Warriors have year to build on Strong finish; has GS thinking playoffs in 2005-06

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">San Francisco Chronicle
Warriors have year to build on Strong finish has Golden State thinking playoffs in 2005-06
<font size="1"> Janny Hu, Chronicle Staff Writer</font>

<font size="2">Silly, is it not? </font>

<font size="2">A team missing the postseason for the 11th straight year not only hearing talk about the playoffs, but where they might be seeded? </font>

<font size="2">Warriors coach Mike Montgomery was asked this week if expectations for next season -- which players center around making the postseason -- were being set too low for his team. </font>

<font size="2">After all, Golden State knocked off half of this year's Western Conference playoff contingent during its season-defining stretch, winning 11 of 12 games from March 17 to April 8. </font>

<font size="2">If the Warriors could twice top Phoenix, the team with the best record in the NBA, should they not be considered favorites to reach the playoffs, or even contenders for home-court advantage? </font>

<font size="2">That the question was asked with a semi-straight face signals how different the mood around Oakland is after the 2004-05 season wrapped Wednesday night with a 106-89 win over Utah.
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I think they've got a very good chance of making a successful playoff run next year. I just looked at there record and it's the same as the lakers (34 - 48).woah go golden state

 

they gonna have a good year next season and will make the playoffs for sure.

 

Let's hope so. This better not be a mirage of how good we actually are or something where Bdiddy gets hurt all over again and we're back to square 1.

Baron Davis basically is the x factor that makes the team compete because he elevates everyone else's game, sets the tone on defense as well as offense, and he just spread the floor like crazy. He really has made a difference in both Pietrus and Dunleavy's game.

One thing I worry about is our ability to rebound the ball, shoot free throws, play defense as a team and individually defend their matchups, and find some way to score in the paint without Bdiddy to rely on getting guys open. I know Biedrins will be a solid if not great post player one of these days. His coordination and strength for his size is excellent for a big man.

If we land another active big man who can spread the floor and play both ends to play power forward we're going to be rocking in the running game and the halfcourt set.

 

if nothin goes wrong next season, i really think they will make the playoffs

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting NbaBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">if nothin goes wrong next season, i really think they will make the playoffs</div>
I kind of find that obvious. We got a pick, some FAs we can sign like Joe Johnson or Bobby Simmons, we got Biedrins who might be able to start, J-Rich Baron. We gonna be awesome

 

I doubt we could sign Joe Johnson or Bobby Simmons, Jrich23. We're over the cap. We could use the MLE though. JJ and Simmons will make more than that, though since they are young and in their prime.

 

I thought our MLE was occupied by Fisher's contract...??

 

The MLE doesn't work exactly like that - it "renews" every year along with other exceptions. Fisher took up the MLE this year, but the rest of his years then go into our normal salaries, thus enabling a team to go over the cap. Thus this year we have another one and could sign another player (providing that the new Collective Bargaining Agreement does not alter this significantly).

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting UltimateWarrior:</div><div class="quote_post">I thought our MLE was occupied by Fisher's contract...??</div> Yeah, like Zhone says, it's a limit of what you can spend on free agents while being over the salary cap. It's set by the rules of the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) and you get one every year to sign FA's. Most of these MLE guys are old vets who can probably contribute in limited minutes, but most likely will not impact a franchise. I was merely pointing out to Jrich23 that guys like Joe Johnson are commodities in the league, especially since he can shoot 3's, handle the ball, play point guard at duty, and has excellent court vision for a small forward and he's young with still more potential. Phoenix Suns have room to sign him (which is why they gave up Zarko for our two second rounders) and the Suns have his bird rights, which means they can match any offer for him to retain him. We can do the same with our guys, but I worry about our second string guys being a little too good to be bench players. They might pull an Al Harrington and play for some crappy team just to start.

