I've been saying I think there's probably not enough room for Wright and he will eventually be traded (although I don't want to see that), but the flaw in this article, assuming everyone is relatively healthy this year, is the assumption that Azubuike will match last year's minutes. There's no way Azubuike should get anywhere near 32 minutes a game, and Jackson, who got tired many times late in games last year, should play somewhat less (I'd say about 30-32 minutes but I can see Nellie playing him 35-36). This is how I would currently guess at allocated minutes: By Position: PG Ellis 28, Curry 16, Law 4 SG Morrow 18, Jackson 10, Ellis 8, Azubuike 8, Curry 4 SF Jackson 22, Maggette 18, Azubuike 6, George 2 PF Randolph 26, Wright 12, Maggette 6, Turiaf 2, George 2 C Biedrins 30, Turiaf 18 Totals: Ellis 36 Jackson 32 Biedrins 30 Randolph 26 Maggette 24 Curry 20 Morrow 18 Azubuike 14 Wright 12 Law 4 George 4 A lot depends on how good Curry is. He could play a lot of minutes or almost none, but I think Nelson will use him a lot if he can. And I suspect I'm probably underestimating how much Nelson will play Maggette, Jackson, and Azubuike Now, if it were up to me, it might look more like this: PG Ellis 28, Curry 16, Law 4 SG Morrow 28, Ellis 8, Azubuike 4, Jackson 4, Curry 4 SF Jackson 22, Maggette 14, Randolph 6, Azubuike 6 PF Randolph 26, Wright 20, Turiaf 2 C Biedrins 30, Turiaf 18
to me, randolph should be playing at least 30, and curry should be playing at least 20. good read though, it brings up some interesting viewpoints.
I'd expect Randolph to prevent himself from getting 30 mpg due to foul trouble. Young bigs are prone to fouls more often than not and Randolph is especially active in going after every shot, playing physically, getting out of control while handling the ball which leads to lots of charges. We've all seen how refs blow the whistle and just point to the young big man with Beans, its probably Randolph's turn for that type of thing.
All very true, but I think Randolph is already getting a lot more respect from the refs than Beans, certainly more than Biedrins did at Randolph's current age. It seems to me that Biedrins gets too careful on defense at times and the refs start calling any contact or no contact at all (like when he'll reach in and then pull back his arm, but the refs just see a lunging, flailing arm). Whereas when you come out super-aggressive and physical as Randolph does, basically they can't call you on every play so I feel like you can get away with more that way. Randolph shot 21 freethrows in that one summer league game. But yeah, as you say I don't think he could play really big minutes yet.
Hmm... Something doesn't seem right. Warriors gave away Marco, and now they are trying to get 1st rounder for CJ and sign-and-trade deal? And, Warriors seem to be very fond of cash all of sudden. For minutes, there should be some injuries, but if everybody are healthy... Total 240 minutes Monta: 34 Jackson: 34 Randolph: 28 Biedrins: 30 I expect those 4 players to take at least half of minutes (126 min exact), leaving 114 minutes to rest. Then... Maggette: 28 Turiaf: 20 Azubuike: 25 Morrow: 18 ... Leaving total 23 minutes for rest (If lucky enough). Unknown is Wright's minutes. He can break out during the training camp and preseason to take chunk of minutes, and either force Nelson to go with 10 men rotation or take somebody else's minutes. Or, he can also be buried on the bench. I don't see Curry contributing early considering how he struggled during the summer camp. That means, we will see tons of Monta/Jackson PG combo again...
He may be in foul trouble, but I think he learned to pace himself when he is getting a large minutes. During last year... Month / Ave. minutes / Block / Foul Nov / 13.8 min / 1.4 blk / 1.6 Dec / 13.0 min / 0.7 blk / 1.4 Jan / 11.2 min / 0.8 blk / 1.5 Feb / 15.1 min / 0.9 blk / 2.6 Mar / 22.8 min / 2.0 blk / 2.8 Apr / 32.3 min / 0.9 blk / 3.8 You can see that his average block decreased significantly during April, and his foul average also dropped as well. That means, he doesn't chase the ball like a madman anymore and his foul total decreased because of that. He may not average 3 blocks per game, but at least he is learning to stay out of foul trouble...
CJ to Orlando Update — The following got passed to me second hand from someone close to the Magic, so take it for what it’s worth: the Magic’s preferred offer for Watson is apparently a chunk of the Turkoglu trade exception, a second round pick and the rights to Milovan Rakovic (read the Magic summer league bio here — he didn’t play due to the absence of a contract, possibly to keep him available as an easier-to-move trading chip). It sounded earlier this summer as if the Magic and CJ had worked out the numbers on a deal, so the sticking point here is likely the Warriors holding out for a first round pick, cash, or both. I have no expectation that Rakovic would be a player, but he’s intriguing because he was plucked at the end of draft by Donnie Nelson (who knows the Russian / Baltic basketball scene as well as anyone in the NBA), fits Riley’s professed desire for “beef,” and Nelson’s preference for bigs with jumpers. If I’m the Magic, I don’t up my offer — CJ might be worth a late first round pick, but by breaking off a chunk of their otherwise huge trade exception they decrease its usefulness come trading deadline time. It’s also not as if the Warriors are likely to get better offers for CJ in this salary climate, so they’ll likely say “good enough” at some point and close the deal. As with Pietrus before him, I’ll be curious to see how Watson’s game changes — for better or worse — in a new home. Hmm.. The Rock: [video=youtube;cSYJtzz2JgU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSYJtzz2JgU[/video] The Rock Dunks: [video=youtube;SrS9V8bCRRA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrS9V8bCRRA[/video]
