<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">While the Warriors won't be getting dream acquisition Kevin Garnett, they appear ready to make their first dent in free agency. Golden State has been in talks with forward Austin Croshere, according to a league source, and is close to signing the 10-year veteran. The 6-foot-10 Croshere averaged 3.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in 11.9 minutes for Dallas last season after spending his first nine years in Indiana. He would give the Warriors some depth with the fate of their own free agents, Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus, still to be decided. Negotiations to keep Barnes in Oakland will start over this week with Aaron Goodwin after Barnes switched agents for the second time in two months. Barnes filed paperwork to terminate short-lived agent Dan Fegan two weeks ago, league sources said. The Bay Area-based Goodwin, who also reps top draft picks Kevin Durant and Al Horford, is expected to seek a multiyear deal from the Warriors. </div> Source: SF Gate
I like this signing. Will most likely make practices more lively with the Baron and Croshere rivalry. Also another body to warm the bench next to Foyle. Seriously, though, I envision him as a Murphy-lite without the foot injuries. Can shoot the 3 a little, crash the glass a bit, and give Biedrins a few minutes rest.
Echh... not consistent enough of a shooter to make a difference, I think. But at least he ain't weak. I think he's faster than Murphy at least.
Signing him would make no sense to me, hes like a homeless man's Al Harrington but actually a worse rebounder and 3 pt shooter.
<div class="quote_poster">drunkenbarden Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">mistake me if im wrong or anything but doesnt Baron Davis hate this guy?</div> They were HS teammates and good friends up until the POs Croshere flagrant fouled Baron twice in two separate games and Baron tried to beat him down. I think they're both probably over it by now and can put it behind them if they're on the same team. The more I think about this the more I'm liking this signing as long as its the veteran minimum or bi-annual exception. Croshere can defend big men fairly well, hes 6'10 and pretty mobile, has some toughness unlike Murphleavy. He can get up and down the floor and spread the floor on offense, experienced veteran who will gladly lay someone out if given the opportunity (nice contrast to Biedrins, Barnes, and Al who lead the league in weak wrist slaps right under the rim leading to easy 3 point plays). He'd be a very solid 10th man type of guy on a small contract to come in and produce a little bit when necessary.
I'd much rather go after Camby. He only makes $8 mil a year, has three years left on his deal, and is as good a defender/rebounder as Garnett. Denver's payroll is at $79 mil right now, so it probably wouldnt' take much more than $8 mil of the trade exception and next year's first rounder to get them to pull the trigger. It'd save them $16 mil a year and they have Nene to play center. Sure, you can only count on Camby for 60-70 games a year, but the Warriors have plenty of other big bodies up front to cover for him when he inevitably goes down. And, when healthy, a defensive front line that has Camby and Biedrins would be simply awesome. The only real downside I see is that the Warriors would go over the luxury tax next year when they have to resign Biedrins and Ellis, but it should only be for a year or two as Foyle's contract comes off the books after next year and Harrington and Jackson's contracts come off the books the year after that.
Downsides with Camby are A) We'd be in luxury tax for a few years, he and Biedrins would NEVER play together so we're paying two guys with very similar skillsets 8-10+ mils a year to split minutes at C, C) Camby has never played more than 27 consecutive games in his career, D) He and Biedrins are very similar but Biedrins is younger and less injury prone. I'd love to get him basically just for a 1st round pick but I'm not sure he'd actually make a whole lot of sense for us.
I'd much rather just throw Brandon Wright to the wolves. I mean, if we are going to spend money, bring in a veteran, and take up roster space, why not get a guy who can rebound? I mean, with Lasme, Powell, and Wright, we at least have some guys who will need minutes to develop. Are they going to sit on the bench and watch Croshere shoot threes? If we were going to put someone on the depth chart like this, I'd wish it were a rebounder at PF, not Croshere. But oh well...
<div class="quote_poster">AlleyOop Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I'd much rather just throw Brandon Wright to the wolves. I mean, if we are going to spend money, bring in a veteran, and take up roster space, why not get a guy who can rebound? I mean, with Lasme, Powell, and Wright, we at least have some guys who will need minutes to develop. Are they going to sit on the bench and watch Croshere shoot threes? If we were going to put someone on the depth chart like this, I'd wish it were a rebounder at PF, not Croshere. But oh well...</div> I think Powell is as good as gone to Italy (hence why we're signing Croshere). And I don't think Croshere will even be a regular rotation guy, just a 10th man type of guy to bring in during certain matchups. He certainly won't get time over Biedrins, Al, and Barnes, who I presume are taking most of the time at PF/C. Wright and Croshere will probably take whats left depending on matchups and how much Wright can contribute immediately. POB, Kosta, and Lasme will be garbage time/D-Leaguers unless they surprise this season.
