1,890 GSoMers voted and 78% of them were down to trade Golden State Warriors supposed "FUTURE" Monta Ellis to the Memphis Grizzlies for O.J. Mayo and Hasheem Thabeet- see Polling GSoM: Monta Ellis to Memphis Grizzlies, O.J. Mayo + Hasheem Thabeet (+ maybe Hamed Haddadi) to Golden State Warriors- Are you down?
O.J. knows how to put a little extra mayo on his passes. [photo via via www.reclinergm.com]
When the Warriors were offered this trade by the Grizz what did they do of course? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
Well don't blame Nellie. JUMP for the 411!
Over at SFGate Bruce Jenkins investigates why this trade that has been rumored to be offered by the Grizzlies on more then one occasion didn't go down:
As yet another depressing season winds down, it is becoming clear that Don Nelson no longer runs the Warriors. If he gets shut out of major trade discussions, that's the only conclusion one can draw.
Two sources close to the Warriors told The Chronicle that when the club rejected a trade-deadline deal that would have sent Monta Ellis to Memphis for O.J. Mayo and Hasheem Thabeet, Nelson wasn't even consulted. It's not clear who made the decision, but it was news to Nelson, who hadn't even heard the Grizzlies' proposal.
Not only that, the two sources said, but Nelson would have made the deal. "In a heartbeat," said one.
A few things I'd like to point out:
- Don Nelson is no fool.
- When people talk about the Warriors front office and management- more like MISS-management- they usually refer to them as one monolithic entity. That's a mistake. Let's break it down. Chris Cohan is the owner of this franchise. During his majority ownership this franchise has MISSED the playoffs 16 out of 17 times -hence MISSmanagement. Robert Rowell is the most unqualified president of a nearly half billion corporation that you'll find in entire 50 states. Neither of these guys know hoops and the more basketball decisions they attempt to make the longer 7000 Coliseum Way will be the NBA's home to a hoops purgatory. Nellie and GM Larry Riley are hoops veterans and know all aspects of the game. 9 times out of 10 (if not higher) they're going to make a good move.
- This reveals that there's even a chance that Riley isn't perfectly in sync with Nellie here and doesn't run everything by him.
- There even exists a possibility that the current Warriors GM and legendary head coach don't get to call all the basketball shots. What if they didn't even know this trade was on the table from the Grizzlies for whatever reason. That would be very strange, but honestly that shocking. I mean we are dealing with Cohan and Rowell here. But why do Cohan and Rowell pay them the big bucks if they're not going to let them do their job? Who knows.
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?
Here's some other variations of the trade to pursue if Cohan and Rowell actually decide to consult with their rich hoops resources at hand before rejecting trades that the vast majority of their fanbase are more than down for:
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, andSam 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.)