Something fishy is going on but this article doesn't seem quite right. Why would the Warriors promise to draft or not draft a certain kind of player? Monta is not Kobe or Lebron, there's no way in hell he can make those kinds of demands (especially after costing the team an entire season with his silly stunt) and I rather think Nelson would tell him to stuff it rather than make such a ridiculous promise. Either that or Nelson told him that at the same time he was formulating trades to ship his ass out of town.
I think it's pretty easy to make that promise. At 7, there won't be a legitimate playmaking pointguard available.
Yes. But something is up. There's no way Nelson and Riley take a trip to Mississippi in the middle of the summer just to welcome Monta's new baby. I don't think they do it just to calm a (allegedly) whining Monta, either, that's not Nellie's style. So what's up?
Did you read the article? I'm with Tim in this case than Givony as I want them to go for Rubio. I just don't think Monta is our PG if that's what he wants to do.
Did you listen to Larry Riley's interview on KNBR last week? http://www.knbr.com/common/global_audio/201/8618.mp3 He says they went down to see Monta to talk about a bunch of stuff. Riley asked Monta if he'd have a problem if they drafted a PG and Monta doesn't play PG. Monta says he just wants to play. Kawakami is trash. Sorry.
All sorts of crappy rumors pop up before the draft, they could be smokescreens, and rarely they're actually true. Obviously we don't have any influence except that we can root for who we think will be the best player and talk with our wallets. I do hope this rumor isn't true though.
I was thinking the same thing and this was in order to sabotage the Warriors by some team picking lower than them. The only real evidence of some kind of trouble brewing was that both Nelson and Riley flew to Atlanta to talk with Monta. Of course, they could have went for some other reason. We'll just have to see whether Monta asks to be traded or not. To play devil's advocate, if Monta does ask for a trade, then he will be harder for GS to trade as his trade value diminishes. What do the Warriors gain from this rumor? Not much. If the guards we want are gone, then Jordan Hill at # 7 sounds pretty good.
Okay, sorry. My Kawakami comment had nothing to do with what I had previously written in that post. I should have written: "on a side note, Kawakami is trash." Nothing but a tabloid journalist (if you can even call him a journalist). I think Kawakami is a hard worker and a smart guy, but probably too smart for his own good. I really can't stand the guy and the material he writes. I don't know how many other ways to write it as I've probably made this point countless times over and over again.
According to the CBS Sportsline guy everything is ok: http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/15626472 I read a week or so ago that Nellie and Riley flew down to Monta amongst their predeaft travels to congratulate him on his son being born but obviously some basketball talk must have taken place because players have kids all the time and the GM and coach don't go visit all of the players. This story seems to corroborate that with some added input from Ellis' agent who may or may not be trustworthy. I guess I can buy into Nellie and Riley seeing Monta in person to congratulate him on his new kid as well as to name him captain, tell him officially that its his team and that hes the guy, especially after how the franchise has treated him. This writer does seem to have better sources than anyone else who's written on this yet. I'm still a little concerned about Monta's attitude though if him being "the guy" is so important that the GM and coach need to grovel to him to make him happy. IIRC there was also word back around when he re-signed with us that it was important to him to be the highest paid player on the team. All in all though I don't think Monta is really a bad guy. I'm not sure about building 100% around him in the future. I think I like him more than a lot of W's fans because I love the fact that hes a high scoring guard who shoots 50+%, hes a great go-to scorer. People label him negatively as a combo guard but how many combo guards have the efficiency that he does? Guys who can put up big scoring numbers on ~50% shooting are generally legit stars. I think if AR starts to blossom hes "the guy" to build around and Monta would be a great #2 but would he be mad if AR leapfrogs him?
Monta was on Fitz and Brooks today. Said Nellie just told him that hes the man and they have to back one another up, its Monta's team, he needs to be the PG, etc. etc. Said he'll be a W, #8 is still gonna be in GS. Monta said we're going to see him distributing like never before and hes gonna be a leader. Non-basketball wise, Fitz brought up Andre Ward mentioning Monta being in the ring with him or something, Monta said he thinks hes a little quicker than Ward and plans on getting into promoting boxing. Fitz brought up who would win a Warriors boxing tournament, Fitz said he thinks Monta and Morrow wouldn't go down. Monta said Jack would pwn, hes your guy if you need backup.
This is quite an understatement Like you said, it's a little concerning that they have to make an effort to tell him "he's the guy" but I guess NBA players these days need to be nurtured a little more than before. If this report is accurate, than it seems like Nellie and Riley are duplicating what Mullin use to do with the players: make an effort to make them feel wanted and part of the team. I think that's important.
I like Monta as the team's #2 guy (aka Quiet Assassin) better than as the #1 guy and designated leader. But still, I don't want to see him shipped out yet because I don't think we've seen everything he's capable of yet, so it's reassuring.
LOL. No prob. You're entitled to your opinion, but I wanted to clarify because Tim K. gets too much garbage attributed to him. He does bring it upon himself, but it is what makes his blog interesting to talk about imho. More importantly, the article by Givorny was pure rubbish. It's just a rumor floated out there by some team picking below the Warriors hoping for a PG to fall to them.