Anyway, using the MLE, a team may sign one or more free agents to contracts with first-year salaries totaling the amount of that season's MLE. That amount is based on the league's average player salary for that season or whatever the current CBA sets it at. Veterans get more, obviously, up to 1 million a year just for the absolute minimum. If it's a rookie, he can be signed as low as 300K.

 

I seriously doubt that we will do anything with MLE, unless Mullin sees a player, whom he can't resist. Not only our 9 man rotation is going well, I don't think we can add yet another sizable contract...

 

We basically overpaid Fisher by giving him a starting player's salary, more than Speedy Claxton.

Then we overpaid Foyle, but the good thing about his contract is that it isn't guaranteed on the 6th year. Fisher is all guaranteed and his last three years of his contract could be where his knees start coming apart and gets slower than he is now. He will be getting paid 6 or 7 mil a year, money that could be sent on just keeping Dunleavy, Pietrus, or Zarko in our stables. Fisher is probably the most untradeable, so if he's popping 3's like it's nobody's business, do you still want him for one good year or two or three or more mediocre to lousy years where he starts to wear down. Lots of risk for a backup point guard.

 

We got a "trade Exemption" in the Cliffy swap-Can it be combined with whatever the gain is from Cheaney,Shika's contracts ending? With the MLE?
I only see a few possible FA's who might work,and it will be awhile before we get a good idea of who stays available,what we really could spend-and the longterm effects.
Add an FA and its another contract added to the whole-and if the existing ones are a worry-seems more would be a risk. It's part of why I focus more on the draft-less complicated.

 

Nah, with a trade exemption, we can only take back contracts in trade for that much cash. Thus, we could say, combine a pick or straight up money for a contract worth about $5 million. I'm not 100% sure, but we might be able to take back 2 contracts worth that much too, and I'm even less sure if we can take them from different teams.

Nevertheless, if someone is looking to dump salary, they can at least consider the Warriors. Teams looking to dump salary? Maybe the Wolves (trying to get rid of Cassell's 6 mil, Olowakandi's 5 mil, or Wally's 10 mil contracts), the Lakers (good luck moving Brian Grant's max contract - more likely to get someone to bite on Devean George's 5 mil, Slava Medvedenko's 3 million, or Jumaine Jones' 2 mil), the Raptors (looking to move Alvin Williams' 6 mil, Lamond Murray's 5 mil, Rafer Alston's 3 mil, and/or Jalen Rose's max contract) or the Jazz (probably considering moving everyone but AK, for the right offers), who can dump just a player or two to make a run at a free agent.

The only problem is that a ton of teams have space under the cap:
Clippers, Hawks, Hornets, Bobcats, Cavs (if they don't resign Ilgauskas), Bucks (if they don't resign Redd), Bulls (if they don't resign Curry/Chandler), Sonics (if they don't resign Allen) and even the Blazers (if they don't pick up Van Exel's option). I'm sure that Mullin looked at this competition and realized it'd be better to re-up than go into a bidding war for J-Rich and Murphy's services. (Although as noted numerous times, he went overboard on Foyle & Fisher).

So aside from trades, being over the cap, our only outlet is the MLE. The MLE can be split into smaller portions, so we can pay for five $1 million contracts (or any number adding up to $5 million) up to one $5 million contract. But, it cannot be combined with any other exceptions.

Unless we make a trade or waive players, we're pretty much going to have a very similar roster. Cheaney can choose to resign (player option contract) so if he does the Warriors can cut him and pay the money, or leave him on the IR or at the end of the bench. We have the option on White, and Skita expired. Everyone else is under contract. That means the 9 man rotation we played can be the same exact one we play next year.

I'm thinking that Mullin is actively seeking a trade - probably listening to offers on almost everyone on the W's as potential bait. There's not much on the FA wire, and the draft is too speculative, thus, a trade is the best way to get talent onto the Warriors. It's difficult to trade Foyle, J-Rich, or Murphy, and we're unlikely to move Davis. We have more draft picks than we need, though because of the lack of sure-fire choices, they are not as hot as in other years. And we have the trade exception. Just how the trade will look (and if other teams are fair enough in trading) is the question.

