He isn't shooting the ball well this year, but he still gets his assists and brings a toughness to the PG position. I wonder how many teams are willing to take that contract on? And it's nice to see Jackson, after signing a contract extention and then discuss wanting to be traded, is now the Warriors GM "The Warriors came to Hollywood a day before Sunday's game, giving Stephen Jackson a chance Saturday to hang out with former teammate Baron Davis. And discuss the possibility of Davis rejoining the Warriors. ‘That's all we talked about,' Jackson said. ‘I went to his house, spent some time with his mom and his grandmother. He wants to come back. And if he wants to come back, I want him back.' Davis opted out of the final year of his Warriors contract in July and signed a five-year, $65 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, who are 8-21."
I feel ZERO sympathy for Baron. He had a good thing going in GS or he could have *gasp* taken less money to play for a winner/better situation. This is what you get when you get greedy. Even if they had Brand, they would be no better than they are now, ZBo isn't that far behind Brand's production. Also, you should NEVER EVA EVA EVA EVA sign with the Clippers
I don't define "toughness" as somebody who gets a little disinterested and has shut himself down for 20+ games in five out of his ten seasons. Baron is talented, but I'd pass.
While I appreciate this thread, links should be provided if possible. Its one of the benefits of a forum, find all your info in one place
That's Crap. He took less money than he could have in order to play for the Clippers. He could have gotten a better deal with GSW but went to LAC because he trusted Brand, who kind of screwed him over. Baron for Raef straight up.
Ha.Ha. Less money really? Baron Davis $11,250,000 $12,150,000 $13,050,000 $13,950,000 $14,850,000 That's what he is making. Sure, maybe an extra couple of mill by staying with the team who had his Bird Rights, but ANYTIME you make over 10 freaking million a season, you are NOT taking less money, c'mon now. I am talking about a 6-8 million dollar contract to sign with a team who can make a deep playoff run, or work out a sign and trade.He knew Dunleavy was controlling. He knew the Clippers history with winning or lack there of. He knew this would be a shitty situation. Yet, he couldn't even hack it for half a season..pathetic.
LAC would have still sucked and Baron would still be whining. Brand has peaked. And LAC has a VERY similar player in Zach. In fact, Zach is dogging him this year. Zach 2008-09 Statistics PPG 22.0 RPG 11.0 APG 2.0 SPG 1.0 BPG 0.3 FG% 0.466 FT% 0.785 3P% 0.333 MPG 37.4 Brand PPG 15.9 RPG 9.8 APG 1.5 SPG 0.7 BPG 1.4 FG% 0.447 FT% 0.683 3P% 0.000 MPG 35.2
Okay, but realize it probably is more about Brand struggling to come back from his injury, rather than "peaking". Brand is on a different team with a lot of good players, so it isn't a huge surprise that his numbers are down a bit, although I do agree that they'd be down in LAC compared to his darkhorse MVP season in 2005-2006. How many All-Star caliber players would take 6-8 million dollars...that quality role-player money. Here are people taking that kind of money: Nazr Mohammed, Boris Diaw, Drew Gooden, Andres Nocioni, Eric Snow, Jerry Stackhouse, Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Crawford, Corey Magette, Adonal Foyle, Shane Battier, Ron Artest, Jamaal Tinsley, Marquis Daniels, Rasho Nesterovic, T.J. Ford, Vladimir Radmonovic, Antonie Walker, Darko Milicic, Mark Jaric, Mark Blount, Udonis Haslim, Luke Ridnour, Dan Gadzuric, Brian Cardinal, Jason Collins, Devin Harris, Stromile Swift, Antonio Daniels, Morris Peterson, Chris Duhon, Tim Thomas, Jared Jeffries, Jerome James, Malik Rose, Chris Wilcox, Nick Collison, Donyell Marshall, Earl Watson, Desmond Mason, Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turgolu, Tony Battie, Leandro Barbosa, Bobby Jackson, Kenny Thomas, Shareef Abdul Rahim, Mikki Moore, Beno Udrih, Jose Calderon, Jason Kopono, Matt Harpring, Etan Thomas, Mike James, Brendan Haywood, JOEL PRYZBILLA! Look through the list. Many All-star players? Some are easy to spot, like Hedo Turgolu and Devin Harris, but Baron Davis has more talent than just about anyone on this list. I guess Lebron should take the MLE to sign in Portland so that he can win championships. So yeah, your idea of 6-8 million is severely undervaluing a very good PG in this league, who a couple of years ago was statistically the best player in the game over the course of the season. I just can't criticize a player in going after the money, given they have a limited career of 15 years at best, with a career ending injury just another play away. Add into the factor the pressure by agents. So going from 15 million to 12 million (or even 10 million) to put yourself in a favorable situation...I understand that, but to go from a MAX type player to a salary one-third of that is just ridiculous. Remember, most of the really favorable situations (like LAL for example) are close or over the cap and could only use the MLE...because they have so many high-contract players on the roster already. In fairness, I put more of the blame on Dunleavy. Don't get me wrong, I like him as a coach, but he is also the team GM (officially now, previously it was defacto). He should have known what he was getting into with Baron before signing him. Having Brand probably would have made things more manageable. Do I think the Clippers would be BETTER? Yes. I think that Baron got stuck in a bad situation when Brand reneged on his word. Baron is worth the money, and it is insane to think he should take less money for a chance to win. Let's not forget, Baron is 29 and this could be the last big contract he'll get before he goes Sam Cassell ring chasing. So for Baron...he still gets paid very good (although he could have gotten more from GSW...not many other teams were throwing comparable money this off-season), was going to his hometown, and was theoretically playing with a good big man and some other pieces in Kaman, Eric Gordon and Al Thornton. Anyways, I'll stop rambling, but I think putting blame on Baron is kinda ridiculous. How can you hate a guy who makes collaboration videos with Steve Nash riding a two-seat bicycle or rollerblading.
IMO, if you want to TRULY win, you'll put your ego aside and take a smaller deal to go to a winner. I just don't have much sympathy for multi-millionaires when they choose more money and their pride over a better situation. I guess I'm old school though. Basketball is for the love of the game, not for how much money you can make. I hate losing and you can't put a price tag on winning.
Big contract, but a huge upgrade. Frankly he would probably clash with Roy because he likes the ball as well. That being said, if you are planning on adding a FA PG to the team next season I'd rather have Davis if the price wasn't too high. He could be a great teacher for Bayless. Meh...I'd rather have Hinrich. Much better defender.
See that is the problem with Baron Davis. Every time a team he is on starts to lose some, he quits. That is why I never want him here. He is a quitter, whiner, and generally, the type of player that ends up on losing teams most of their career.
Logically I would trade Baron for Raef straight up, Raef doesn't play and we'd be getting someone who could help the team. Chemistry and money-wise the answer would be an absolute NO. I don't think that I would even want him as a back up on our team. I think right now he would be better for us than Sergio, but in the long run he would hurt the team.
I don't know if he's the right PG, but he does have size and is a good player. I would worry about attitude as well. I'm just not sure we'll be able to lure a big name FA in the next couple of summers, and if we can make a move using an expiring contract, then that is one way to acquire talent. We can resign our own guys using bird rights to go over the cap. So I too would be hesitant about adding Baron to the team, but it is something you have to look at.