Look across the NBA and now look at the roster, Pietrus - just went to the Finals and hit some huge shots; Josh Powell - Just scored 14 for the Lakers last night and he got a ring JRich - developing into a nice jump shooter and playing well for the Suns Barnes - still a productive member of the NBA with Magic Baron - overweight, decent PG, horrible shooter The current roster is okay but there was some serious lack of vision or poor vision because they just do not fit. JRich and Powell would fit nicely now. Instead, they have CJ Watson (why?) and Azubuike signed long term (he's decent but poor decision maker and awful passer.)
It's either guys wanted too much money, they weren't complete enough basketball players, or they weren't good enough to build the team on. Probably all of the above. It's too bad the best player on this team isn't also a leader. We need leadership. Sjax is failing, Monta is no leader. Monta is a Jason Terry, a Stephon Marbury, a Steve Francis. We need the Jason Kidds, the Chris Pauls, the guys who can be the QB.
Sadly, Monta is looking more and more like an explosive Stevie Francis; great/awe-inspiring scorer; awful defense and simply not a distributor.
Yup. Would you trade Monta for Kirk Hinrich straight-up? I would. I love Monta, don't get me wrong, but I love the team more and I love for the team to play good, smart basketball. Curry and Hinrich is a good, smart backcourt. Hinrich, although undersized, can defend 2's. Chicago needs scoring...they are third worst in the league. Warriors need unselfish, team-first, players.
On the Monta note, I posted in the other thread I would trade him, but I wouldn't do that trade (for Hinrich). I haven't thought about how much Monta is worth, but he's gotta return more than that. As far as the players who left, I really can't blame the Warriors. There are a few former Warriors who are doing better now than when they were with us, but mostly just on a better team (Dampier, J-Rich, Pietrus, Belinelli, Murphy, Harrington, Crawford, Barnes - seem to be all doing the same statwise). Dunleavy, Murphy, and Dampier are each making over $10 mil a year, and J-Rich and Baron are each making about $13 mil. Add Harrington and Crawford to the $10 million list too. Pietrus is making $6 million a year. Speaking of former Warriors, even the Custodian managed to get away with max MLE when he left, but he's not more productive than when he was with us. Out of the list the only one I miss is J-Rich, and he couldn't bring the Warriors to the next level alone. I wish we had received more for him, but even Charlotte didn't get very much when they moved him. And Barnes is the only one who's way under value. Everyone else, totally worthless contract-wise for the kind of role-player production they provide. Personally I blame the Warriors that we barely missed and not the Warriors we lost. In other words, messing up in drafting, free agency, and missing out on good trades (if they existed). Draft-wise, some of it was just our lousy luck of picking too high, but there were some clear misses, i.e. POB, Diogu. We made some decent picks, too, but weren't able to surround them with free agents, we got lucky with a few trades but all of our past trades have been garbage because we have nothing left to deal with, having given away some of our draft picks in the process and not having quite enough "value" to get back good players.
I agree and just threw out that idea for the hell of it. I think the Warriors should take time to see what they can get for Monta but we have to consider that Monta's contract is big and for many years. They can't get too greedy. The point is, the Warriors need to get a player that's talented with less salary committed over the years. They're not going to get a player that's more talented than Monta. That's why I think they need to focus on team-oriented role players. Maybe not for Monta straight-up, but perhaps the other tradeable assets they have remaining.
I don't think Monta is going to net us a player better than himself. I also don't think hes very selfish. Dude doesn't have Baron/Jack/Mags/Fish syndrome. He takes pretty good shots, GOES TO THE RIM CONSISTENTLY, this season hes been passing the ball when the pass is there, and his defense has been better this season (funny how long it took him to realize he has to move his feet to play defense). I'm not opposed to trading him but I wouldn't trade him for Hinrich.
As I said on another thread, I WAS WRONG ON MONTA!! He has grown, become a better team player, leader and he's simply been sabotaged by Nellie. Keep him.
I still think Ellis isn't ready to put the franchise on his shoulders. We need a player older than him to take command. So keep Ellis, but find a guy like Jackson only with more maturity. See Brandon Roy.
Ellis has grown somewhat as a player. His defense isn't great, but it's improved, his passing isn't great, but it's improved, and he actually seems to have a decent 3-point shot this year (in moderation). However, his shooting percentage is down. He's clanking more open midrange jumpers, still has trouble finishing at the rim at times, still gets caught in the air with nowhere to go, and his freethrow % is poor for a guard and dropping (Anthony Randolph is shooting 11% higher than Monta this year). When Monta was shooting 52% from the floor, you could live with some of his limitations because you don't find a lot of volume shooters who shoot that kind of a %. But now with him shooting under 45%, those limitations are a lot harder to accept. So I'm really on the fence with him right now, and his attitude problems are tipping me to towards the "trade him" side.
warriors have a shitload of talent, and have for a few years. they need a different coach, and to purge monta.
I haven't really thought about who we could get for Monta because I thought we would keep him. But what really makes it hard is that the Warriors do not have a direction to go right now. Are they going to go with younger players like Minnesota? No. Are they going to go with veterans? Yes, it appears that way but which veterans will make up the team since we already got rid of Jackson, Harrington and Crawford? It seems to me the choice is to go young, but why not try to keep the team together by firing Nelson and build on the young team that we have? We may still lose Ellis in the process, but at least we'll have a direction we can build on. If you listen to Jackson and Ellis' argument, the Warriors management (remember when Rowell/Riley (maybe Nelson?) talked with both of them and promised a veteran impact player? Well, they had the chance to get Amare, but Nelson did not want to give up Stephen Curry in the deal. Basically, the Warriors could have made the Amare deal, but they went back on their word to Jackson and Ellis. Nelson chose the veteran path, and yet, when it was there he did not take it. He changed his mind. Don Nelson has done this countless number of times going back to Run TMC and one of the reasons he's the FDB in my book.
I haven't really thought about who we could get for Monta because I thought we would keep him. But what really makes it hard is that the Warriors do not have a direction to go right now. Are they going to go with younger players like Minnesota? No. Are they going to go with veterans? Yes, it appears that way but which veterans will make up the team since we already got rid of Jackson, Harrington and Crawford? It seems to me the choice is to go young, but why not try to keep the team together by firing Nelson and build on the young team that we have? We may still lose Ellis in the process, but at least we'll have a direction we can build on. If you listen to Jackson and Ellis' argument, the Warriors management (remember when Rowell/Riley (maybe Nelson?) talked with both of them and promised a veteran impact player? Well, they had the chance to get Amare, but Nelson did not want to give up Stephen Curry in the deal. Basically, the Warriors could have made the Amare deal, but they went back on their word to Jackson and Ellis. Nelson chose the veteran path, and yet, when it was there he did not take it. He changed his mind. Don Nelson has done this countless number of times going back to Run TMC and one of the reasons he's the FDB in my book.
Amare, Monta and SJax would not have been much closer to a solid foundation. Its all names and no substance. Sorry, the engine that makes the Suns go is Nash, not Amare. Look at what he's done for Frye, JRich and Grant Hill. Not to mention Raja Bell, Boris Diaw. That's why he was MVP.
