2011-2012 Season should be the End Game

by warriorsscore110 on Dec 14, 2009 11:36 AM PST Comment 21 comments

The Warriors are in midst of another season where we are headed to another high lottery pick. Nothing new here, but what do we do to fix the problem? Making 1 trade or firing our coach won't make us an elite Western Conference team. We need to establish a long term plan. 2011-2012, that season should be our end game. We are not going to the playoffs this season, and odds are that we won't make it next season either. Let's start formulating a plan to make to the playoffs in the near future and a plan to stay there. Plan of Attack:

This Season

-Trade Corey Maggette

Sounds impossible, right? It just depends what we are asking for. A combination of Maggette and expiring contracts for 2011 expiring contracts could be enticing to many teams especially if we agree to take back worthless players. Examples

-Maggette and expiring contracts for Eddie Curry and Jared Jeffries, and possibly Wilson Chandler.

-Maggette and expiring contracts for Michael Redd.

-Maggette and expiring contracts for Peja Stojakovich

The idea is if we are asking for no talent back, and contracts that don't expire till the end of next season and offering those teams salary relief at the end of this season, it might not be as hard to move him as thought possible.

-Trade CJ Watson

If we offer expiring contracts plus CJ Watson and be willing to take back contracts that don't expire till 2011, getting a late first rounder will be simple, we might be able to score additional first or second round draft picks.

Off Season

-Seek replacements for Nellie and his entourage

Nellie is a great coach and he is going to be gone after the 2010-2011 season at the latest. If there is a better coach available at the time, pick him up. If not a suitable candidate is available, simple wait till the end of the following season. When Nellie leaves, it's time for Riley and Smart and the rest of the Nellie regime to leave as well. The general manager position would have to be filled to, so start looking for candidates either this offseason or next.

-Draft the best player available

Take the player that has the most overall talent available and worry about fitting our pieces together. It's time to take the risky high potential players.

-Give Anthony Morrow the QO

By giving Anthony Morrow the QO, he would still be a restricted free agent at the end of the 2011 season with a cap hold of fewer than 2 million dollars. If a team signs him to an offer sheet, we will have to match it, but hopefully we can skate by with keeping him on the books for cheap at the moment. In the 2011 summer, we can sign him to a long term lucrative deal after exhausting our cap space.

-Don't use the Mid-Level or Bi-Annual exception to sign a long term deal

Save our cap space for the following summer. Fill out the roster with veterans at the minimum and D-Leaguers. Use the MLE only if a player is willing to sign for only 1 season.

-Try to trade Monta Ellis

In the much hyped 2010 free agent ‘bonanza' there will be many teams that walk away empty handed. If any of those teams want to grab Ellis for expiring contracts and draft picks, it might be the perfect opportunity to sell while Ellis's stock is at its highest.

Next Season

-Trade Vladimir Radmanovic, Ronny Turiaf, Brandan Wright, and Kelenna Azibuike

Trade these guys during the season to any contenders that want some help. Pick up expiring contracts and draft picks. If unsuccessful at trading them, they will come off the books at the end of the season. Radmanovic can have some value as a backup wing player. Turiaf is signed for the following season at a little over 4 million (PO) but that's not an overpay for a quality backup big man. Wright would still only be 22 and any team that picks him would have him as a restricted free agent at the end of that season. There might be a few teams that would give an end of the first round pick for Wright. Azibuike can net us a late first rounder as an expiring contract and as a solid swing man.

2011 Off Season

We would hopefully have a couple of draft picks in this draft; ours would almost definitely be a lottery pick. By the time free agency comes around we would have only the following number on the books: Biedrins, Curry, Randolph, and Morrows QO number, along with 2 or so draft picks form the 2010 draft, and 2 or so draft picks from the 2011 draft. 2011 free agent class will not be as stocked as the 2010 free agency class, but there will be several young good players to add to our young nucleus, especially if we are one of the few teams that have the salary cap space available to make a run at these players.

Will this happen, probably not. Rob Rowell and Chris Cohan don't have the desire to see a loss at the gate for a better future, and they both definitely don't have the clout to ask the Warrior fans to be patient. While Nellie and Riley speak a good game when talking about preparing the team for the future, I find it hard to see Nellie embrace a complete rebuilding project his last 2 seasons as a coach. But since the Warriors are only a successful team in my imagination land, here is my scenario to fix the Warriors in an imaginary scenario where I the Warriors both wanted to be a successful franchise and was consulting me on how to do it.

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!

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Comments

I liked it up until next season. I still have hope for Brandan Wright and Turiaf might like it here enough to just resign with us for cheap once his contract is up. I just think it’s a bit too early to decide to trade them and Buike right now.

by samuraaaaiiiiiii on Dec 14, 2009 1:28 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

You do realize all this requires vision.

Oh and a long term plan, not the reactionary desperation “fix” that the FO has been doing for the last two years.

"If God made us in his image then he must be dumb too, and a little ugly on the side."

