Warriors Let Trade Exception Retire

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Hunter @ Jan 16 2008, 12:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Exception To Expire

The one-year life on the $2.1 million trade exception the Warriors got in exchange for forward Ike Diogu expires Thursday. -- Contra Costa Times</div>
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I'm sure Mullin would've made some kind of deal for it, but we have CJ Watson who has produced for us even though he may not be a backup for Baron in the long run. Part of this has to be that Cohan isn't going to pay for someone he doesn't have to or can get on the cheap.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jason voorhees @ Jan 18 2008, 03:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm sure Mullin would've made some kind of deal for it, but we have CJ Watson who has produced for us even though he may not be a backup for Baron in the long run. Part of this has to be that Cohan isn't going to pay for someone he doesn't have to or can get on the cheap.</div>

I'm sure that the Warriors could have used the exception to get Flip Murray from Detroit who is owed only a fraction of his 1.8 million dollar contract in this his contract year. I think that he'd be someone who'd be a much better fit to play back up point minutes than Troy Hudson or CJ Watson.

 

It's all about ball movement to me. DJ Mbegna was a ballstopper because he couldn't catch or finish on the offensive end. We take CJ Watson or whoever could replicate a guy who can demonstrate fundamentals at the speed of the nba level, we might have a guy that can fit in as a trustworthy 9th or 10th man. CJ Watson has developed playmaking skills with solid shooting off the dribble and reliable defense. To me, he's a good fit in theory for the team chemistry when we need a 3rd ballhandler when Sjax, Ellis, and Baron are resting. So now we got Barnes who can handle some, Azubuike can dribble, and now we got Ellis. That's pretty good because I know the coach will most likely leave one of the big three in there so we have a dominant offensive option in the backcourt such as Baron or Monta with Barnes/Sjax to swing the ball around or finish the play.

I'm not a big fan of Flip Murray even at Seattle. Sure he was greatly underrated, but undersized guards who don't play like a true all-around guard are a dime a dozen. Murray does have problems with his court vision, passing, and playing defense, but he's a more reliable scoring threat going one-on-one. But a true guard should be able to stay in front of his man, pass the ball, and hit a better clip from the foul line. There's just something about low 70% ft shooting guards that really pisses me off. I mean c'mon you're in the nba, I've seen high school girls shoot better. No excuse why any professional player under 6'6 can't hit 75% at least. It means they aren't practicing, they got poor training, or they just choke because they lack confidence and mental concentration.

My philosophy as a basketball fan would be that I'd rather have a guy like Barnes/Azubuike who can do a bit of everything and do 5 on 5 type of teamwork. CJ Watson looks like he can do a lot of things in the team context (with the expected limitations of course). Above all, these guys are smart players who can share the ball and are improved players (very hard workers). It's sort of like how the Lakers bench doesn't really stand out individually, but they somehow produce because they play as a team, they work hard, and feed off each other so that the game comes easier.

The hard part about finding the best of the nbdl is: are they mentally strong? Azu seems unfazed even though he's playing injured and sucking at the foul line this year. Matt Barnes was almost out of the league, but he played with passion and smarts, even though he's incredibly risky and emotional player (which leads to mistakes). Then look at a non-nbdl player like Monta Ellis. Guy came out of the 2nd round and it didn't bother him that he wasn't playing his first year. He then became one of the top go-to guys on this team in his 3rd year. I think Don Nelson likes that sort of character as well, but it's hard to explain why he likes Pietrus so much and hates POB. Yeah POB could be a wimp, but you don't destroy his development by treating him like Ike Diogu or Dunleavy. At least POB has more fundamentals than that Mbenga guy.

 

Don't know why POB is not playing more either, I mean Nellie played Manute and Shawn Bradley simply because they were big and POB has length and size, if nothing else, and some good offensive skills. My hunch is that its simply because POB has not shown enough humility or work (a pure guess.)

CJ Watson looks like he's got the PG mindset, at least with the W's. He's not jacking up shots right when he comes in (hello Hudson?), he's swinging the ball so that the play can continue to the weakside. That's really a key for the W's that I see, are they patient enough to swing the ball? When they do, since they have so many scorers, if they get the ball to the weakside without the defense focusing on the isolation, they've got a chance to make a play. "Ballstoppers", as CR2 says, kill them in the half court.