Its no secret the Warriors are in desperate need of backcourt relief after Monta Ellis' injury. This is evidenced by general manager Chris Mullin flying out to Chicago to view comeback hopeful Shaun Livingston in a private workout session.
Midway across the States, the Indiana Pacers are also in need of a few materials, primarily three-point shooting and an athletic power forward.
Taking these two requirements into account, I created a trade that both teams could benefit from.
I crunched the numbers, and an Al for Jamaal trade wasn't exactly allowed by NBA measures. So to make the trade work, I threw in additional pieces to the trade to make the salaries intertwine.
The trade scenario:
Golden State sends Harrington, Kosta Perovic, and cash to Indiana for Jamaal Tinsley and Jeff Foster.
Harrington averaged 13.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 0.2 BPG while playing in all but one game for the Warriors last season.
Al came over along with Stephen Jackson in the infamous deal for Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy that helped shape the Warriors franchise into the fast paced offense today.
Kosta Perovic, the seldom-used Croatian forward, averaged 1.4 PPG and 1.9 RPG in seven games last season for the Warriors.
With the additions of Brandan Wright last season and rookie Anthony Randolph this season, and with Chris Mullin forcing Don Nelson to play his younger corps, Harrington has become disposable.
While the Warriors' will miss Harrington's three-point shooting and his effectiveness in their system, his scoring production will easily be replaced by Corey Maggette, Stephen Jackson, and Monta Ellis (when he returns).
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2 months ago
It's a nice trade proposal on paper, Sean. It just won't happened unless the Warriors are extremely desperate and start grabbing anybody and everybody. Jamaal Tinsley is a temporary (and by temporary I mean until Ellis gets back "temporary") solution to the evident hole in the point guard spot for the Warriors.
Mully loves Al Harrington and will certainly not give him away for a point guard that will play 40-50 games and that does not comprehend and will take time to absorb the Nellie style of play. The only way Al is leaving the Warriors would have to be through a potential beneficial trade for the Warriors...this isn't.
Foster is really not a proven back-up power forward/center to play in Nellie's "lights out" style. The Warriors have got Richard Hendrix to develop at this position better. Plus, Hendrix can provide that rebounding factor to the Warriors.
In the Summer league, he grabbed 8 rebounds in 12 minutes. I know the summer league is not the place to see a player's full potential, but that was amazing. Hendrix is 21, Foster is 31. Warriors don't need to make the playoffs next season and are all ready in that post-Baron era.
Kosta Perovic might be the back-up center the Warriors need in case that "zone" defense appears in the future (hint: when the Nuggets beat the Warriors with zone defense in that critical game last year). He should some flashes of brilliance and if has time to develop will be a pretty legit rebounder and scorer for the Warriors.
from 2 months ago
Kosta is gone. Hendrix and Ronny should be nice off the bench, as well as Randolph of course and B. Wright.
Foster wouldn't make any sense, but a proven shooter would that can handle the ball, say a Brent Barry
type? If we can get him, I still think Billups has a few years left, and Livingston if he's ever healthy still
has the tools to be a all star.
I think also as Shawn said below Hinrich would be a good fit, but agree he may not respond well to
the lack of minutes, he has been an up and down player in Chicago and some would argue that was
because he had been replaced a number of times as the starting PG. I think he's a nice fit for a fast
paced system, and he is a shooter as well... but who knows what would happen when monta
comes back.. way too many SG!!
2 months ago
Not a good trade for the Warriors even for him filling the point guard job temporarily. Although, I do like Tinsley's abilities but the Warriors are giving up way too much for him. It just won't happen.
2 months ago
Not a good trade for the warriors. Tinsley is terrible and has a big contract. There is a reason why the Pacers traded for two PGs this offseason in TJ Ford and Jarret Jack. The Pacers will be cutting him soon when they can't get anybody to trade for him. The warriors should not waste giving up harrington for this bum.
2 months ago
Tinsley has missed 30 ore more games in four of the last five seasons. You might as well give Harrington away for a sandwich because the sandwich has a better chance of not disappointing.
You don't think the Warriors could do better for Harrington? He's got a 2010 expiring contract that almost every team is looking for. Wouldn't you rather have Kirk Hinrich than Jamal Tinsley if you're the Warriors? The trade works straight up. He's now expendable and he's got one of the most cap friendly deals in the league because it actually goes down each year.
from 2 months ago
The trade sounds like wishful thinking for the Warriors.
Chicago already has its fair share of ''athletic'' power forwards to their name.