Frank Zappa

by qin on Dec 14, 2009 2:22 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

You do know that

Wright- out for the season
Buike- Played 9 games, out for the season
Bell- Played 1 game, out 3-6 months
Andris- played 4 games, TBA
Turiaf- played 4 games, TBA

We have zero inside offensive game and right now we’re losing because if our shots don’t fall, we don’t score. Overall the team is not playing bad, we just need some solid bigs. I personally don’t think Andris and Turiaf are the answer, but a Amare, Bosh or Boozer caliber player would instantly put us in the run for the playoffs.

by VERY VERY BUSY on Dec 14, 2009 2:24 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

AMEN.

Its not that complicated. We’ve had plenty opportunites to win games (6 we should’ve won!) but it came down to taking care of the basket inside. Second chance points are killing us. A solid PF/C would definitely put us in the playoff run. It would create more open shots and more opportunies for our young team to score without Ellis getting triple teamed everytime he drives to the basket.

by calz on Dec 14, 2009 3:47 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

how are we going to get that player with the roster as constructed? and do you really believe that amare (and the max contract it’d likely take to bring him here) would make this team a contender? there needs to be a long term plan that’s dedicated to bringing in a couple great players. i’m not interested in locking this team into a battle for the last couple playoff spots, i’d rather roll the dice and blow it up.

give us a chance at building a contender, not just a decent team. adding a single all-star does not accomplish that, all it does is keep us from thinking bigger.

heart of a champion, will of the warrior.

by cap'n hack on Dec 14, 2009 5:55 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

how can you say that adding an all-star would not make us a contender when we have not even seen the Warriors play without a single injured player this year? I was just agreeing that we should focus on getting a solid big because we’ve had opportunities to win games but ended up losing because of second chance points and not having enough bigs to protect the paint. getting an all-star caliber big would be a good start. maybe we can use our expiring contracts and future drafts and get rid of maggette’s contract at the same time.

by calz on Dec 14, 2009 8:23 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

IN THEORY...

(and i’m gonna disclaimer i am not supporting or denying this). If we got Amare for say Biedrins and Expirings and #1 pick (probably the only offer we’d make these days).

Our lineup would read: Ellis 24, Curry 21, Buike 26, Amare 27, Randolph 20. It’s irrelevant who is the 4 or 5. Randolph can run w/ Amare and clean up the boards when Amare is lazy. Amare is an elite scoring big. Having that presense, open 3s should come easier for Curry, Morrow and buike, who all shoot 3pts at a very good rate. This will open even more driving lanes for monta, and the simple fact of having another elite offensive player will lessen the burden and make him more effective. He can expend less energy on offense, and commit more to defense (something he seems to like to do). With turiaf, Wright on the bench we have enough size to mix and match on different teams and more importantly keep the bigs fresh.

More so look at the age of the other 4 starters (sans Amare). All are VERY young. Amare @27 is not young but then again he’s not old. At 27 you think he has probably a 5 year window before inevitable decline. So during the next 5 years, can the other 4 develop to the level that the team can challenge? Maybe? Monta is on the cusp of being an all star caliber player. If you add an Amare next to him probably elevates him in both reputation and sheer fact he doesn’t have to take 30 shots. Curry has shown the ability to develop quick, morrow’s growth has surprised me too, but either way he can elite open shots and with a all star post player he’ll get those shots. and you go down the line player by player. Truth be told i think we have alot of good roll players. Players like Buike, Morrow would have reputations like Ariza had last year when truthfully you can say they are better at many things.

Not saying i agree with it. For Amare specifically, the injuries scare me. but you can make the case, an all star big who fits the system can easily elevate this team immediately to playoffs, and in the next few years pushing to the top half of west. Is Monta + Bosh + warriors worse than BRoy + Lamarcus and Portland? Deron Williams and boozer-less Utah. Melo and Denver? (Chauncey is 34). San Antonio isn’t getting younger. Sure it can’t beat the lakers. but as of now. Who is the west can?

by tafkasam on Dec 14, 2009 8:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

well, for starters, let me just say that i think amare is terribly overrated. adding a no defense, scorer who doesn’t rebound particularly well doesn’t cure what ails us.

bosh would be the a much more interesting question, but i still don’t see it. we aren’t getting him for biedrins plus expirings, so we’d have to throw in another young piece and a pick. so, we’re left with bosh (an all-star, not quite a superstar) and a bunch of young guys who are good, but not great. that just doesn’t scream contender to me. unless we’re really sold on curry making the leap, or randolph realizing all that potential and becoming a scoring threat. at this point, yeah monta’s young, but how much better do we expect him to get? do we think he develops point guard skills? will he rediscover his ability to score efficiently? i really don’t know.

that’s a lot of ifs to take this team that is bad right now, less bad when healthy (though probably not a playoff team), and making it a contender by upgrading one of our best players. we need more talent all over, but i’m not sold that going from biedrins to bosh is enough to make us a contender in the west.

we need bosh and another great player to get to contender status and without ditching some contracts, that’s not possible.

heart of a champion, will of the warrior.

by cap'n hack on Dec 14, 2009 8:52 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Michael Redd

I was ognna post that. This would be a good course of action. Of course we all know about his injury situation. However if he stays healthy, he can be highly effective player to help monta w/ the scoring load. If he stays hurt he can like T-Mac more or less injurance covered.

