Baron Davis (shockingly) Opts Out
by Atma Brother ONE on Jun 30, 2008 10:48 PM PDT
in News
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I honestly didn't see this one coming at all. I can't believe this is happening. His Boomness Baron Davis has opted out of his contract. What in the name of Recall-Cohan.com is going on?
This ain't a vivrant thang.
Jump for a few quick thoughts.
- For some reason much of the local media and even some delusional fans are suspiciously looking to run Baron Davis out of town. GSoM is tight with many of these good people, but seriously what the Dizzle is their problem? I'm honestly sick of hearing people saying things like it's time to let BD go so that Monta can play the 1. After a decade of serious suckitude the Warriors finally get an elite player with uncanny court vision and handles and people want to run him out of town in favor of an undersized 2-guard who can't defend Jud Buechler (right now)? But I guess you can't expect much when many of these same people still think they're "saving money" with the Warriors' silly and cheap Jason Richardson trade last offseason.
- Take away Baron Davis and Chris Mullin and Robert Rowell are quite possibly fielding the worst team in the league. Not even Nellie can save them like he has the past 2 years.
- I don't know exactly what Mullin, Rowell, and Chris Cohan aka "the worst owner in all of sports" said to BD the past few months, but they really must have pissed him off.
- I could be proven completely wrong when it's all said and done, but it doesn't seem like Baron's agent is giving his client good advice at all. Leaving $17.8 million of guaranteed money on the table in this day and age of NBA caponomics doesn't seem smart at all. This ain't your parent's board game of RISK.
- The time's ticking on the $10 million trade exception... Assuming Cohan and crew don't use the trade exception, the J-Rich trade was simply made so that he could trim the payroll and avoid the luxury tax a little bit more carefully. The trade wasn't made to simply re-sign the Warriors talented, but deeply flawed and wildly overrated young talents Monta Ellis (most insiders will tell you the Warriors spent the early part of this past season trying to package Monta with Al Harrington for a big man) and Andris Biedrins (yes, that same guy Nellie doesn't trust to play big minutes). It was made to save some dough. Plain and simple. It wasn't a basketball decision.
- Minus Baron Davis and an unlikely major trade or free agent signing the 2008-2009 Golden State Warriors are going to be... "UNWATCHABLE BABY!"
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c'mon
Brandan Wright is an extremely promising young player. He might be able to help an NBA team win some games someday.
The Bobcats’ record with J-Rich was one game worse than it’d been the previous year, and that was despite the huge boost of Adam Morrison being unable to play. J-Rich is a fine scorer, good rebounder for a guard, and has a killer smile. But B-plus two-guards like him don’t get you anywhere.
I loved J-Rich, but I would absolutely rather have Brandan Wright than him. I will never chalk that trade up as a mistake by Mullin, Cohan or anyone. It was a basketball decision, and a good one.
by onlxn on Jun 30, 2008 11:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Hang on a sec
O.K., your right in saying the J-rich trade was made to save money. Stupid move I think and you seem to agree with me. But, you cannot say Monta Ellis is over rated. The guy is under rated if anything. It is so rare to find a young guard who shoots 50+% from the field, but also scores in great volume. He has also shown flashes of a great assist man but has never been put in the position to look for it. He is not “deeply flawed” in really any area of his game. Sure he has areas to improve on (defense, three point shooting, handles) but his improvement in his midrange game and cutting down on turnovers shows us he is able to overcome his faults. And, who wouldn’t have wanted to trade Monta the early part of last season. He had an awful playoffs and a slow beginning of the year. (it is a wonder he still averaged around 20 pts per game)
I will say this, I would rather be able to resign Monta now than have J-rich for another couple of years.
Playoffs!!??
by PAWarrior on Jun 30, 2008 11:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I thought
Mullin was gonna leave for NY?! Now BD might. I wish I could cuss on this site. Monta has no 3pt shot people. Quit praising him. Baron is good, just not good with Don Nelson. I WILL NOT TAKE ANOTHER 13 YEARS OF NO PLAYOFF SEASONS DAMN IT.
by thecitygirl on Jul 1, 2008 12:42 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
whatever
let me tell you something,monta ellis ist the last person to talk about, the kid is in his early 20’s, he is the fastest player in the league, scores 20 a game, finishes at the rim like dwyane wade, and has a polished mid range jumper, if you talk about anybody it would baron for opting out, but he’ll regret it when he’s back in the lottery next year with the clippers
by controlledchaos on Jul 1, 2008 7:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
wow you guys really like to complain
If we kept J Rich’s salary, we couldn’t keep Monta and AB without going over the luxury tax line. Being unwilling to go over the luxury tax line is not being cheap. Just about every team in the league is unwilling to go over the luxury tax line, so calling Cohan cheap is calling almost every owner cheap – which wouldn’t make sense since the adjective cheap is used to describe someone in comparison with the norm amount of spending. Stop saying Cohan’s cheap. He’s not.