They already have consumed Tyrus Thomas, Drew Gooden, Joakim Noah, and Cedric Simmons.
Not to mention the fact that they will experiment all season long like they have done in the past, by putting Andres Nocioni and Luol Deng at that position as well.
For the Warriors:
Kirk Hinrich actually does sound nice, considering the fact he is one of the biggest point guards in the NBA and still has a lot to prove.
However, when Ellis returns, how will Hinrich cope with being reduced to the bench minutes?
Corey Maggete won't fill any effect of Kirk's benching. The $50 million man is their main scorer and Captain Stephen Jackson won't sit out either.
from 2 months ago
Noah is a center. Simmons is a non-factor. Gooden is under contract for only one more year and Thomas has yet to prove anything.
The bigger question for the Warriors is whether Ellis is better at the point than at shooting guard. Jackson only has two more years left on his contract and I don't think any team, including the Warriors, wants to commit long-term years to Jackson.
The Warriors have ZERO chance of making the playoffs this season which will make it easier for them to justify trading Jackson next summer. Nellie is gone after next season anyway. If they're smart they'll let the young guys play and get rid of Harrington and Jackson. Why should they feel loyalty to Jackson? He's already crying about his contract and he can't get an extension until next summer anyway.
from 2 months ago
Let's be realistic here, Harrington won't be traded for Tinsley. It just won't happened. As I mentioned above, Warriors are not looking for a temporary guard to fill in, they're building. They've been building for a while, but it looks bright.
Andrew, I wouldn't want to have Hinrich in 2010 because if I'm Mully. I'm sure Ellis would be a superstar already. The reason why everybody wants Al out of the Warriors is because they have seen him play below par basketball...and that is normal because of the way he is utilized by Senior Nelson. You can't have an active body like Harrington just stand behind the three point line and shoot and shoot and shoot.
Marcus Williams will have his shot at the point guard spot in Ellis' absence and he might be it, i guess. If M-Will can play his position efficiently, Ellis would come back to his reserved shooting guard spot and wouldn't have to make a that crazy jump to PG.
Trading Jackson? I don't know about that at all !! We, as Bay Area fans, are extremely attached to SJax. He's the veteran leader on the squad and all fans want it that way. SJax has the right to say that he want's an extension, it's every players right. He really feels that he has done something to the organization, which he certainly has, and seeing Dre and Monta getting 10000% raises, I wouldn't blame him.
He will NOT be traded unless he makes a big fuss about it, which I think he won't.
from 2 months ago
And that's exactly why the Warriors have made the playoffs once in the last fifteen years. They continue to re-sign players to long-term deals when the team's lack of success has given them no reason to think they should. Jackson will be 32 when his current contract ends. He's going to want at least four or five years and $10 million/per season. He's going to feel like he should not only be paid for the future but should be rewarded for leading the Warriors to the 8th seed and a first-round playoff upset over a weak-minded opponent. Here's Jackson's quote when asked how he feels being the team's fifth-highest paid player:
"It's something I always think about," Jackson said from his basketball camp in Port Arthur, Texas. "It's definitely something that has to be addressed because of what I do for this team and what I've done since I've been here, bringing this team from one of the bottom teams in the league to a playoff team, to a team that won 49 games. It's not what I want, it's what I deserve.
I won't be comfortable going into this season knowing I have to play this whole season being the fifth highest-paid and not get an extension. I would not be happy."
That's what Maggette got and he's only one year younger and only averages a couple more points and one more rebound a game.
That's why the franchise sucks. After finally getting out of the horrible contracts of Murphy, Dunleavy and Foyle, they're going to lock themselves into Maggette, Biedrins and Jackson. I really like Ellis. I think Biedrins was paid on potential instead of performance and that's never good but the jury is still out on him.
Fans have to ask themselves is it worth locking themselves into another guy on a team that isn't going to the playoffs. It's not like Maggette and Jackson are going to get better. Ellis and Biedrins should.
from 2 months ago
That's right. I agree with you. But having your best player depart to his home town in a matter of days is hard for the franchise too. I read the article and Jackson's quote, and quite frankly, he's right. The trade the occurred between the Warriors and Pacers in 2007 was a crucial one for the organization. If they didn't make the playoffs that season, then I would have said, just trade Jackson somehow. However, it's not only the second half of that 2007 season, Jackson had his best year of his career last year. He averaged just over 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Now, that is huge in the Warriors run & gun realm.
In the last three minutes of the Lakers game last season in Staples Center, in which the Warriors had not won at in 9 years, Jackson single-handedly lead the Warriors to a win. Kobe and Jackson just kept trading three's until Jackson finished it off.