Yeah, I guess it's not too bad, but Croshere made 7 mils last year. He better be ready to make 7 thous this year...
I think Wtwalker is on to something about Camby vs. a Austin Croshere signing. That is... what would we rather have more of? Out of position rebounding and shotblocking... or a guy who is supposed to spread the floor, has a nice step, and can shoot from outside but is also inconsistent? While Barnes and Pietrus were nice contributors in the 3 point shooting department, they also filled up the stat sheet quite nicely in the blocks and steals department and got a lot of putbacks. I think we need another big athlete who can force deflections and play near the rim because I think that was the key to the Warriors winning a lot of games late in the season. It wasn't taking more threes, it was forcing deflections and getting out of position rebounds and scoring in transition. Camby is a power forward type guy that can be productive at center similar to how the lightweight Latvian is. Having more of that gives us depth, athleicism, and as an added bonus, Camby shoots free throws well compared to Beans/Foyle and he can shoot from 18-20 feet out pretty consistently (although his bread and butter will be alley oops and defense). Plus, I think Camby is a superior passer compared to any of the bigs we have on our squad and could play from the high post to feed guards inside. If we got Camby for let's say two years, we wouldn't worry about Beans getting into foul trouble early in the game and because of Camby's injury problems he wouldn't play for more than 28 to 30 min a game unless Coaches want to risk him pushing his body beyond the limits. Remember, we didn't have a backup center and we desperately need one because Foyle sucks even worse than ever and we can't get away with playing Powell or Sjax there. Forget these rookies, let's get some veteran talent that's good enough to make the all-star team at least once. We would be surefire locks for the playoffs rather than barely making it in if we can increase our rebounding/shotblock/steal/weakside D talent at the 4 and 5 positions.
I've been pushing for a "Camby-like player" for a few years now. If he's out there to be had, then let's get him. Honestly, I think it'd be as good of a move as grabbing Uncle Cliffy a few years back. Cliffy did everything that the team then couldn't do, Camby would be the guy that fills all the gaps for this team.
<div class="quote_poster">CohanHater Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I've been pushing for a "Camby-like player" for a few years now. If he's out there to be had, then let's get him. Honestly, I think it'd be as good of a move as grabbing Uncle Cliffy a few years back. Cliffy did everything that the team then couldn't do, Camby would be the guy that fills all the gaps for this team.</div> I feel the exact same way about Udonis Haslem -- a tough glue guy who can pound the boards. And his contract is affordable. I was hoping Mully would do a s&t with Pietrus + filler for Haslem...
Update: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Warriors getting busy filling out roster By Geoff Lepper CONTRA COSTA TIMES OAKLAND -- After weeks of inactivity this offseason, the Warriors roster is rapidly filling up. Ten-year veteran forward Austin Croshere is expected to sign a one-year deal with Golden State this morning, team sources said. And the Warriors have inked 2006 draft pick Kosta Perovic to a multiyear deal, according to Perovic's agent, Bill Duffy. The moves mean Golden State -- which had no official comment on either signing but is expected to announce both deals today -- has 14 of its 15 roster slots filled. That includes restricted free-agent forward Mickael Pietrus, who is on the Warriors' books at the team's qualifying offer of $3.47 million, and doesn't leave much room for rookie forward Stephan Lasme, a second-round selection, unrestricted free-agent forward Matt Barnes or any other new acquisition they might be targeting. Croshere, 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds, averaged 3.7 points and 3.0 rebounds last season in limited action for the Dallas Mavericks (11.9 minutes per game). His best season came in 1999-2000, when he averaged 10.3 points and 6.4 boards per game for an Indiana Pacers team that went to the NBA Finals. At his peak with the Pacers, Croshere shot nearly 40 percent from the 3-point line, but he hit only 28.6 percent from distance last season. Croshere, 32, is well-known by several Warriors. As the No. 12 overall selection in 1997, Croshere spent his rookie season with the Pacers as a teammate of Warriors executive vice president Chris Mullin. In addition to Mullin, Croshere played in Indiana with current Warriors Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson and Sarunas Jasikevicius. Croshere also has ties with star guard Baron Davis -- the two were teammates as prep