ball or better for the balance of the season, which will likely allow them to get the 7th or 8th playoff spot. Most of Jackson’s problems were with the offense that Coach Carlisle (slow half court) and he should thrive in Nellie’s run and gun style. Obviously Baron has worked with Harrington and Jackson during the summer and they will have some chemistry sooner than later. Harrington will likely get more rebounds than with Indiana, since he won’t have to defer to Jermaine O’Neill. By the way, if anyone remembers, it was Harrington and Jackson that took away the Warriors victory and gave it to the Pacers when Indiana beat the Warriors in Oakland. Great deal
You would really take Murph or Diogu over Harrington? That’s crazy. Harrington fits our offense PERFECTLY. He is the kind of guy that can score inside and out (which is important when you consider the kind of mismatches Nellie is going to get him) and run the floor. He is a quick and aggressive defender who is long, expect lots of double teams and switches with him, and he can shoot. Jackson is a deadly streak three point shooter and he will love the wide open corner threes Baron and Monte will get him at will. Finally, Sarunas. I like this kid. As a rook he subbed for Tinsley in the playoffs and played so well he almost took his starting spot. He has tapered off but in our guard friendly system, expect him to thrive. Nellie got the perfect players for his small ball team and I think we make the playoffs not that our two highest players are not bench warmers. We have depth at the guard position and big men (biedrins, harrington) who are perfect for Nellies O. On D, imagine a zone in which You have Monte and Baron pressuring the ball with harrington, jackson, pietrus, or barnes hastling the ballhandleer with double teams. The best part? When you swith no mismatches like you ahd when Dunleavy got a big man and murph got a small man. BRILLIANT I SAY!
A definite improvement, playerwise and $$$wise for GS, but still a front court defender away from making a huge difference. This takes them from about the 10th best team in the west to legitimately contending for that 8th playoff seed. Still what about D? Without that it’s a lot of work to get easily tossed in first round (at best). What would it take to pickup a decent NBA worthy center, maybe Nazr Mohammed now that C-Webb is back in Motown?
Cheers!
Yeah, what about other moves? At least from here the trade-bait-ability of the new Ws is better than that of the old Ws.
You could package these guys or others — depending upon how things shake out over time — for KG? Actually, it is important to recognize that this is now _really_ BD’s team. Harrington and Jackson are his buds, and Barnes is in the house. That could be very cool if Jackson plays nice.
Intensity is a hallmark of playoff teams. At least this trade infuses the Ws with intensity on a couple of levels. That has to be worth the gamble…
Wow! What a great deal!
Trade: A (would have been an A+ if Mullin had figured out a way to ship Thunder off, too).
Just getting rid of Murph’s and Dun’s contract makes this a good deal. I thought that Mullin would never be able to trade those guys. Maybe Mullin changing his mind (with some persuasion from Nelly for sure) regarding Diogu sealed this deal, ‘cuz it’s been clear since last summer that the Pacers coveted Ike.
I do agree that one of the small forwards will eventually be moved, but not sure it should be Barnes. He can now settle into his role as a good bench player and he’ll come cheap (if Mullin must add a big man before the deadline Pietrus can also be packaged). I’d wait and see how Jackson fits will Nelson, if he implodes move him for a big man, or draft one this summer.
Saving money and creating options, what a novel concept for Warriors nation.
Who else is out there that could realistically help GSW out? Who’s languishing on the bench; Mike Sweetney? Where is there young, hungry front court defense stagnating, waiting for an opportunity? That’s all they’re missing now in my mind.
Kellena looked like an NBA baller much of tonight. Another solid cat on the cheap; the Warriors are on to something FOR REALS THIS TIME?!? Oh my beating heart…
OK, it’s all agreed this was a great move for the Warriors. But is this a first round exit if we do make the playoffs? I’m hoping Chris isn’t done yet. We’ve upgraded in a couple of areas, gotten a little deeper, but if we’re the 8th seed, we play Dallas first. Let’s keep the phones ringing and the possible deals going. I like the direction, let’s kick this up another notch.
I posted this on another blog, and I hope fans think about this a bit… There may be more to this trade than meets the eye…
1. If Sarunas works out well as part of the deal, does it pave the way for Little Donnie coming back to the Warriors as asst coach to Dad? You may have heard about the Donnie and Sarunas connection on other blogs. It would be a nice convenient thing to do. After all Sarunas is a PG, and BD is injury prone, as we all know (and he has lots of minutes this year).
2. If this happens, will Little Donnie replace big Nellie when he decides to step down?
3. Was all this decided / or at least discussed when Nellie signed last Summer?
4. Why would a 67 year old with $50M in the bank leave Hawaii to coach Dunleavy and Murphy… and get stressed out again? Because he just loves coaching and the game? Didn’t he just recently step down with an apprentice (Avery Johnson) taking over for him?
Hmmmmmmmmm….
Hungry? You’ve not seen Mike Sweetney lately, have you.
Get rid of Jackson quickly before it is too late. Not only is he a potential team-wrecker, he’s a criminal element.
Forget Nasr Mohammed. Package up some combination of Biedrins, Richardson, Peitrus and/or the number 1 pick (whatever makes the numbers work) for Gasol. Memphis might do this deal. They are sitting at 10 wins fighting with Philly for the Greg Ogden (or Kevin Durant) sweepstakes and need to get Gasol off the court so they can get more ping-pong balls.
I wonder how the sportswriters in Indy are reacting to this trade. Are they saying, “good trade for both teams”? Or are they saying the Pacers got fleeced?
Dave- Biedrins is about the last Warrior I’d trade. I would trade anybody for the right deal, but I’m surprised another Warrior fan put him down as trade bait. I’d even put Monta there before Andris because while special, Monta is a tweener. But that is relatively speaking, i love Monta and wouldn’t trade either now unless it was huge.
But Andris is only going to get better, is great already, you don’t teach those hands and quicks and he plays a premium position at C and does it in a way that fits this system to a T.
It’s too bad JRich isn’t healthy right now because he would get the most interest and we would have viable replacements at his position. Again, i like JRich, but it makes sense to trade one of our SG/SF’s.
Sarunas in the Bay Area is a perfect match and a trigger for more fans watching games.
Sarunas was a star in Israel and is married to a former Israeli beauty queen. Indianapolis is not home to many Jewish or Israeli people, unlike the Bay.
Expect Sarunas’ wife, and therefore Sarunas, to blend in much more comfortably, culture wise, which will calm Sarunas down and show his real game.