<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>• The Cleveland Cavaliers have been talking to a number of teams about Anderson Varejao. One possible destination for Varejao is the Golden State Warriors. According to a source familiar with the talks, the Cavs would send Varejao and the No. 19 pick to Golden State for Brandan Wright. The Warriors hold a $10 million trade exception that allows them to take back a lot more money than they send out in a trade.</div> Source
That's a terrible trade for the Warriors IMO. I like Varejao but Wright is a blue chip prospect who has already shown he can at least play in the NBA. The #19 pick? Meh. If they find a way to get Varejao without giving up Wright then I'd be interested. If Mullin traded beloved Warrior JRich for Wright, and wasn't willing to move Wright for Garnett, then I seriously doubt he'll be moved for Varejao. I think someone in Cleveland came up with this rumor.
nooooooooooooooo! Varejao's role is an energy big off the bench. He will never be a quality starter in the league. Wright is one of our cornerstones. And it's not like we have money available, that's Monta and Andris' money.
Tim Kawakami has ripped this rumor to shreds: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>There are times when you can see precisely where a rumor starts, why it starts, and why it really and truly won’t happen if you just look at it without agent-bias. ESPN.com’s Chad Ford, who is good at this, tossed out a few juicy ones this morning, but he seems to be getting some weird info about the Warriors these days. A little while after suggesting the Warriors desperately want Yi Jianlian from Milwaukee and would trade Brandan Wright plus their No. 14 to get him (Deeply, deeply wrong), Ford tossed out another one: Ford said the Warriors could trade Wright (again?) and use their trade exception to take back Cleveland active power forward Anderson Varejao plus Cleveland’s No. 19 pick. Let me begin by saying: All due respect to Chad and his relationship with Dan Fegan, who conveniently is the agent for both Yi and Varejao and loves starting Warriors rumors, but THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN. I know the Warriors’ thinking on Wright: They think he’s incredibly valuable to their future and think I’m crazy for dangling him in my own trade imaginings. This isn’t like the Jason Richardson no-trade promise by Chris Mullin last summer–at some point, we all know he was saying that because he had to honor a prime veteran… until the moment he traded him. That’s not the situation with Wright. Mullin flat out thinks he can be a great player. I don’t think they’re misleading me about this. They are not contemplating trading Wright and they won’t do so unless it could get them back a sure-thing forward (my interpretation) and that’s not Varejao. Put it in ink: The Warriors do not consider Varejao, who can’t shoot, a major up-tick on the front line. He’s not a Nellie-style forward, and really, could you play him with Biedrins? No way Nellie does that. So you’re taking back his salary, giving up your TE and your best young big man and getting back No. 19, which really doesn’t help much (if you realize that 14 is going to be a non-starter, too) … to make Fegan and Ford happy? Nope. Quicker summary: Why trade Wright for Varejao when the Warriors know they can get a player similar to or possibly better than Varejao with the 14th pick, anyway, (Robin Lopez, Marreese Speights, JaVale McGee) and then you don’t have to take back the $12M Varejao is due over the next two seasons? So how does a rumor like this get out? Or the Yi rumor? There’s a similarity… Let me spell it out: Yi is represented by Fegan, who wants his client in a bigger market. Varejao is represented by Fegan, who feuded with the Cavaliers over his restricted free-agent deal last year. Dan creates atmospheres for trades by talking big about the trades he can swing for his clients. He basically invented the “Warriors-love-Yi” draft craze last summer, which I talked about with amazement at the time, since I was sure the Warriors were never as ga-ga over Yi as, for instance, they are now over Kevin Love (who they won’t get). This is just Dan Fegan Agenting 101–talk up a scenario in the hope it happens or just creates buzz about his player and maybe causes disruption in several organizations. It’s fair game. It doesn’t always work, especially if you can pinpoint his whisperings and motivations. Dan talks to Ford, clearly. A lot. He likes goosing up interest in his players and he likes his players to get to the Warriors (Troy Murphy, Richardson, Arenas, for a while Barnes). He doesn’t like Wright, because Wright’s arrival screwed him in two ways–sent Richardson to Charlotte and blocked a path for other Fegan clients to take a forward spot with the Warriors. Doesn’t mean any of it is true. Now, could the Warriors talk about acquiring Varejao in some other deal that doesn’t involve Wright? Yes. But they wouldn’t give up much to get him. I doubt they’d give up the 14th pick to get Varejao and to do that they’d have to give up the TE. That’s expensive. I think they could do better. More importantly, Mullin thinks he can do better. Sorry I went so long. Partly sorry for even doing this at all. I try not to jump in or shoot down every random trade rumor involving the Warriors, though I still do it from time to time if the rumor is particularly egregious or has eye-opening effects on Warriors Nation. ESPN.com throwing out Wright + TE for Varejao + pick is one of those moments, I guess. Can’t wait until the next Ford-Fegan combo offering.</div>
