This certainly isn't as juicy as our earlier rumor (RUMOR: Warriors promised Monta Ellis they will not draft a play-making guard to appease him), but it's still interesting.
The past two years we haven't seen the Wright stuff.
Jump for the 411.
From Chad Ford's 2009 NBA Mock Draft Version 5.0:
I'm hearing significant buzz that Jordan Hill could be the pick if the team ends up making a trade for Brandan Wright. Louisville's Terrence Williams is also high on the board at Golden State. Seven seems too high, but don't be surprised if the Warriors are willing to do a swap to get him.
This is the first I've heard of the Warriors looking to move Wright in a few months. It wouldn't surprise me the least bit if he was shipped away this offseason given his lackluster performance thus far with the Warriors. Wright was cemented to Nellie's bench his first year and didn't impress all that much when he finally got some playing time in his sophomore campaign. To his credit he was plagued by what looked like an extremely painful shoulder injury last year. He did have his moments, but again this is an 82 game season and moments aren't going to cut it. Nellie has even publicly stated that the starting power forward job is now Anthony Randolph's, not Wright's.
This would be a very unfortunate way to close the book on that disastrous Jason Richardson trade with the Bobcats that expedited the Dubs descent from WE BELIEVE. The Warriors essentially gave away a key cog in that unBELIEVEable spring run and the heart and soul of this team for basically nothing. Now I'm not saying that the last few years on J-Rich's contract aren't too expensive, but that was a terrible, terrible trade at the wrong, wrong time. It was a move loser franchises make. When you barely squeak into the playoffs and end a 13 year drought you should be focusing on immediate returns, not building for some mythical bright future dependent on several deeply flawed players.
A few interesting links from the archives:
- Player Recaps and Predictions: Brandan Wright (10/26/08)
- Draft Day Reflection (6/29/07)
- 23 Post Draft Day 2007 Warrior Thoughts (6/30/07)
- JRich or Die Flying (6/28/07)
If the Warriors do wind up selecting a non-"play-making guard" in a reportedly a point guard heavy draft when it's obvious they need passers and facilitators, a lot of folks are going to be scratching their heads wondering about the Moped Factor.
99% of rumors never happen, but 99% of them are fun to talk about!