 

Good post Zhone and good question Rerem, I was wondering about that myself.

 

Thanks for clearin g that up about the MLE...I couldve sworn I read a couple places that said his contract would use the MLE for all 6 years..

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">I doubt we could sign Joe Johnson or Bobby Simmons, Jrich23. We're over the cap. We could use the MLE though. JJ and Simmons will make more than that, though since they are young and in their prime.</div>
I think we can do it if we unload someones contract for a pick or something.

 

We're over the cap by about $10 million after the last offseason extensions. So to clear room, that someone's contract would have to be a combination of any of these two players: Davis, J-Rich, Murphy, Fisher, Foyle, or Dunleavy. (J-Rich, Murphy, and Foyle are hard to trade based purely on BYC/etc.) Even then, we might have to move another contract to clear up space. We'd also have to hold off on signing our picks until after the trade, though that's not a big deal unless we get overly excited. That's why Kwan and others have been down on Mullin, because he literally destroyed the cap flexibility this offseason. There's almost no way we're getting a top-tier free-agent this season and even then it's not worth it unless we get rid of both Fisher and Foyle's long term obligations.

 

Good thing this year's FA's kind of stink. Nothing worth crying about. Only thing worth crying about is if Baron Davis gets hurt for prolonged periods of time or we lose our depth. There's still a lot of flaws in our frontcourt and our team defense.

Also it's tough to say whether or not Jrich or Murphy would get paid more if we hadn't re-signed them earlier. Their agent, Dan Fegan, loves to bilk teams out of their salary space. Just look at Dampier and Dallas. Way overpaid. So Mully basically was going to pay that ransom anyway. What I can't understand is Foyle and Fisher getting so much cheese. C'mon it's not like the Warriors were forced to sign those guys. Foyle was the first move Mullin made as GM and contrary to whatever the Warriors organization says, they didn't need to re-sign him. They still had plenty of time to wheel and deal for guys like Joel Przybilla, make something happen for Chris Mihm, gone for Desagna Diop who was falling out of favor in Cleveland, or sign a small contract for one of the roster camp invitees like Reuben Boumtje Boumtje or James Lang. Just anybody that will stand there and block shots and clog up the lane until we can draft a center that fits the type of team we are. We had no identity though, at the time.

FA centers look weak this year too, so maybe that's why Mullin wanted Foyle. But part of the reason, I think, is because Foyle adds to the lockerroom chemistry in that he's been the longest tenured Warrior, he's the bay area's most community involved player and he's got a team attitude. He's also the franchise's all time leader in blocked shots. Still his agent didn't have to rob us and Mullin basically let him.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting J-Rich23:</div><div class="quote_post">I think we can do it if we unload someones contract for a pick or something.</div>

Yeah, Like Zhone said, we are not getting a caproom in any realistic scenario. And, if you want a caproom for this offseason, only team we can trade is to teams that has caproom. Well, I am sure we can get 10 mils caproom, if we trade Davis and Richardson, but is it really what you planned? Since we will already struggle to sign our own FAs, I seriously doubt that we can give another considerable contract and add anybody, unless it comes from the draft.

Also, if you want to add significant players, you have to think that Monty will most likely run 9 men rotation next year as well, so and trade/signing has to consider our current rotation, who will

Davis, Fisher
Richardson, Pietrus
Dunleavy
Murphy, Zarko
Foyle, Biedrins

If you want to add Johnson or Simmon, obvious choice would be removing Dunleavy. However, they won't come here for MLE, so only choice we have is via sign and trade. Also, are they really that better than Dunleavy, so that we have to go over the limp and make sign and trade deal? And, one of the main reason I want to dump Dunleavy is because it would be extremely difficult to sign both Dunleavy and Pietrus. If you give them a new/big contract, we may force to abandon Pietrus as well. So, if you consider everything, I really doubt that we will add another swing man...