Michael redd might even be so untradeable for milwaukee they’d throw in illysova. mbah amoute or delfino. (Unlikely but i can hope)

by tafkasam on Dec 14, 2009 2:33 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Can't think if a team who made that many

wholesale changes and became anything other than a perpetautal mess. Trading the whole team is hardly the answer.

by crab dribble cocktail on Dec 14, 2009 8:15 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Worked well for boston

Also worked for us w/ we believe (now exploding the team was a mistake). but you can find many examples. Point is its not making changes thats the problem. It’s making BAD changes.

by tafkasam on Dec 14, 2009 8:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

problem is..

people want to go to boston.
boston has a good coach.
boston has great GM’s.

we are the opposite.

by Am22mO on Dec 14, 2009 9:56 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Boston’s GM, Danny Ainge, wasn’t considered a good GM until he made the big moves in 2007.

Doc Rivers lost winning percentage in Boston decreased every year until they made the big moves in 2007.

“People” didn’t really want to go to Boston until they all talked about teaming up there. Once they did it, everyone wanted in.

by samuraaaaiiiiiii on Dec 14, 2009 10:16 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Doc Rivers’ ~~lost~~ winning percentage in Boston decreased every year until they made the big moves in 2007.

by samuraaaaiiiiiii on Dec 14, 2009 10:30 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

KG didn’t want to go to boston until they got ray allen via trade. the coach and GM hadn’t changed, it was bringing in another talented player. you could argue that KG suddenly saw ainge as a great GM after the allen trade, but it’d be much harder to say that doc rivers seemed a whole lot better after that deal happened.

acquire talent and people will want to play there. boston was hardly a great destination before making trades to bring in better players. if we made a couple great trades that catapulted us into contender status, i find it hard to believe that we’d struggle to find players who want to play here.

heart of a champion, will of the warrior.

by cap'n hack on Dec 14, 2009 10:16 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

They did'nt have 15 years of sucking

We do.

Rookie: "Why did you bench me?"
Nellie: "You're a rookie"

by dubzfan on Dec 15, 2009 10:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

You want everyone gone?I agree with that but...

Turiaf,Azubuike and Wright is a very important piece to this team.
Besides Wright,players like Azubuike and Turiaf are very hard to find in this league at that price.Also,their contracts aren’t even bloated.

by Cpt. Jack in the Box on Dec 14, 2009 11:32 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Do we keep our #1 pick nect year if we get the top pick

I would say our chances are good right now, but I cant remember if we sent that pick away in a previous deal

by warriorsvictim on Dec 15, 2009 10:04 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

I like the plan

That’s definitely a solid approach to correctly building a competitive team. Get rid of waste and keep contracts short and minimal until we land a superstar(s) by draft or trade.

The problem is that Warriors management could never stand for that. This is still a business and they still need to put fans in the seats. Short contract players and D-Leaguers do not put fans in the seats. The high-dollar high-scoring Corey Maggette’s and Monta Ellis’s of the association do.

I’m sure the FO was well aware that Maggette wasn’t going to bring a championship to the Bay Area, but they had to do something after Baron left so that the STH’s would renew.

"We Deserve"

by YaHeard on Dec 15, 2009 2:34 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Heres the deal

There needs to be massive change, first things first Warriors fans arent going to get the ultimate dream of no more Cohan. Cohan though could wisen up and do what the Knicks did. The knicks since the reign of Isaah Thomas have sucked and the terrible free agent signings and trades that Thomas did do(decent at actual drafting). What did they do to Thomas, they canned him. They hired a new GM in Donnie Walsh and a talented coach and had a vision. They basically told there fans were going to suck, but come 2010 our fates are going to turn around due to their plan. Their plan could fail and you know what, they gave their team probally the best chance to become a contender.

I feel most warrior fans have some basketball sense and if the management team came out with a vision we would definitely show to the games. So yes they need a clean sweep of Riley and Rowell, and get rid of Nelson.

On the player side of things. their is only one really bad deal and that is Maggettes. I agree we aim for 2011 with the deals that we get back because we will be a stronger market for talented players. I am for any deal that gives capspace in 2011 for Corey Maggette.

Furthermore, this is the time to trade Maggette and expirings, because he is playing decent ball and many teams are trying to get in the 2010 bonanza free agent market.

For the rest of this season, we need to start the young guys and let them develop together, like other franchises have done(notable examples Trailblazers and Thunder)

And finally as all warriors fan should do, is pray that somehow the warriors get lucky in the draft lottery and not screw it up.

by Oracle Junkie on Dec 16, 2009 3:22 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs