Overall Look At Warriors Can Do

The Golden State Warriors have six players as of the time of this article under contract:

PG CJ Watson

SG Marco Bellineli

SG/SF/PF Stephen Jackson

SF/PF Al Harrington

PF/C Brandan Wright

C Kosta Perovic

Then there are four players the Warriors have rights to:

PG/SG Monta Ellis

SF/PF Anthony Randolph

SF/PF Richard Hendrix

C Andris Biedrins

This in total gives the Warriors the following positions filled and players can be counted for multiple positions (Presumed Starters in BOLD):

2 PG (Monta Ellis/CJ Watson)

3 SG (Stephen Jackson/Marco Bellinelli/Monta Ellis)

4 SF (Al Harrington/Stephen Jackson/Anthony Randolph/Richard Hendrix)

5 PF (Brandan Wright/Al Harrington/Stephen Jackson/Richard Hendrix/Anthony Randolph)

3 C (Andris Biedrins/Brandan Wright/Kosta Perovic)

That’s with a total of 10 players under contract the Warriors are going to be forced to replace Baron Davis, but it is inconceivable that they replace him with one player.  They are going to be forced to sign atleast two to four players depending what they do with the players under contract.  Here is a diagnosis from position to position.

Guards:

When Baron Davis was still under contract the Warriors were planning on waiting a year to see what they could do with their Monta Ellis PG experiment.  Davis however opted out and forced the Warriors hand to be sped up a year on making their decision with Monta.  This has put them in quite the quandary.  If the Warriors believe that Monta Ellis could handle the guard position they don’t have to make a significant run at guys who they believe could run the point.  Let Monta Ellis run the point and see what happens, yes he may be a score first PG but wasn’t Baron Davis?  Baron knew how to find a shot for himself or how to drive and find the right guy for the shot.

But there is no concrete evidence Monta can run the point, yes he’s explosive and can score.  But how well can he run the pick and roll with Biedrins?  Can Monta drive and make the smart play like dishing out without being called for charges which he was much more famous for at the beginning of his career.  The safe answer is find a point guard who the Warriors could sign for 2 years and work alongside Monta.  The point guard will not have to be someone who plays 40 minutes, the Warriors need someone to run the ship 25-30 minutes.  Monta will play up near 40 minutes a game this season, but if Monta is going to be forced to be the point every game we’ll run him down. 

But we’re also forced to think about match-ups.  If Monta is the SG he’s a small SG, if the Warriors pair him up with another small PG they’ll be overpowered by teams with bigger guards.

Free Agents this year for Point Guard:

(U) – Unrestricted Free Agent and former team.

(R) –Restricted Free Agent and team who has rights to player.

 Salim Stoudamire (R) Atlanta Hawks

Sam Cassell (U) Boston Celtics

Eddie House (U) Boston Celtics

Earl Boykins (U)Charlotte Bobcats

Delonte West (R) Cleveland Cavaliers

Tyronn Lue (U) Dallas Mavericks

Anthony Carter (U) Denver Nuggets

Juan Dixon (U) Detroit Pistons

Lindsey Hunter (U) Detroit Pistons

Kelenna Azubuike (R) Golden State Warriors

Mickael Pietrus (U) Golden State Warriors

Marcus Williams (R) Los Angeles Clippers

Dan Dickau (U) Los Angeles Clippers

Shaun Livingston (U) Los Angeles Clippers

Smush Parker (U) Los Angeles Clippers

Juan Carlos Navarro (R) Memphis Grizzlies

Chris Quinn (R) Miami Heat

Jason Williams (U) Miami Heat

Royal Ivey (U) Milwaukee Bucks

Sebastian Telfair (U) Minnesota Timberwolves

Darrell Armstrong (U) New Jersey Nets

Jannero Pargo (U) New Orleans Hornets

Fred Jones (U) New York Knicks

Keyon Drooling (U) Orlando Magic

Andre Iguodala (R) Philadelphia 76ers

Anthony Johnson (U) Sacramento Kings

Damon Stoudamire (U) San Antonio Spurs

Roger Mason (U) Washington Wizards

Sorry Warriors fans there are no Baron Davisesque players on the board, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t players who can help. Sam Cassell is old but he can still dribble.  Eddie House won a championship maybe it’s that time in his career to help rebuild a team, again. 

