More Questions than Answers about Mullin Matters

by hardcore on Apr 4, 2009 10:50 AM PDT Comment 15 comments

As the season draws to another unceremonious close, the Mullin era also seems be to receding as quietly as the tide – there’s been nary an interview nor announcement in months - I wonder how the fans and organization will react to his departure.

How will his term as GM be seen? Will fans skewer him for his missed draft opportunities and poor contract extensions that littered the road? Or will most forget the misses, rationalize the picks, and excuse the mistakes as Randolph’s rise in the near future joins the Ellis pick to leave the hope of brighter future ahead?

via d.yimg.com

What type of send off, if any will occur? Will the organization have the good taste to acknowledge the former player and one of the longer termed GMs in the franchise history with some type of public appreciation, or have the past year’s developments left too bitter a taste to put aside? Would Mullin participate even if a send-off were offered? Would fans take it upon themselves?

via www.thatguycanhelladraw.com

What role if any will he play in the draft? Will be interesting to see who represents GSW at the lottery. When does his contract end, and if after the draft would he have any input – would it be valued? Would he even bother? Several possible trade scenarios circled the previous drafts, will the cloud over Mullin’s role at this time impair potential deals?

via cdn0.sbnation.com

Wonder what the real state of the Mully-Nellie relationship is these days? Did the former coach now employee of the former player come to his rescue a couple summers ago only to turn on his young buddy and stab him in the back? Will we ever know what really happened between these two men who had so much of an impact on our franchise?

via www.nba.com

Will long time GSW fans remember him more fondly as a player, a member of the Dream Team, or more for his GM era? There’s been quite a nostalgic aura about the short-lived Run TMC "era" and the even shorter "We Believe" Warriors. Which might Mullin be most remembered for – his past as player or more recent past as GM?

via news.bbc.co.uk

How will the Media depict the Mullin era? Certainly some columnists and radio personalities have staked some claims, but one wonders if there are stories left untold – either good or bad – that will impact the last impressions we have of his tenure.

via www.nba.com

Really, just curious about what GSoMers are thinking –

via www.nba.com

- as Mullin leaves, are we better off as a franchise than when he arrived? If so, are we enough better to appraise his GM era positively, or has the franchise wallowed and in worse shape?

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

Mullin was hired officially in Oct 2004. In 2003/2004 our leading scorers were JRIch, Van Exel, Dampier, Cliff Robinson and Dunleavey. How can you say that this team is not WAY better than that team?

by hurricane225 on Apr 4, 2009 11:11 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

It can be argued that this team is currently worse than that team.

I pray i never have to use a gun again...

...unless i'm at a strip club parking lot...

...and somebody tries to run me over with their car...

...But how often does that happen??

by ssmokinjoe on Apr 4, 2009 12:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

currently: yes. but it is set up for the future better. not a particularly high bar to jump over, though. mullin was/is a pretty good gm who replaced a really bad gm. he looks great by comparision, but is just middle of the road. i’m glad we got a middle of the road gm, but i’m looking for better. just like anyone, he’s made some good and some bad moves, end result: a decent tenure as gm. he wasn’t going to make this team a title contender and that really should be the goal. as much a i like him, i won’t be too devastated to see him go. unless whoever comes in next is terrible…

heart of a champion, will of the warrior.

by cap'n hack on Apr 4, 2009 12:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

but it is set up for the future better

don’t know about that – financially we’re not unless we make some serious moves to clear the contracts of either Crawford, Maggette, and/or Jackson, and unless we can we see the roster is what it is plus marginal changes from a draft choice this year and next … admittedly that’s not all Mullin’s fault

by hardcore on Apr 4, 2009 1:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

reply to cap'n hack

by hardcore on Apr 4, 2009 1:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

agreed

those contracts are a problem, a big one. i just put up a post that included one option for crawford being to just tell him that he’s not getting any pt here next year or the year after and try to force him out. if you don’t play for two years, it’s tough to find a taker when looking for another contract. that could solve that problem.

as for maggette, that one isn’t as bad as a lot of people think. he’s overpaid, no doubt there, but he does produce. once he got healthy (and hopefully, when he gets healthy again) he played really well. i’d look to deal him because of how much money we have tied up in a guy with injury problems, but when he’s been healthy, he’s produced.

jackson, well, the only thing that you can say in this situation is that mullin didn’t do it. it was dumb, but it was a rowell move. now i’m upset thinking about that contract…

heart of a champion, will of the warrior.

by cap'n hack on Apr 4, 2009 1:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Craw opting out is too good to hope for imo, and pulling a Marbury on him is tough – for one, Marbury had worn out his welcome in the clubhouse and fans while Craw hasn’t been nearly the cancer Starbury was. Plus, we need productive scorers if we’re going to stay with run&gun – I know, I know, he’s not an efficiently productive scorer but he can put up points in bunches. If we have his contract on the books and can’t replace him, at least let’s get some mileage out of the tires by bringing him in off the bench for Monta & Jackson.

but am with you on Maggette- have been since the signing (which was rough to defend during the middle of the season!) … my recollection was jackson and craw were RR’s moves (with Nelson’s blowup of Al) and therefore would not be part of my evaluation of Mullin – in fact I thought up to summer of 2008 he’d done more poorly than good overall, then I liked his moves last summer (offered a decent extension to Baron that RR vetoed, Turiaf, Maggette once Baron bolted, etc.).

