| Assessing The Warriors Offseason Authored by Payam Jahromi - October 1, 2007 - 6:52 pm
The off-season is nearly over, and the jury is still out on how the Warriors did.
Their biggest move was on draft day, trading fan favorite Jason Richardson to the Bobcats for No.8 pick Brandan Wright.
It was speculated that the trade was the first step in a plan to acquire Kevin Garnett, but we know how that turned out.
As it stands now, the only significant moves this summer was that trade, the draft picks of Marco Belinelli and Stephane Lasme, re-signing Matt Barnes, and the free-agent signings of Austin Croshere and Troy Hudson. They also signed last year’s second-rounder, Kosta Perovic.
Adonal Foyle and Sarunas Jasikevicius were waived, and we’re still waiting to see if Mickael Pietrus will return. Most likely he will.
Given what we know, there are mixed results.
One can argue that the Warriors are undoubtedly worse than last season, losing one of their top three players for a guy who has never played an NBA game, not to mention the fact that Don Nelson doesn’t like to play rookies.
Perhaps the trade will benefit the team long term, but with Baron Davis in his prime, by the time Wright develops, it will be too late for Baron. So the Warriors have clearly taken a step backwards from last season, one may argue.
On the other hand, you can argue that the Warriors filled a need and traded a position in which they are deep and talented and can easily replace.
I tend to lean towards this argument. As much as I loved J-Rich, I think the Warriors can replace him for the most part with Belinelli and Monta Ellis. They may even have lineups where Hudson plays the point and Baron slides over to utilize his post-up ability. And in case of injuries, Kelenna Azubuike is a legit NBA shooting guard.
J-Rich was also not a Nellie-type of player. I would never question J-Rich’s heart and competitiveness, but it was his lack of ball handling and poor free-throw shooting that bothered Nellie. Also, J-Rich is not the most fluid player, and his natural feel for the game is not his strength.
In Nellie’s system, Jackson was more valuable than Richardson. And the way he’s talking up Belinelli – it sounds as if he will start at shooting guard over Ellis - the Warriors will be even better this year at that position. (Remember, Richardson was hurt most of last season).
Belinelli tore it up in the summer league, and Nelson has basically said that the Italian will be a star in the NBA. Coming from Nellie that’s a big statement since he’s normally not the type to glorify a player before he’s played an NBA game. Remember, he’s the guy who called Mike Dunleavy “a disaster” after the first game last season.
Baron Davis is supposedly lean and in the best shape of his career, again. Nellie is back and excited to “kick some butt.” Foyle is gone. Andris Biedrins and Ellis are a year older and (hopefully) better. Unlike last year, Jackson and Al Harrington will have the chance to go through training camp with this team.
So the Warriors should be better right? Not so fast. The Warriors lost to Utah in the playoffs because they got killed on the boards. Getting KG would have solved those problems, but that hole remains.
Croshere will help some, but if he’s playing any more than 12 minutes a game, that’s too many. Wright and Lasme should provide some rebounding in limited minutes, but they’re rookies. Harrington will never be a good rebounding power forward. Losing J-Rich, one of the best rebounding guards, doesn’t help either.
That leaves Biedrins. The Warriors’ center was 11th in the league in rebounding last season with a 9.3 average. But he did that in only 29 minutes per game because of foul trouble. No other player in the top 14 in rebounding averaged less than 31 minutes per game.
That means Andris must do a better job staying out of foul trouble. If he does, the Warriors become a better rebounding team. But that will still be their weakness.
All in all, the fact that Nellie is back makes me feel good about the Warriors. Their “small ball” may not take anybody by surprise like it did last year, but they have a talented team and a great coach. That’s always a recipe for success. |