Marcus Williams of the LA Clippers would be an interesting mix with Monta Ellis.  Williams has jumped around a bit from the Nets to Clippers but hasn’t found a solid home yet.  He’s a bigger PG who the Warriors should keep an eye since Williams is on the Clippers and they may be pinching pennies if they sign Elton Brand.   

A roll of the dice would be taking a flyer on Sebastian Telfair whose started off his NBA career with a ho-hum on the basketball court, but has made a bang on the off court.  He has been caught with a gun twice, one time had him cut from a team (the Celtics).  But Telfair has the tools to run an offense, his assist-to-turnover ratio has improved with every season.  Telfair has been through the fire and his maturity and understanding of the game seem to be blossoming.  He could also learn from someone who had some gun problems, Stephen Jackson.

Shaun Livingston could be a genius move by the Warriors if he works out or remind Warrior fans of Troy Hudson.  Livingston is young, 22 years old, but coming off an extremely serious injury.   February 2007 during a game Livingston injured almost every part of his knee, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), and the lateral meniscus, badly spraining his medial collateral ligament (MCL), and dislocating his patella and his tibia-femoral joint.  After all that Livingston is ready for his comeback, he has said himself there is rust but he said give him 82 games and he should be ready to go.

Kelenna Azubuike was a great player for the Warriors; he was a solid 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th man.  I want him back, the more I think about it the more I realize it won’t happen.  From what it sounds like the Warriors plan on making Marco Belinelli a bigger part of their future.  They want Belinelli to play and if Azubuike is there he’ll just clog up the SG position which is Belinelli’s spot.  Azubuike can’t run the point and the Warriors don’t need more SFs so this makes Azubuike the odd man out. 

Mickael Pietrus was so inconsistent it was silly.  He can rebound great.  He can defend with the best of them.  He can shoot, sometimes, er…kind of.  Can he dribble? No.  Did you ever see Pietrus grab a defensive rebound and take off the other way?  Nope. He wouldn’t even dribble once, Pietrus cannot do the number one thing Nelson looks for in a Forward.  No dribbling skills, which gives Anthony Randolph the Warriors #1 draft pick a big plus one over Pietrus.   

Andre Iguodala has been the most rumored restricted free agent, but there are too many things that need to happen for the Warriors to acquire him.  The 76ers have a good chunk of change to match any offer the Warriors give Iguodala, the 76ers may need to commit a lot of money to other areas and hope nobody (the Warriors) throws cash Iggy’s way.  The Warriors would have to avoid overpaying him as well, but if they could pair him with Monta Ellis the Warriors would have an extremely athletic and dynamic back-court.  Instantly helping all Warrior fans forget who Boom Dizzle ever was.

My last PG I think the Warriors should look at? Roger Mason of the Washington Wizards, a big guard who filled in time for the injured guard Gilbert Arenas and he gained a huge fan during that time.  Gilbert.  No he’s not a true PG but he’s a guy who is athletic and can play basketball. 

Most of the guys I talked about could come at a cheap rate, except Iguodala.  All the others are players the Warriors will be looking at to help out in their back court.

Forwards:

The Warriors have a stock pile of Forwards, but a thin stockpile.  Which is why making a run at Elton Brand makes lots of sense.  Brand would give them an instant inside force; he can post up with his back to the basket which was completely lost when Davis left.  But the chances of Brand leaving the Clippers for the Warriors seem like a pipe dream.

So what do the Warriors do if Brand doesn’t come here?  The Warriors have lots of swingmen, guys who can handle the ball, but also some stick figures and one bulked up rookie.  So what do the Warriors need?  Most likely a PF, they don’t need anymore SFs.

