Fisher looking for new start with Golden State By GREG BEACHAM, AP Sports Writer July 19, 2004 OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- With two point guards already under contract, the signing of Derek Fisher could leave the Golden State Warriors with an overcrowded backcourt. But Fisher sees only depth and competition. That's why he left the Los Angeles Lakers and spurned several other suitors to sign with a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 10 years, ``I'm not coming to take anything away from anybody that's already here,'' Fisher said Monday. ``That's the nature of sports. The competition part of it is what we love. I've never been shy about competing.'' Fisher agreed to a six-year, $37 million deal with the Warriors, who hope he will provide leadership and a winning attitude to a franchise that's been absent from the playoffs longer than any other. Fisher won three NBA championships with the Lakers. Houston and Seattle ardently pursued Fisher, and the Lakers hoped he would return. But Fisher believes the Warriors are headed in the right direction under new executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin -- and Golden State's top-dollar offer didn't hurt, either. ``I wasn't interested in a team that would go for a championship and then in the next year, two years, be broken up,'' he said. ``I've only known one NBA city, and I had no interest in having two or three more.'' The Warriors have Nick Van Exel and Speedy Claxton on the roster, but Mullin has advocated depth ever taking over the club earlier this summer. ``Some might say you have three (point guards), but I've always looked at Nick as a combo guard, a scorer,'' Mullin said. ``It's only crowded when everybody is healthy.'' Still, Mullin wouldn't rule out trading Van Exel, who has one guaranteed year left on his contract at $12 million. Without a deal, the Warriors will have $20 million worth of point guards next season. After eight seasons with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, Fisher seems ready to put the Lakers behind him. He might have left Los Angeles even if owner Jerry Buss hadn't decided to make major changes and essentially rebuild around Bryant. ``In the NBA, there's so many things that get attention, you get away from the enjoyment of just playing basketball,'' Fisher said. ``You can lose some of that after you've been successful. It's tough to regenerate that energy year after year when you've done it two or three times.'' Fisher likes the Warriors' young core: shooting guards Jason Richardson and Mickael Pietrus, forwards Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy, and rookie big man Andris Biedrins, who impressed the rest of the league with his performances at the Long Beach summer league. The Warriors also re-signed center Adonal Foyle last week, handing out another big-money contract for a player who's never been a full-time starter during seven seasons with Golden State. Erick Dampier is expected to leave this week, and Mullin has spoken to several teams about a sign-and-trade deal, though nothing is imminent. The Atlanta Hawks have interest in Dampier, and the team apparently is working on its strategy to sign the 6-foot-11 center who averaged 12.3 points and 12 rebounds last season. Hawks vice president of communications Arthur Triche said general manager Billy Knight and coach Mike Woodson met with Dampier in Utah, where the Hawks' summer league team is playing this month. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post"> ``Some might say you have three (point guards), but I've always looked at Nick as a combo guard, a scorer,'' Mullin said. ``It's only crowded when everybody is healthy.'' Still, Mullin wouldn't rule out trading Van Exel, who has one guaranteed year left on his contract at $12 million. Without a deal, the Warriors will have $20 million worth of point guards next season. </div>Do you really think Mullin plans on having NVE around next season as a combo guard or is he expecting to deal him to another team via a trade?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">Do you really think Mullin plans on having NVE around next season as a combo guard or is he expecting to deal him to another team via a trade?</div>It's all about a matter of a team wanting him. Some team desperate for depth at the point or just need cap space might take him and give us a rookie that might be valuable or being used in a trade that would send one of young talents for a superstar. I'm hoping he could be used in a big deal like getting Paul Pierce I don't know how it would work but man we could use Paul Pierce and then our defense/ consistent scoring problems would be taken care of all in one at the 2 spot. And he's from the bay area too so he could sell out every game based on him being a local sports hero who grew up here.
Although I would love to see us get something good for NVE, I also wouldn't mind him sticking around here for another year. 1. The guy is a gamer. He loves competition and he loves to be in the spotlight. 2. He has proven to be a clutch player when healthy, not afraid to take the big shot. 3. Gives us some cap relief after next season. 4. Gives us depth at the PG spot, something we could have used last season. 5. He will be playing in a contract year *cough* Dampier *cough*
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">It's all about a matter of a team wanting him. Some team desperate for depth at the point or just need cap space might take him and give us a rookie that might be valuable or being used in a trade that would send one of young talents for a superstar. I'm hoping he could be used in a big deal like getting Paul Pierce I don't know how it would work but man we could use Paul Pierce and then our defense/ consistent scoring problems would be taken care of all in one at the 2 spot. And he's from the bay area too so he could sell out every game based on him being a local sports hero who grew up here.</div>, what team do you think needs him, I say the older he gets, the harder it will be to trade him, so i think they are going to need to get him out of here ASAP if we don't need him, one year can do alot, I just don't see the point of having 3 PG's, but if mullin is really worried about injury, he has a point, very tough decision to make?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting coldsauce33:</div><div class="quote_post">, what team do you think needs him, I say the older he gets, the harder it will be to trade him, so i think they are going to need to get him out of here ASAP if we don't need him, one year can do alot, I just don't see the point of having 3 PG's, but if mullin is really worried about injury, he has a point, very tough decision to make?</div>Probably most likely a team that wants to dump a lot of salary next year like how Atlanta did this year. They liquidated their entire roster for short contracts and they're building around Childress and Jason Terry looks like. Diaw at small Foward, Pryzbilla at center, and I don't know who at power forward. I'm interested in that Josh Smith guy if Atlanta wants to deal somehow but he sounds like he needed to be in college to work on his overall game. He blew chunks during the Adidas game against all those other high schoolers. But he's got a lot of potential and good small forwards that are quick/tall are hard to find.
NVE = cap space I think Mully is trying to put a good face on things and keep NVE positive because he can be very disruptive when unhappy. What team is going to give up a good young player, plus more players to make the cap work, for NVE? Bad knees, bad attitude, bad contract (great clutch player at times). All we'll get for him is 12 mil worth of other bad contracts, and screw our chances of signing our young guys over the next few years (which would be just like the Warriors of old). As it is, we already have 11 guys under contract, and likely two more on the way if Damp goes to NY. We may not have any room to keep one of the young guys from the summer league team, and I think the that there may be someone worth holding onto for the minimum. The only reason to trade for NVE is to get cap space, but that is EXACTLY why he will stay a Warrior. If he is healthy and decides to play hard, all the better.
