We Believe to We Broke Up (how trades and free agency screwed us)

by nischwartz on Feb 25, 2011 4:01 PM PST

Starting with the 12 man playoff roster from the 2007 payoff and seeing what happened over the new few years:

Since the We Believe season a lot of guys left through free agency, but through trades we turned Jason Richardson, Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson and Kelenna Azubuike into...

David Lee
Vladamir Radmanovic
Acie Law
Troy Murphy (for now)
and a 2nd round pick.

Which team would you rather have? Which GM, President, Coach, etc. would you have changed instead of the roster?

(Note that Baron Davis, Matt Barnes, Mickael Pietrus, Josh Powell, and Raja Bell left through free agency, Adonal Foyle and Speedy Claxton were waived and lastly, Sarunas Jasikevicius was bought out)

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

Raja Bell

was waived as well. He wasn’t going to return from wrist surgery during the season and they wanted to clear a roster spot for a healthy player, which happened to be Reggie Williams. The Dubs had bird rights to Raja and gave them up, even though they could have waived George.

In answer to your question, with the exception of J-Rich, none of the players listed are notable difference makers anymore, (I don’t count Jax, just cause I despise how he plays when unhappy. Baron doesn’t count anymore either.) They are all role players with serious deficiencies in their game, and most are getting paid more than they are worth.

Bring J-Rich back to the bay this off season!

Curry/Lee/Monta= Wins

by danielholl on Feb 25, 2011 4:37 PM PST reply actions

Salaries

In $Millions$ starting in 2010/2011 Season

Baron Davis – $13.0, 13.9, 14.8
Jason Richardson – $14.4
Stephen Jackson – $8.4, 9.2, 10.0
Al Harrington – $5.7, 6.2, 6.6, 7.1, 7.6
Mickael Pietrus – $5.3, 5.3
Matt Barnes – $1.7, 1.9 (Doesn’t count. He took less to go to a champion)
Kelenna Azubuike – $3.3 (Hasn’t played since we traded him, and Melo took his number)

Which player would you like for the contract?

Curry/Lee/Monta= Wins

by danielholl on Feb 25, 2011 4:50 PM PST up reply actions

"We Believe" era was lightning in a bottle . . .

Curry > Davis
Ellis > Richardson
Lee > Harrington

And D. Wright isn’t as naturally skilled as Stack but he’s a bigger bargain. If Biedrins were half the player he was three years ago, we all wouldn’t be making a mountain out of a molehill with this B. Wright trade. It’s much ado about nothing. What we should be discussing is how to spend this money coming off the books this off-season.

by ChronicMasticator on Feb 25, 2011 6:06 PM PST reply actions 4 recs

Is this supposed to be obvious?

I’m not in love with the current squad, but are you implying we would be much better off with Richardson, Harrington, Jackson and Azubuike?

Harrington is worthless. Jackson is absolute trash and I’m glad he is gone, and Azubuike has no knees left. Maybe we’d be slightly better if we kept Richardson, but not much.

by randolphforpresident on Feb 25, 2011 7:10 PM PST reply actions

I don't understand why people don't like Jackson anymore.

He was a key player for the Warriors in the 06/07 and 07/08 seasons.

He brought toughness and perimeter defense on our team, was the 2nd best playmaker whose clutch plays won us a ton of games.

The Warriors even went on an 0-6 start in the first 6 games of his 7 game suspension in 07/08, then once he came back they won 11 of their next 12 games and eventually won 48 games that season. That’s how much of a difference Jackson made on the court. They were even able to beat the Lakers when they had him. Jackson went to LAL and sh*tted on Kobe three times from downtown in the 4th quarter to win the game on the road, then in Oakland Jackson and Baron gangbanged Kobe on defense to the point where Kobe was having such a hard time that he ended up hurting his leg from all the unsuccessful effort and lost the game to the Warriors.

