The 2010 NBA Trade Deadline has come and gone and despite holding the 3rd worst record in the league the Golden State Warriors did nothing- absolutely nothing. From here on out for the rest of Chris Cohan's majority ownership of the Warriors I don't want to hear about how the Warriors made a great trade for expiring contracts. What's the point? Cohan's Warriors just makes those moves to lighten the load on his pocket book and clear the way for more D-Leaguers (I must note that I do like and appreciate what Anthony Tolliver has brought to the Dubs, but this isn't about his game, it's about dollars and cents- not sense.)
There were rumors of Ronny Turiaf to the Denver Nuggets, Corey Maggette to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Monta Ellis to the Boston Celtics, Ellis and Andris Biedrins to the Celtics, and Anthony Morrow to the Philadelphia 76ers that didn't come true.
Teammates who actually root for one another- what a concept!
via media.commercialappeal.com
But this one was BY FAR the most intriguing. It actually makes sense- not just cents for Cohan and crew.
JUMP for all that and a bag of Jalapeno chips!
I'll pass the mic to GSoM friends Tim Kawakami and Matt Steinmetz for more details on this offer from the Grizzles that the Warriors reportedly rejected like Thabeet does 4.0 per 36:
- Monta Ellis talk: Warriors turned down Memphis' offer of OJ Mayo + salaries [Talking Points]
- Warriors Nearly Traded Ellis to Memphis [CSN Bay Area]
According to separate league sources, the Warriors rejected a proposed deal with Memphis that would have sent
Monta Ellis to the Grizzlies for O.J. Mayo and 7-foot-3 rookie center Hasheem Thabeet.Another player,
Hamed Haddadi, may or may not have been included in the deal.
If the Warriors really could have netted O.J. Mayo and Hasheem Thabeet for Monta Ellis, I'm a little frustrated they didn't pull the trigger.
O.J. Mayo...
Nothing like your daily dose of OJ.
We got your Real Mayo right here folks.
Hasheem Thabeet...
Tha beet goes on... on.... on...
via ramerah.com
Shoot, on names alone I do this trade.
A Curry & O.J. or Curry & Mayo backcourt? Stef-fun and O.J. putting on a Mayo Clinic regularly against other backcourts across the association by 2012? Thabeet rejecting shots in Oaktown like Adonal Foyle?
I'm down.
I'm more than down.
Hoops wise and even salary wise it's hard to imagine the Warriors doing much better than dealing out their flawed centerpiece for Mayo and Thabeet. Ellis is young, but Mayo and Thabeet are even younger. Mayo is a very intriguing young player in this league and seems to be better long term pairing with Stephen Curry and even a better player than Monta when it's all said and done. You could argue that Thabeet has been a bust thus far in his young career, but there's nothing wrong in taking a flyer on him if the centerpiece is Mayo.
The Fresh Prince of The Yay.
For the Grizzlies they will be a getting a local attraction that is an exciting, proven high volume scorer who is still young and locked in on a very reasonable deal. It's hard to find much fault with that for a team that isn't quite a box office hit in Memphis yet.
This is a rare trade rumor that makes sense on a multitude of levels for both teams- which means it's not surprising it didn't happen. Let's face it, the NBA trades that actually go down rarely seem to make sense, just cents for one party looking to trim payroll.
Let's hope this isn't the last of this trade sketch we hear about. Here's some possible versions of this trade to revisit in late spring/ summer:
- Ellis for Mayo and Thabeet [ESPN Trade Machine]- Again, it looks good for both squads. Not that it means much in the overall picture, but it would be amazing to see the Warriors convert a 2nd round pick from the 2006 NBA Draft into a 2008 #3 1st round pick and a 2009 #2 1st round pick. When you abstract away from the actual players involved that's pretty neat. But I will note that you can't take that at face value. I mean the #3 guy could easily be someone like Adam Morrison and the #2 player could be Darko Milicic.
- Ellis for Mayo, Thabeet, and Marcus Williams [ESPN Trade Machine]- Maybe the Grizzlies could trade Chris Mullin trade bust Williams back to Nellie and the Dubs (via sign and trade) just for some more cheap laughs- see: Polling GSoM: Are you going to miss Marcus Williams? Hey, we'd be laughing.
- Ellis, Brandan Wright, and Ronny Turiaf for Mayo, Thabeet, Marc Gasol, DeMarre Carroll, Darrell Arthur, and Sam Young [ESPN Trade Machine]- The trade could be expanded to give the Dubs a very nice young big man and the Grizzlies a talented lottery pick forward that didn't quite get much airtime in the Bay Area along with another shot blocker in Turiaf.
- Ellis and Andris Biedrins for Mayo, Thabeet, Gasol, Darrell Arthur, Hamed Haddadi, DeMarre Carroll, and Sam Young [ESPN Trade Machine]- The Grizzlies would never do this (just like the above trade), but the Warriors could finally dump those absurd dreams that Ellis and Biedrins were a tandem worth building around. Sigh, that would be a relief. Again, where are all those people now who were clamoring for the Warriors to dump salaries right after WE BELIEVE spring 2007 to build around a young Ellis and Biedrins with their (mythical) insane upside and preaching patience because these guys were the "FUTURE"? (We can hear the crickets chirping, but we can't hear you.)
Should the Warriors and Grizzlies revisit this trade scenario over summer? How would you have felt if it went down this past Thursday on the trade deadline?
Also see the FanShot from CSN Bay Area on this topic.
Make sure to check out our blog brother Straight Outta Vancouver for some thoughts from Memphis on this offer.
99% of rumors never happen, but 99% of them are fun to talk about!