I agreed with Kawakami. Hooray! Trading away Brandan Wright for a 2nd round hustle role player would be stupid. And the 19th pick ain't anything to jump for joy about. I can understand the Warriors might be really unhappy they have no chance at Kevin Love, but what do you expect? This is the Warriors. We always, always, always, always miss out on the top true big man prospects when we got to the lottery and then we end up using a high pick on a small forward or some crap rather than a center, power forward, point guard, true shooting guard. The biggest positions that matter because they affect how you move the ball. Brandan Wright will be a good true big man someday (hopefully) but it cost JRich just to get him, so it then ends up "Jrich for Varajao and the 19th." Which we all know sounds really lame. Wright didn't fall in our lap in the lottery and he's the best big man prospect we've had since Biedrins.
My reaction to this rumor is pretty much what has been explained above. I am really confused about Wright's relationship with this team. Why is he continuously being added to these outrageous rumors? Maybe the Warriors trade Wright for a true NBA starter, and I can see why they'd do that, or at least make a decent attempt to at least understand such a move. But this - What is this?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Custodianrules2 @ Jun 19 2008, 05:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I agreed with Kawakami. Hooray! Trading away Brandan Wright for a 2nd round hustle role player would be stupid. And the 19th pick ain't anything to jump for joy about. I can understand the Warriors might be really unhappy they have no chance at Kevin Love, but what do you expect? This is the Warriors. We always, always, always, always miss out on the top true big man prospects when we got to the lottery and then we end up using a high pick on a small forward or some crap rather than a center, power forward, point guard, true shooting guard. The biggest positions that matter because they affect how you move the ball. Brandan Wright will be a good true big man someday (hopefully) but it cost JRich just to get him, so it then ends up "Jrich for Varajao and the 19th." Which we all know sounds really lame. Wright didn't fall in our lap in the lottery and he's the best big man prospect we've had since Biedrins.</div> I thought you might be for this because with #19 we would be position to take CDR
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ryan @ Jun 19 2008, 06:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Custodianrules2 @ Jun 19 2008, 05:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I agreed with Kawakami. Hooray! Trading away Brandan Wright for a 2nd round hustle role player would be stupid. And the 19th pick ain't anything to jump for joy about. I can understand the Warriors might be really unhappy they have no chance at Kevin Love, but what do you expect? This is the Warriors. We always, always, always, always miss out on the top true big man prospects when we got to the lottery and then we end up using a high pick on a small forward or some crap rather than a center, power forward, point guard, true shooting guard. The biggest positions that matter because they affect how you move the ball. Brandan Wright will be a good true big man someday (hopefully) but it cost JRich just to get him, so it then ends up "Jrich for Varajao and the 19th." Which we all know sounds really lame. Wright didn't fall in our lap in the lottery and he's the best big man prospect we've had since Biedrins.</div> I thought you might be for this because with #19 we would be position to take CDR </div> True, but not at the cost of Wright. That pretty much defeats the purpose of developing competitive big position players. But I like where you're going. Maybe if we can trade Harrington for a #19. We drop more salary, maybe we can use it to re-sign Baron, Wright becomes starter or we could re-up Croshere or ask what Pat Garrity is doing these days. In a dream world I'd love to get Zarko Cabarkapa back. I don't understand why Don Nelson didn't like Zarko. He was awesome except maybe a few games where the only thing he could do on the court was miss shots. I loved Zarko's passing and drives, though.
Chad Fraud is getting to be like Peter Vecsey. Okay, not that bad, but you know his deals aren't going to be happening anytime soon. Second, he gets to travel and see most, if not all of the draft picks, but there isn't much to glean from his analysis. He's not even a full-time sports journalist anymore, so I bet he doesn't travel that much either.