by hardcore on Apr 4, 2009 2:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

it might be enough (for crawford) to just tell him to expect 5 minutes or so per game. in fact, that might even work better considering what that’d do to his per game averages. but yeah, it’s tough to strongarm a guy like that when he’s, by all accounts, very nice and a good clubhouse guy. he always seems personable in interviews and all, but i just think we’d need to play hardball with him for the sake of the team. make the situation as undesirable as possible. it’s brutal, but it might be absolutely necessary.

and of course, since we agree on maggette, it’s probably safe to say that of any of our long term deals to vets, he’s the most movable. and while he’s productive, it’ll be him that’s out the door for the sake of getting away from the tax.

heart of a champion, will of the warrior.

by cap'n hack on Apr 4, 2009 2:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Difficult to judge...

for the moment because there is no real clear line as to when he stopped making the decisions. Until last summer I thought we was doing a decent job. He had his fair share of mistakes but he took on a very tough job and he did improve the situation.

Things like the Crawford trade and the Jackson extension could tip the scales but not until we know for sure how much he had to do with them.

Thing 2

by olympicmike on Apr 4, 2009 1:56 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Hell, I have no beef about last summer, either. The Monta, Biedrins, ‘Buike and Turiaf signings were all good, Randolph turns out to have been a very strong pick and Morrow was a great find. The Maggette signing has been discussed ad nauseam… I don’t think it was great, but it was by no means disastrous, and he’s returned more value than almost any other ’08 free agent signing so far (the future is of course the question). The Marcus Williams trade was a mistake, but not a big one, in the scheme of things.

I don’t think the summer was necessarily brilliantly handled — Baron opting out obviously caught us flat-footed, and the Arenas offer was absurd — but we came out of it very, very well. This franchise was in very good shape until 1) Monta got hurt, 2) Al turned into Crawford, and 3) Jack got extended. Even now, our future is brighter than our record suggests.

Obviously none of us know who was calling the shots this summer. But it was a vastly more successful summer than most people seem to realize, so if Mullin was involved, it should only enhance his reputation.

by onlxn on Apr 4, 2009 2:40 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Last summer...

I wasn’t trying to say that last summer was a disaster. My point was that is when the lines got blurry. We could find out that the only thing Mullin had to do with was extending Jackson, trading for Marcus and trading for Crawford. I doubt that is the case but I’m sure you can understand my being cautious before passing judgment.

Thing 2

by olympicmike on Apr 4, 2009 3:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, absolutely. I have no idea how to assign credit or blame for any of that. Just saying that the summer wasn’t any kind of disaster, so it shouldn’t really be a data point against anybody.

by onlxn on Apr 4, 2009 3:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Seems like the consensus around here was that the following moves could be attributable to:

- Rowell vetoed Mullin’s 3yr/$39m offer to Baron after which BD bolted
http://www.examiner.com/x-441-Golden-State-Warriors-Examiner~y2008m10d4-Its-clear-that-team-president-Robert-Rowell-is-making-some-of-Warriors-basketball-decisions?cid=exrss-Golden-State-Warriors-Examiner
also
http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2009/3/17/800862/polling-gsom-was-robert-ro

Mullin snagged Morrow after seeing him in the summer league:
http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2008/9/30/625798/warriors-on-the-web-traini

Mullin signed Turiaf who, despite FJ’s initial fears of not fitting, has proven his worth
http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2008/7/10/568803/recap-the-start-of-free-ag

Mullin signed Maggette, who’s had a rocky year to be sure, but had Rowell’s blessing:
http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2008/7/10/568803/recap-the-start-of-free-ag
http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2009/1/13/719191/q-a-tim-kawakami-bay-area

Nelson’s blowup w/ Harrington and forced trade for Crawford lands at Nelson’s feet even if Riley or Mullin had to pull the trigger and do the paperwork.

Extending Ellis & Andris, and matching to keep KAz was a collective no-brainer, but suspending and fining Ellis as well as extending Jackson was Rowell’s doing.

Mullin traded picks for Williams.

Going back further: trading JRich , drafting Bellinelli, Randolph, and even buying out Foyle seem to have been collective decisions on the parts of Nelson, Mullin, and/or Rowell. But the Murphy, Dunleavy, and Foyle contracts were Mullin’s in the first place.

http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2009/1/13/719191/q-a-tim-kawakami-bay-area

From this perspective, most of Mullin’s handiwork last summer is paying dividends while most of the financial mistakes lay at Rowell and Nelson’s feet. Most of Mullin’s personnel decisions prior to last summer were hard to defend, and I’ve lambasted him for years. But this summer he probably did his best work. While I am not going to miss him terribly as GM, the thought of Rowell running the ship makes me cringe.

by hardcore on Apr 5, 2009 9:21 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Yeah...

That’s just about the best information we have available. I’m still a little skeptical about the credibility of the information that’s been put out there. I have a feeling that we might get a better picture of how it all went down when Mullin is officially let go. Either way at this point Mullin is looking good compared to the Nelson/Rowell personnel moves.

Thing 2

by olympicmike on Apr 5, 2009 12:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs