He's Angry, Excited, & Sad After Being Traded

I read this in the newspaper, its almost the same thing.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jason Richardson was so angry after being traded by the Warriors that he wouldn't answer his phone - not even for his mother, let alone for his new boss, Michael Jordan.

"I'm still shocked," Richardson said in a phone interview Tuesday, five days after the Warriors made him a Charlotte Bobcat. "It's hit me a couple of times. It was a shocker. That was home. I've been there for six years."

Richardson, 26, said he expected to be traded, considering his market value and the emergence of Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson. Richardson said that's why he and his agent, Dan Fegan, went to Warriors executive Chris Mullin at season's end in hopes of finding a new home to Richardson's liking.

But Mullin, Richardson said, remained steadfast in his stance that Richardson wouldn't be traded.

So when he heard from his agent, who learned from a reporter, that he was Charlotte bound, Richardson felt betrayed.</div>

San Jose Mercury News

 

It's a real shame that he feels that Chris Mullin and management treated the whole move so poorly.

 

I thought they did, can you blame Richardson? As soon as I heard the news and even before we heard the news, I said trading Richardson would be a backstabbing type of move. If we had waited two years at least, it wouldn't be so bad. But we just went to the playoffs which was Richardson's goal as a warrior and now we took that away. It was definitely a gank, but Mullin has to gamble because even with him on the roster we were barely a playoff team. We got to roll the dice for our security as a playoff lock and that starts with a big man and guys who won't miss their free throws or perimeter shots.

 

JRich has been a class act, a fan favorite, and an all-time Warrior.

With that said, people get traded all the time. Superstars, all-stars, average players, bench players -- they all get traded, all the time. No one is untouchable, even if the GM says so.

How many times have we heard a GM say "we're not trading so-n-so" only to turn around the next day and trade him? That's the business -- part of it is that a GM doesn't want to tip their hand or tie themselves to anything.

It sucks because we all love JRich, and we finally got to the POs. But a GM's job is to work the roster to get maximum production, and from a GM perspective, that was a very good trade. If he didn't do it, we'd all be crying two years later as we watched Beans/Ellis walk away because we had no cap room to sign them.

I'm just saying that it's not a backstabbing move, in my opinion. it's the NBA -- trades happen all the time, and no one is safe. We all know this, yeah?

 

Man, I loved the guy. He is arguably my favorite Warrior of all time. We loved him, he loved us, but I guess Mullin couldn't see that. I wish him the best of luck in Charlotte.

 

<div class="quote_poster">AlleyOop Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">JRich has been a class act, a fan favorite, and an all-time Warrior.

With that said, people get traded all the time. Superstars, all-stars, average players, bench players -- they all get traded, all the time. No one is untouchable, even if the GM says so.

How many times have we heard a GM say "we're not trading so-n-so" only to turn around the next day and trade him? That's the business -- part of it is that a GM doesn't want to tip their hand or tie themselves to anything.

It sucks because we all love JRich, and we finally got to the POs. But a GM's job is to work the roster to get maximum production, and from a GM perspective, that was a very good trade. If he didn't do it, we'd all be crying two years later as we watched Beans/Ellis walk away because we had no cap room to sign them.

I'm just saying that it's not a backstabbing move, in my opinion. it's the NBA -- trades happen all the time, and no one is safe. We all know this, yeah?</div>

I view it as sort of a back stab, even though he was expecting to be traded.

He was the heart and soul of this team. He gave 110% effort every night, improved his game every year, and never gave up on the Warriors. He gave us hope and something to watch for when times were bleak. He apologized for Mullin's mistakes and promised that we'd see the Warriors in the playoffs with him last season. He loved us fans, was a class act, and a fantastic bball player. And Mullin said he wasn't going to trade him (even if it's true that GM's say that and trade anyway, that doesn't make it any less f**ked up, especially when they were friends)

How many super stars or all-stars have done that?

This was a great move because Mullin cleared cap space to sign Beans/Ellis? Well maybe if he didn't put us in cap hell in the first place we wouldn't have had this trouble. It's not a great move if it's covering a mistake. And for the record, I'd rather have JRich than Ellis. I don't see Ellis becoming a better player than JRich, sorry folks.

All I can do is hope Brandan Wright or whoever we trade him for helps us out this season.

 

Actually, even before the season ended, I was considering the implications of an off-season JRich trade. It was just becoming clearer and clearer that his high salary made him a potential odd man out, especially considering how SJax, Ellis, and even Pietrus and Azibuike were all able to step in and pick up the slack in Nelson's system. Between those 4 players, combined they still made less $$ than JRich.