In Jackon's six game suspension last year right in the beginning of the season, the Warriors were 1-5. When he came back, by the end of the November/beginning of December the Warriors bounced back to 15-10. In addition, SJax is the best defender on that team for the last two seasons. He guarded the best player of the opposing team every night. I just can't forget how he stopped Chris Bosh in Toronto that night, when he urged Bosh to score only 11 points in the whole game. Chris Bosh (6-11, Center) v SJax (small forward, 6-7). I think those stats are compelling.
SJax really acknowledges that the franchise is falling again after the devastating fall for Ellis. He wants to take advantage of that. It may be wrong, but he's the leader of the team, according to the most talented player on the Warriors squad: MONTA ELLIS. In addition, it's about the fact that without Stephen Jackson, the Warriors would have no leadership at all.
"When Jackson joined the Warriors, you wouldn't have wanted him in charge of the laundry, let alone the team. Hell, with his history, he was lucky to be in the league. But the man comes from good stock, and he proved that with his stone-faced authority, locker-room command and thirst for the big shot. Just to look at Jackson, you recoil in respect - while Ellis strikes you as someone's little brother," San Francisco Chronicle, Sept 6. 2008.
Thanks!
from 2 months ago
I remember that game against the Lakers. Then the two teams played the next night up north and the Lakers won in overtime. By the way, Pau Gasol didn't play in either of those two games.
The fact that Jackson was suspended for the first six games of the season, (possibly costing them a playoff berth) should be enough to scare any team from signing him to a long-term deal. How many players in today's NBA have been suspended for 6 or more games in their career?
Let's put into context what Jackson has done since he's been there. He, along with Baron, Richardson and Matt Barnes, beat an extremely overrated Mavericks team and then lost to the Jazz while San Antonio and Phoenix were playing. Both the Jazz and Warriors got lucky that neither had to play the Spurs or Suns that year.
The next year, Jackson leads them to the 9th seed. Now the team has replaced Baron, Richardson and Barnes with Maggette, Brandan Wright and Turiaf and I'm supposed to think they're better now?
The question you have to ask yourself is whether or not Jackson will still be an effective player when Ellis, Biedrins, Wright, Belinelli and Randolph hit their prime? If not, then they're better off trading him while they can because they'll have to dole out extensions to three of those guys in the next three years.
There's nothing worse than a non-playoff team re-signing players to long-term deals. Look at the Sixers as the perfect example. Going back to 2003, they re-sign Dalembert, Kenny Thomas, Korver, Aaron McKie and a host of others to horrible contracts and this year they're finally able to spend money.
Considering that the West now has four phenomenal young teams (Lakers, Hornets, Blazers, Jazz), two great teams in the middle of their prime (Spurs and Rockets), and three teams that seem to be just past their prime (Suns, Mavericks and Nuggets), the Warriors need to ask themselves when they think they'll be in it?
I get the feeling that they used their free agent dollars to sign guys who were available and not the most complimentary. How do you explain signing another SG/SF and not a PG? How do you not use the Richardson trade exemption? I think Turiaf was a great pick up.
The Warriors won't be able to beat all of the top four teams in the West for at least three more seasons. Will it be worth it to have Jackson under contract for three more years and $30 million when he's 33 make sense?
I don't see it. But it wouldn't be the first time I'm wrong.
2 months ago
well if they were smart they would trade tinsley for a legit big man. harrington is like a finnesse player, and currently the pacers have roy hibbert as a center so they need to find somebody halfway decent if they want to make the playoffs. The reason why i say that is because granger and dunleavy are both underrated giving you 20 a game. and TJ ford is a solid point guard. All they need is a big man to contend because every team in the east got better
2 months ago
Tinsley is exactly what is needed! I watched Tinsley in college as an Iowa State alum. He was the best pg in college as a senior and did so running an uptempo offense. He is one of the best in the league at getting players shots in stride. He has always played for retarded coaches like carlilse, and dunleavy who run slow break basketball. He would excel in Nellies offense and would not be expected to score. Harrington is only good for 20 when the game doesn't matter, but is outclassed when the game is on the line. Make it happen Mullin
2 months ago
i just wish that they would hang on to harrington for once if they actually get him this time lol
go hibbert!
2 months ago
Jeff Foster is a fan favorite in Indiana by being the hardest worker in the game no matter the opponent's lineup! Trading that player would be just another bad move for marketing. Find another Pacer (anyone) and it's a deal! Shawne Williams????
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