stars at Crossroads School in Santa Monica. Perovic, 7-2 and 240 pounds, is much more of an unknown. The 38th overall selection two summers ago signed off Wednesday on his deal, which Duffy said "shows a commitment to (Perovic)." It's believed Perovic will receive approximately $5 million over three years, although $1 million of that will go toward Perovic's buyout from his European club, Partizan Belgrade. The total buyout was $1.5 million; the Warriors, per league regulations, are allowed to pick up only $500,000 of that tab. Croshere is believed to be receiving the league-mandated minimum of $1.22 million, but since he's on a one-year deal, the team will be responsible for only $771,000. The league will pick up the rest of Croshere's salary, thanks to rules meant to keep veteran free agents from becoming prohibitively expensive when rounding out a roster. If Pietrus returns to play out the one-year qualifying offer, the Warriors will have $60.2 million committed to their 14 players in 2007-08, leaving them $7.8 million under the luxury-tax threshold. "There's intentions to continue to make this team better and to put the resources in position and to manage the resources properly to be able to accomplish our objective, and that is to put a better basketball team out on the floor than we had last year," team president Robert Rowell said on KNBR radio. "I think we're putting those things in motion, and we're not finished doing what we need to do." Notes: Last season, the Warriors couldn't have asked for a better slate of games to open with -- 13 of their first 17 contests were at Oracle Arena. In the 2007-08 NBA schedule released Thursday, the Warriors have anything but a cushy October and November. The Warriors will be featured on national television 11 times, with six games on ESPN and five more on TNT. Before many of those games take place, however, they'll have to survive a rough opening stretch that features nine road games in the first 16 contests. Even more daunting, six of the home games during that stretch are against teams that won 50 or more games last season: Utah (Oct. 30), Cleveland (Nov. 6), Dallas (Nov. 8), Detroit (Nov. 14), Phoenix (Nov. 26) and Houston (Nov. 29). The Warriors will reap the benefits of all that early pain in February with nine home games and only one night on the road. Among the other dates for fans to circle: Jan. 13, when former longtime Warrior forwards Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy -- the latter a target of frequent booing at Oracle Arena -- return with the Indiana Pacers, and Feb. 1, when Jason Richardson, for years the face of the Golden State franchise, comes back for the first time as a member of the Charlotte Bobcats.</div> http://www.contracostatimes.com/warriors/c...?nclick_check=1
If we were to take on Camby without shipping out any salary we'd be right back in cap hell. Right now we have a bit of flexibility but that will only last until Andris and Monta's new contracts kick in after next season. If we do acquire a player for the TE I doubt they'll have a contract more than 2 years (thus why Gooden would make sense as a stopgap). I don't understand how you could not like this signing though. We got Croshere for 1 year, $770,000, thats a great value and a great player to have at the end of the rotation. We aren't committing multiple years or even over a million dollars to him and he gives us a veteran big man who fits the system. I'm not expecting him to be a major rotation player but he'll come in handy on certain nights depending on matchups, foul problems, injuries, etc.
<div class="quote_poster">CohanHater Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I've been pushing for a "Camby-like player" for a few years now. If he's out there to be had, then let's get him. Honestly, I think it'd be as good of a move as grabbing Uncle Cliffy a few years back. Cliffy did everything that the team then couldn't do, Camby would be the guy that fills all the gaps for this team.</div> I loved Cliff! Not only did he have leadership skills, he was a darn great post defender and gifted passer. His outside shot was an ugly laser shot to the rim, he sucked at free throws, and he has no inside moves or rebounding skills, but he worked really nicely along with an inspired Erick Dampier who could control the paint at the time. I really liked that 2002-2003 season even though the guys were all old. I thought they played pretty smart. I think Camby would be another smart player to get, although he's kind of a tweener and he's injury prone. Not only does he provide some of the league's top weakside shotblocking, he gets 2 assists a game (okay similar to Murph numbers who cares ), can rebound in double digits, and can take some midrangers. Too bad we're not getting him.
It's official now... http://www.nba.com/warriors/index_main.html We just signed the dude from the Evil Dead movie series.