Yes, of course, I have written pages and pages and pages about how JRich is was the "heart and soul" of this team, and to me he'll always be a favorite player.

But, as far as this being a stab in the back, I don't agree. I think he knew, players knew, the league knew, that he was a potential trade chip for various reasons. He was being mentioned in a #5 pick swap with Atlanta for several weeks. It wasn't out of left field. Even if it was, most GMs prefer it that way. We all know Mullin does.

Yes, it's a good trade, because it clears cap space to make it easier to sign Ellis and Biedrins. It also nets us a HUGE trade exemption which is one of the most valued assets a GM can have. It also netted us a potential star PF prospect in Wright. Overall, the whole league knows Jordan made a bad move there.

I still hope JRich becomes an all-star in the east. The Bobcats are now my 2nd favorite team.

With that said, yes Mullin has made some bad mistakes, but IMO he's made some terrific moves to rectify it. The Baron trade; the Pacer trade; this Bobcat trade. All brilliant IMO.

The one position that is the most flexible for Nellie is SG. He can rotate JRich/Ellis/Barnes/Pietrus/SJax/Azibuike in there, and at times they all seem to play the same role and give the same production. I just think we got back such a great return in a big man + cap relief, for what we lose at a replacable position.

As far as it being a backstab, as much as it hurts me to watch JRich go, I just don't see it. This is a trade, a good trade, made at the right time. JRich - and all players -- know it can happen, especially when you've got a big contract. It's the league and it's not the first time - nor the last - that it'll happen. All I can do is wish Jrich the best in Charlotte, and be thankful our GM improved the team.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Run BJM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Completely agree with you Alley. Everyone loved J-Rich, but he had to go, he even knew it was coming he just didn't know where or when he was going. And how can you really blame Mullin when J-Rich said in one of those articles that he asked for a trade more than once (including before last season started), would that be considered backstabbing? No, its a business, sucks to see JR go but he was the obvious choice and he said he knew it was coming even though Mullin kept telling him differently.

Like Alley said, we have so many options at SG and Jason just looked like a role player for much of the time when he got back in Nellie's offense. With his lack of handles, ability to penetrate, and defense he was confined to shooting spot up 3's and running the break. Many of you may think Monta will never be as good as JR, and maybe its true, but you can't argue that Monta is a better fit than Jason in Nellie's system. Monta led the league in fast break points, he gets to the rim, plays defense, has an adequate handle, gets to the line and makes FTs.</div>

When did Jason ask to be traded? I am not saying he didn't, but I am curious to why and when he said this?

I think the low-blow is how the Warriors management dealt with the whole situation around the trade. The article states even, that JRich isn't so much upset to be traded but by how it all happened. I am very curious into just how Dan Fegan, JRich, and the Warriors acted inorder to try to make the Warriors and JRich happy. Did they discuss restructuring his contract? Or is Mullin so certain that Wright (the next Joe Smith or the next Andris Biedrins? or turn it into KG?) makes this team better? I remember reading in this article that when Jason tried to call Mullin and I think Nelson, neither answered his calls. I know Mullin hates rumors flying about this team. Maybe his thoughts were that if he told JRich, it would fly to people around him, and then into the media stuff. But either way, that's not how you should treat your star player. It just reminded me of all those times the 49ers let go of their star players and their players being upset in how it was done. This time around JRich isn't so old as those football players were. I will reserve more judgement about this trade until the end of the offseason, but I guess we'll have to see how it pans out either way.

 

^Well... if he has asked to be traded, that is a whole different story.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Run BJM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">http://www.mercurynews.com/warriors/ci_629...?nclick_check=1</div>

Richardson asked to be traded before last season started??? The bastard! j/k.

But I still feel like a dumbass for not knowing all the facts if that one is true. Of course, this probably happens to me a lot... when the news changes.

But the news aside, I guess if anyone lays it out all on the line every night and you got guys like Dunleavy and Murphy pulling you down, I'd want out too. But, I wouldn't phrase it that way. I would privately seek Mullin out and not demand that he trade me, but demand that he trade them two slow softies. There's a reason why I hate slow players like them and not slow players like Brian Cardinal, Ike Diogu or any of the old washed up warrior vets who could at least brag they made the all-star team once in their careers. Mullin in his last year included.

 

P.S. I wonder how Richardson would feel playing next to Morrison and Primoz Brezec on defense. That's Dunmurphy part 2 IMO, but I think Morrison at least tries harder. If they keep May, Okafor, and Raymond Felton, that's better than we had at power forward and center and point guard IMO. I think the Bobcats will do well eventually, they just need to get rid of the guys that can't play any D and shoot the ball well.