Like most Warriors fans, I only liked Stephen Jackson when he was paired up with Baron Davis, but the difference is that I wasn’t mad at him for wanting to leave once his teammates left the Warriors. Golden State headed in the wrong direction since the Playoffs and Jackson knew he wouldn’t succeed with them. What kind of team finally makes the Playoffs for the first time in 12 years, then trades away their best scorer and causes their best point guard since Tim Hardaway to leave?

Not that I’m still bitter about the breakup of the We Believe team. I’m already over it and content with Monta/Curry, but most of the time when someone brings this topic back up I might as well post some of the stuff I remember.

by Precise Films Productions on Feb 25, 2011 9:10 PM PST up reply actions

maybe he was a TO machine?

JR...An All-Time Warriors Favorite!

by MANUTEs BOLs on Mar 1, 2011 2:46 PM PST up reply actions

Is this supposed to be obvious? I’m not in love with the current squad, but are you implying we would be much better off with Richardson, Harrington, Jackson and Azubuike?

It’s not about the players we have now it’s about the process of going from a second round playoff team to a loser by doing the wrong things. If we’d have done the right hings we’d still have turned over the 07 players by now but we’d have won more games and been in more playoffs in the meantime. The significant part of the post was to show we totally ignored proper team building concepts and went for cheapness and glitter.

Lights please, lights please, turn off the lights.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Feb 26, 2011 5:21 PM PST up reply actions

where is anthony randolph?

"You know whats funny? I always thought uhm dogs lay eggs and I learned something new today" Peter Griffin

by HUNGRY HUNTER on Feb 25, 2011 7:29 PM PST reply actions

Some of the players from the We Believe team aren't even good anymore.

It would have been good to keep them for the 07/08 and 09/10 seasons, but they would have declined since then. Besides, there’s too many “What ifs” in these type of discussion and the breaking up of the We Believe team is a topic that’s been beaten to death.

It really just boils down to the Jason Richardson trade.

It was a good deal at the time as a first step towards bigger moves, but all we did was let the 10 million TPE expire. As a result, the 07/08 wasn’t deep and durable enough to make the Playoffs whereas they would have been deadly with J-Rich still on the team and Monta as our “super 6th man” or something like that. 55 wins right there.

Then, had we made the Playoffs that season, it probably would have given more recognition to the Warriors and FA’s would want to sign with Golden State. Instead, we missed the Playoffs by a few games, Baron left and Monta had his moped accident, Stephen Jackson forced a trade because he was pissed with all his teammates (Baron, J-Rich, Harrington, Barnes etc.) all gone and the team heading nowhere etc. and it all went downhill.

Luckily, Stephen Curry landed to us in the 2009 NBA Draft so we have a decent young player to team up with Monta. Other than that, this team has had some bad luck since the 2007 Playoffs.

There’s nothing really we can do about it now. It’s fun to talk about what could have been, but it got tired fast and like I mentioned earlier, it’s an old topic that sparks the same debates over and over.

by Precise Films Productions on Feb 25, 2011 8:58 PM PST reply actions

My bad I meant to say 07/08 and 08/09.

by Precise Films Productions on Feb 25, 2011 8:59 PM PST up reply actions

The Warriors franchise don’t deserve us, period. Each year we think the Dubs are going to get better and something always takes a turn for the worst. Warriors play in one of the biggest markets in the NBA and have the most loyal fan base out there yet we still suck. I thought this was thee season that we’re going to be relevant again. We got rid of a horrible owner in Cohan, got new owners who appeared to be smart, and made a huge trade for an “all star.” In addition all of the main players were healthy to begin the season and we were now drama free. But of course, we’re still going nowhere. Got a crappy coach who might get his contract extended (if I remember correctly there was a FS about it), the GM sold very low on a high potential player for a crappy ass scrub we already had before, and we’re still not making the playoffs. Gah it’s so frustrating sometimes to be a fan. The freakin New Jersey Nets received a superstar (I think Curry, Udoh, and Monta could have gotten the deal done) and the Knicks received Melo (don’t care if you think Melo is a superstar or not, but he is portrayed as one to the rest of the league and has much value). We have a few nice pieces on this team, pretty sure we could have gotten something decent done. I might be premature about this whole situation and maybe LaGruber are actually good owners and need more time, but the Warriors need to get something done in the off season. Unload big contracts, trade for a good player, just do something that’s going to benefit the team. Meh, we’re ran poorly. I know I know, “you should be loyal to your team no matter how bad they are” but there’s been so much crap going on with this team that it’s getting harder to be a fan. This franchise is garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, and garbage. Some of you may not share the same sentiments as I do, but I had to get something off my chest.

by DubsFan408 on Feb 25, 2011 9:44 PM PST reply actions 3 recs

100% agreed.