Also, I can see why Baron’s agent suggested for Baron to opt out. He’ll definitely make less money this year, but he’s coming off of a career season – a season in which he was reasonably healthy for the first time in years – so it makes a lot of sense to lock up a multi-year contract now and not risk his value decreasing if he has another injury-plagued season next season.
It's almost like the Warriors have 6 guys out there... they always have a guy open! - Jon Barry commentating game 3 last year
by gsw4life on Jul 1, 2008 3:45 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Agreed
He (Cohan) built a new practice facility and redid the Arena into the Oracle. He paid 2 horrible contracts to Dun Dun and Murphy.
I love J-Rich but I have to agree that the trade was worth it, barring the use of the trade exception. We need to use it and I highly doubt we couldn’t deal the TE to the Grizz for 1 of their many guards.
by gunwing54 on Jul 1, 2008 4:20 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
This post sounds more like a reaction instead of something thought provoking so I’ll just say these points:
1) I too don’t understand why there are people out there trying to run B Diddy out of town. Not going to name any names (talking about media) but it’s both unreasonable and borderline pathetic.
2) I wouldn’t call a Baron-less Warriors the “worst team”, I’m sure we’d still be better than most of the [L]Eastern Conf. Saying that we’d be demoted like that is an exaggeration.
3) Leaving $17mil on the table really begs the question of what Mully/Cohan offered BD. I guess Geoff Lepper was right and Bob Fitz was wrong about this whole situation when Geoff of the CC times said the Warriors were lowballing BD and Fitz borderline accused Geoff of starting a conspiracy theory and stating that BD absolutely WILL NOT opt out.
by gunwing54 on Jul 1, 2008 4:18 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
did Baron do Mullin a favor or few?
first, with the news about Baron opting out the whole TPE thang gets pushed to the back pages, or bottom of the column
second, with Mullin’s appreciation for financial “flexibility” (see his initial comments re TPE) Boom just gave him what he wanted
third, while I don’t believe it will happen for one second, the new found flexibility allows GS the option to add someone, then sign Baron, then sign our RFAs
fourth, by opting out now Baron saves Mullin the indignity of not being able to fleece another club ala Indy at the trade deadline and look bad. Now he can start from scratch and do it all on his own without anyone to blame. He also gets the credit.
see, the emperor really doesn’t have any clothes
by hardcore on Jul 1, 2008 7:21 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Way ta go Mully
From the guy who gave Dunleavy, Murphy, Foyle, and J-Rich huge max or near-max money extensions I can understand the trepidation, but I really think Mully is shooting the franchise in the foot with this one.
There are only 3 other playemakers who make their teammates better by being on the court ,currently in the league (LeBron, Nash, CP3), and Cris wants to piss off the only one he has a realistic chance of signing. Brilliant.
I know the media “experts” think BD’s injury problems of the past make him a risk with a 4 or 5 year deal, but answer me this, what are the warriors prospects at getting another A-list star in the Bay during that 5 year window??? Monta could develop into one, but you can sign him and Baron irregardless of their combined cap number with the current NBA cap rules. The other chances are LeBron in 2010 (fat chance), and some kid who’s probably still a sophomore in high school.
In the interim, having Baron under contract makes the Ws a playoff contender every year.
As a long time warriors fan I am sick of seeing great talent come through our Bay Area revolving door. How many more times are we going to fail to make the commitment to great yet flawed talent (Chaimberlain, Parrish, Webber, Spreewell, Arenas) to save a few bucks.
I guess that Mully, Cohan and company value staying below the cap above all else. That being said, I don’t think I’ll be returning my warriors season ticket agents calls anytime soon.
by rudenessq on Jul 1, 2008 1:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
5 years is too long
The warriors will miss baron next year and maybe the next. Baron has no chance however, to help the clippers in years 3-5 of that contract. The guy gets hurt far too often, breaks down and now he thinks he’s a movie star. Kindah reminds me of the mistakes the dodgers made signing Kevin brown and Jason Schmidt. They sign guys for far too long, for waaay too much money and end up getting burned. Fine with me!! Go Warriors! Go Giants!
by truckin on Jul 2, 2008 3:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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