I really don't want Morrison to be the next Dunleavy... he was too good of a player in college. Some of it has to translate! And if it doesn't, he let me down. This guy was supposed to be twice the shooter that Dunleavy was and he kinda sucks even for a rookie.

 

My goodness what whining. He signed a contract that<font color=""Red""> guarantees</font> payment of over $50 million over five years. When he signed, he knew he was giving up the right to free agency and the right to say where he played. In return he was guaranteed $50M. That's the bargain. There's no "loyalty" component. That's business.

He wanted a say in where he would be traded? He should have thought about that when he signed the contract.

Don't get sucked into the "woe is me, they traded me" victimization. He gets paid $50M to play hard every game, wherever they send him, that's the deal and he knew it when he signed. Not $50M when he feels like it or where he wants to play.

 

<div class="quote_poster">philsmith75 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">My goodness what whining. He signed a contract that<font color="Red"> guarantees</font> payment of over $50 million over five years. When he signed, he knew he was giving up the right to free agency and the right to say where he played. In return he was guaranteed $50M. That's the bargain. There's no "loyalty" component. That's business.

He wanted a say in where he would be traded? He should have thought about that when he signed the contract.

Don't get sucked into the "woe is me, they traded me" victimization. He gets paid $50M to play hard every game, wherever they send him, that's the deal and he knew it when he signed. Not $50M when he feels like it or where he wants to play.</div>

Yeah, but any player can be all about business, Jrich was the one guy that actually wanted to stay here and even apologized to fans for his team's failure. Jrich is probably already moved past it by now. The NBA can't entirely be about money because if it was, nobody would watch it or play to win. Jrich is trying to play to win and now he's got to start over with some new team. People felt that Jrich was genuinely trying to put the team on his shoulders to win, unfortunately he doesn't make others around him better despite his efforts in almost everything. That was Jrich's problem. It wasn't player greed that forced his trade nor was it his sense of entitlement, it was just the goal of trying to improve the team in the ways he knows best. If anything, him going was because of Mullin's earlier bad deals and the fact the Warriors never drafted any good big men outside of Murphy who totally sucked on the defensive end. Then with Dampier, we only got one or two good years out of him and that was the contract years.

Jrich got traded because we simply needed something else besides a perimeter player. Salary Tax/Cash reasons were important too if we needed to keep our only sure thing center and our best dribble drive prospect at guard.

 

CR2, I agree with most everything you say. But with very few exceptions, even the greatest players ever get traded (Alcindor, Walton, Dr J, Moses, Shaq, Ewing), JRich is no different, and for him to whine about it is sour grapes to me.

 

I think about it this way, If you were loyal to a company working on crappy projects for 6 years, then finally turned the corner, got on a good project, it got visibility and people recognized your effort, then the company decided to replace you with a new hire and move you to another crappy project because you were good at turning the old one around, you'd probably be upset initially. I don't think he's whining, just frustrated.

Knowing JRich, he'll bust his butt this offseason, and come back with a few new tricks. Will he ever be a premier player...probably not, but they'll love him in Charlotte, because they've been lacking that leader.

 

<div class="quote_poster">philsmith75 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">CR2, I agree with most everything you say. But with very few exceptions, even the greatest players ever get traded (Alcindor, Walton, Dr J, Moses, Shaq, Ewing), JRich is no different, and for him to whine about it is sour grapes to me.</div>

Yeah, I understand that part. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of what CH mentioned. You put a lot of heart and emotion into something and the higher ups decide to take you off of it. The Warriors team was like Jrich's baby and they took it away. Sure, Jrich has his money but it is not the same. But yeah he shouldn't whine period as a pro and I'm sure he hasn't for very long. He's emotional for a split second, but in the end he's a level headed guy, I think.

 

I hated to see J-Rich traded and was really happy for him and the fans for last season. So many other players have come and gone and each said they wanted to turn this around. I don't have the same feelig for Foyle because he is just taking up cap space and while he may be a nice guy, he doesn't contribute to the team.
J-Rich is a class act and was one player I wished would have stayed with the W's and enjoyed some of the good times. If it wasn't for Foyle we might have been able to keep J-Rich. His contract, while somewhat large, was still reasonable.
I wish J-Rich nothing but the best and hope that this doesn't turn into another Richmond / Owens trade. I also hope W's fans don't expect Wright to fill J-Rich's scoring and hope he is not the next W's whipping boy.