Free Agents at Forward:

(U) – Unrestricted Free Agent and former team.

(R) –Restricted Free Agent and team who has rights to player.

Josh Smith (R) Atlanta Hawks

Tony Allen (U) Boston Celtics

PJ Brown (U) Boston Celtics

Emeka Okafor (R) Charlotte Bobcats

Othella Harrington (U) Charlotte Bobcats

Juwan Howard (U) Dallas Mavericks

Jamaal Magloire (U) Dallas Mavericks

Eduardo Najera (U) Denver Nuggets

Jarvis Hayes (U) Detroit Pistons

Theo Ratliff (U) Detroit Pistons

Austin Croshere (U) Golden State Warriors

Carl Landry (R) Houston Rockets

Brian Skinner (U) Phoenix Suns

Lorenzo Wright (U) Sacramento Kings

Against what a list of players, I did skip some names but that’s because I’ve never heard of them so you shouldn’t either.  The obvious is Josh Smith, who is going to be tricky to acquire since he’s a restricted free agent.  But he could step into the Warriors roster and make an immediate impact.  He is an athletic big man who can handle the ball, shoot from outside 15 feet, as well as rebound and block shots.   Smith who is 22 years old would add another young player to an already very young roster.  The Warriors will be looking Smith’s direction if Brand turns them down, they will have to watch how much cash they throw to Josh Smith. 

The thing that hasn’t been brought up is how either Brand or Smith could help/hurt Brandan Wright’s development.  If you bring a guy like Brand along who is 29 and been in the league for almost 10 years Wright could learn a lot from Brand.  Brand is look up to in the NBA as a smart, sincere, and great player.  Josh Smith on the other hand is looked at as a head case, brash, young player.  Smith wouldn’t be showing Wright more of the ropes of the league; instead Stephen Jackson would be taking Smith under his wing to show him how to lead. 

 Emeka Okafor is player whose been left on in the back of the room during this whole free agent period.  He has remained quiet about his actions as have the Charlotte Bobcats for that matter.  Would he fit in the Warriors plans? Possibly, especially if they fail to sign Andris Biedrins because then the Warriors would be dying for a Center.  But also there have been talks of teaming him up with Biedrins which would make lots of sense on the defensive and rebounding end.  But on the offensive end the Warriors would have two big guys who really can handle the ball much and have a shooting range of 5 feet.

If the Warriors fail to land any significant big men free agents, look for the Warriors to sign some stop gap big men for a year just to help Brandan Wright out like: Brian Skinner, Theo Ratliff, Eduardo Najera, or even bring back Austin Croshere.

Conclusion:

The Warriors season will be riding on the two free agents the Warriors sign because that will pave the way for Al Harrington’s future.  Harrington is going to be the Warriors trade bait for the summer and depending on who they sign will help the Warrior garner the idea of who to acquire via trade.  The Warriors won’t be replacing Baron Davis anytime soon, but they have great young pieces who they were hoping to groom slowly this year with Baron around.  But now we may be seeing the younger guys stepping out a little bit earlier then the Warriors expected. 

Depending on the next seven days in the NBA expect for the Warriors to make some noise, whether it’s an enormous splash or a small dive.  But you can trust one thing the Warriors will be improving; they are not built for 2008-2009.  Sorry Warriors fans, the Warriors were built for Baron to leave this next season not now.  By doing that Baron has forced the Warriors to go in directions they didn’t want to go in until 2009.  This is not a transition year for the Warriors then is a revamping year.  Monta Ellis will learn how to lead a team, Stephen Jackson will be teaching him how to lead, Brandan Wright will take his first baby step towards Chris Bosh status, Marco Belinelli will make at least 50 3pts this season, and Andris Biedrins will live up to the contract he signs this off-season.

All in all the Warriors have lots of work to do, and for the first time in a long time it looks like things are on their way up.