Chad Ford writes in his draft trade rumors column: I never thought about OKC trying to move Westbrook to a 2. What's interesting here? Monta would seem to be exactly what OKC would be looking for, while Westbrook might be exactly what the Warriors need. The W's still have plenty of players who can fill that SF hole, and we'd still have the #7 pick as well. Perhaps interestingly, swapping Ellis and Westbrook brings both players back to within 8 hours of where they grew up. -- What OKC gets: a pure scoring natural 2 who is proven and one of the fastest men in the NBA. Great complement to Rubio (which is why I would like to see the Warriors get him directly). The Thunder were 7th worst in the NBA in points per game last year. -- What Golden State gets: more of a true PG (still a combo but I think a better passer than Monta) and the lock-down perimeter defender they sorely need. The Warriors have scoring to spare even without Monta, and were #2 in the NBA in PPG . Plus Westbrook is a pretty good scorer in his own right. But, the salaries don't match and unfortunately, I cannot come up with one single Ellis-Westbrook trade scenario that works on the ESPN Trade Machine. I don't know if something with a third team is realistic. I know it probably sounds nuts, but it does fill the Warriors biggest need and possibly shed some contract in the process.
The Grizzlies passing up on Rubio and drafting Thabeet would be the biggest mistake in franchise history.
No trades with Monta or Biedrins would work until June 30, which is when their BYC status drops. No automatic checker has a fast-forward option, so you have to do it manually - the biggest thing is that salaries just have to be within 25% both ways. Monta's contract is at a flat $11 million, requiring to take back salary between 8.25 and 13.75. There are several options to do this that include Westbrook, but the most reasonable options have to include either Collison, Watson, or Krstic. As much as I like Westbrook, I like Monta much more, though. Poor Westbrook had the highest amount of turnovers this season, which always is a bad sign. I really have to pass if I see this trade. I'd work out something with giving up Maggette or Crawford, though!
Over trading the 1st rounder, which could have become Anthony, Bosh or Wade? Anyway, I don't see Thunder trading the pick. At least not for Monta, because Rubio-Monta line up will be eaten alive defensively. Besides, Westbrook is already very promising player, and they will probably want Randolph as a starting point. If any, I think we might have better chance getting that 3rd pick...
That was a matter of bad luck and doing a horrible trade a long time before that. That ended up being remembered as Detroit's mistake, not ours.
At this point you can't trust anything in regards to the draft. GM's will use the media to their advantage and this tidbit of news about Heisley being in love with Thabeet could be a smokescreen or a message to the Rubio camp after the news came out Ricky didn't want to play in Memphis.
Hmm... if true about Rubio not wanting to play for Memphis and what Heisley is saying, then the Warriors got screwed for not ending up # 3. If they ended up # 3, then the teams above them would have gone Griffin and Rubio. EDIT: I just checked Draft Express and now they have OKC taking James Harden and Rubio going # 4 to our enemy the Kings (Good news for my hometown team though ). Sheesh! The Warriors can't win. As for Westbrook, I'll pass. The guy makes a lot of turnovers and it would be a nightmare pairing him with AR. Besides, he plays like Monta in that he likes to take it the rack. EDIT 2: Blake Griffin looks great for the Warriors. Jeez, if we can move up a few spots. Video: [video=youtube;DY_FsF7Kw70]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY_FsF7Kw70&feature=player_embedded[/video] Article: http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#NBA-Draft-Roundup-May-20-3224
Everyone knows that playing 2 little guards and 2 small forwards puts you on the fast track to winning a title.
As high as the Thunder might be on Rubio, I don't see any chance at them trading away Westbrook. He was sensational as a rookie and is only going to get better. He was arguably the 2nd best rookie of the entire class, behind Rose. There's no chance they trade away one of the cornerstones of their franchise, no chance. As for anyone drafting Rubio, there's still the buyout issue that could detract a lot of people from drafting him that want him over here this year.
There's got to be a way to trade this pick... but then again, let's say we get some guy who appears ho-hum but is actually an all-star. Like if there's a Joe Johnson or a Brandon Roy, I hope we take that guy. We need a 4 year college player who has the upside. He doesn't have to jump out of the gym! He just has to be ready to play.
I don't like this trade. Monta Ellis is a career 48% FG shooter whereas Westbrook is below 40%. I'd rather see the Warriors keep Ellis. I think this trade would be a mistake. Perhaps I am underrating Westbrook, but his stats did not overwhelm me last year. He doesn't seem worth a Monta Ellis in my opinion. He may turn out to be really good. But I think Monta Ellis is already really good and has the potential to be much better, once he gets his legs back for a full season and some players around him - perhaps a "boss" like Baron Davis, Jason Kidd (well maybe he's too old now) or Billups.
I hear you Clif, it's not that I'm trying to get rid of Monta, I'm not. I just believe deeply that the Warriors are not going anywhere until they get a true PG, and I'm 90% convinced it's not Monta. Westbrook did have a poor shooting year, but he's a rookie, it happens. He shot 46.5% in college, so I think he can get better. But you're probably right, trading Monta to get an unproven guy like Westbrook (even though I like him) is probably not the answer. If the Warriors for once could have magically moved into the top 3, things would be different, but now they are stuck with a sketchy draft pick that has a good chance of landing a good player, but probably won't produce the true PG who can play a little D that they need. If we're going to trade for a top shelf PG, everyone is going to ask for AR first, Monta and/or Andris second, and come back with "are you joking?" after that. Wright, Belinelli, Azubuike, Morrow, Turiaf, or a #7 pick all might have some trade value, but they aren't going to fetch you that kind of talent in return. I don't know, I'm just getting nervous about next year. If we head into next year with the same roster plus whatever rookie we get at #7, I think we're looking at another lost season. Will we see fewer games lost to injury, and will that mean more victories? Most probably yes to both. But I think they're still a long shot to make the playoffs in the West. The problems (selfish and/or inconsistent play from SJax, Craw, Mags; poor fast break performance; half-court pace = death; lack of rebounding; lack of leadership; total lack of defense; undersized, too many tweeners) still remain. I just don't believe this team is a few minor tweaks away from being a real playoff threat. They need to do something dramatic, and soon.
I agree that if the Warriors were able to get a PG they could make some strides, and the current roster is missing that gelling piece. In the current situation I would rather try to go for someone like Hinrich who we could most likely obtain on the cheaper side than Westbrook. I think if the Warriors were able to get someone like Hinrich and another PG like Jennings or Lawson or one of the other PGs that may be around at the 7th pick in the draft, then maybe the team would be moving in a decent direction. The deal that worked on Realgm (not sure if it would work in real life) was Jackson, Maggette, Azubuike for Hinrich and Deng.
Sorry to be a downer but dumping our bad Ks for younger more versatile talent like Deng and Hinrich is just fantasy.
Perhaps. But Deng and Hinrich both have large contracts that the Bulls may want to get rid of (actually, looking at Deng's contract I may even want to reconsider this whole idea - it's very large, perhaps very risky). Jackson is pretty solid player so is Azubuike. They'd have to take on Maggette's contract, but that's almost nothing compared to Deng's contract.