Steph Curry and Reggie Williams all day baby!

by GovernorStephCurry on Feb 25, 2011 10:18 PM PST up reply actions

A lot here

While some optimism to start the season was definitely expected (and deserved, if you look at the win record this year versus the train wrecks of the last two years), I think it is a little unrealistic to expect relevance in the space of a single offseason. The team has better starters, but still needs to shore up its bench and possibly get a new coach in (I don’t know enough about strategy to make a judgment on that, so I’m still giving Smart benefit of the doubt).

Mainly, though, I think the new management thus far has had its hands full trying to make up for past mistakes. Wasted draft picks, stupid signings for mediocre players, and incompetent front office personnel are all the things that Lacob and Gruber have had to deal with thus far. They’re making steps in the right direction, but the team is definitely a work in progress still.

Now, if they REPEAT the same mistakes of the last, oh, two decades or so than I’ll give up on the team. But I think it’s a bit premature to do so at this point.

Oh, and just to be clear, I’m referring to the signing of Maggs as the “stupid signing.” I actually really like what Lee brings to this team, even if his defense leaves a bit to be desired. Much better than Randolph or Wright, for sure.

(and no, I’m not a Warrior exec posting on here)

by ryogahibiki on Feb 26, 2011 11:59 AM PST up reply actions

Patience is a virtue, my comrade

SF Giants fans waited 56 or 58 years, i could be wrong with the numbers, before they won another championship. We gotta give the new owner a chance to build the team. It could be at least another 2 or 3 years before the Warriors can come back to relevancy. Just look at the OKC Thunder. One or two lucky lottery seasons and you’re back in the game.

First off, those of you that criticize Smart, please watch the him coaching his young team and also listen to post game interview or radio interview. I really like the guy and I think he’s competent enough to run this team. He’s no Phil Jackson, but then again Jackson always has MJ and Kobe to run his triangle offense.

As far as trading for marquee players go, we have no bargaining pieces to offer for Marquee name like Melo or Williams. Look at what NJ Nets gave up to sign D-Will. Devin Harris, #3 pick, Derrick Favors, and 2 first-round pick for D-Will. IMHO, that was one of the dumbest move ever. They didn’t even have D-Will sign a contract extension, which means they could lose him to free agency and got nothing back in return. Then the rebuilding process starts all over, but with less pieces (less first-round picks) to work with.

I could go on and on, but I digress. Good nite.

by anhsupra on Mar 1, 2011 12:10 AM PST up reply actions

Do you really wish we still had Baron?

Really? Have you seen him play much the last couple of years.

Even Jason Richardson,really, doesn’t have much place on this team. Yes, I think he’s a little better than Monta (but unless you think we’re better off with nothing than Monta, eg, we should have traded him for expirings, then age makes Monta a better fit for this team). Otherwise, what, he’s displacing Reggie’s minutes and Dorell’s minutes – and Dorell is a better player than he is (younger, too!) and Reggie is better offensively.

The two biggest problems I have with this team, as compared to the We Believe team, is that Biedrins today is much worse than Biedrins then, and Monta today is worse than Monta then. No, Steph isn’t as good as Baron was – but I’m cautiously optimistic that he may become so. I don’t see Dorell over, say, Pietrus and Jackson as a downgrade. (At worst, a lateral move). And for all people are hating on David Lee, I’d rather have him playing PF over Matt Barnes, Pietrus,and Richardson – who all did time at that position the We Believe year.

by Ronaldinho on Feb 26, 2011 11:43 AM PST reply actions