Tim Kawakami interview with Joe Lacob

As a result of this interview, there's a lot of talk on the internet that Steph is "on the trading block," which is not at all how I interpreted Lacob's words.

I just read an article that said that the W's are now in the mix on the Melo trades, since their owner has said that he's willing to break up our backcourt.

On PTI yesterday, on the odds part of the show, the question was "How likely is it that the Warriors trade Curry?" Wilbon said 100% and Tony said 90%. He said, "If the owner said it, it's going to happen." And made a sarcastic comment about Lacob being disappointed in Curry because he's not averaging 26 ppg like the last month of last season. He said that the W's owner said that he'd trade Curry but Ellis is 'untouchable.' Which again seems inaccurate to me.

There was a few other mentions of Curry being on the block that I encountered in various articles today.

Again, I didn't interpret Lacob's words that way, but a lot of people apparently did. Lacob didn't say anything surprising to me. If it improves the team, you do whatever it takes...obviously. That's a big "if" though, there's not too many ways you're gonna trade Curry and upgrade the position.

Anyway, first, I hope I haven't misunderstood the interview. Second, I hope all the gossiping doesn't have negative effects on Curry's mindset. I don't know, it just caught me off guard reading all this shit today.

 

Here's what Lacob actually said (at least this is what Kamikazi says Lacob said):

Basically it sounds like he is just a practical person. Any GM/Owner in the league would trade any of their players if it made the team better. If you were Miami, would you do a multi-team trade of LeBron James/Cap Filler for Blake Griffin/Deron Williams/Kevin Durant?

Yes, of course. Any trade is a good trade if you get more than you give up.

With that said, I see nothing in there that suggests Labob wants to trade Curry. Not at all. He's just saying that no one is untouchable, as per reason stated above. Of course, PTI is about as news-worthy as Real Housewives, so...

 

Yup. The chances of someone giving us a Blake/Deron/Durant for Curry and Ellis are none and none. I think we got carried away a bit because it was Lacob talking and Carmelo was mentioned. I doubt even Carmelo would come to Golden State. We have to become a playoff team first before the top tiered players like Melo or Dwight Howard would come here AND sign an extension. Until then we should try to improve our bench or upgrade our 5 spot. We could give the cap space we get from expirings and use it towards Marc Gasol or DeAndre Jordan (restricted). Kendrick Perkins is another big body who can clog the middle (unrestricted). Another guy who may want to leave Denver after Carmelo is Nene (unrestricted). He may refuse his ETO if Melo leaves.

 

Exactly the reason why we should keep him over Monta (at least that's the flavor I'm drinking today). It seems that when Curry's mojo is rolling, he becomes a much better passer too.

 

I really hate how this story is being spun. Curry actually commented on the backlash, and not the actual story.

This is such a non-story that seems to be fueling the wrong type of talk.

 

Yeah that was exactly what I was worried about...all the gossiping is gonna lead to rumors, and the rumors aren't gonna do anybody any favors. I guess he HAS played at a high level the last two games, but still, no need to upset what harmony this team has right now.

 

It's not as bad of an option for Denver as it sounds, because if they free up enough room and move Billups in a separate deal, they can sign both Melo and Paul. I could definitely see that happening. Not sure about Monta + Extras, I think expirings are more valuable to Denver

 

You don't build a winner trying to get "names." You build with young talent that you identify earlier than others. Marc Gasol? Scola? Splitter? Ubaka? Al Horford? Noah? Those are the kind of guys you need to find. Once you go after the Nenes its done. They are are on the downside, otherwise why are they available? Your franchise is doomed. Look at Elton Brand, Eddy Curry, Nazr Mohammed, Okafor. Those guys have huge $$ and they are killing their teams.

Look back on the last Warriors championship team, the league then was dominated by centers/low post scorers, Abdul-Jabbar, the Big E, Chamberlain (at the end), Unseld, Sam Lacey. But the Warriors won with George Johnson and Clifford Ray. They weren't great scorers, but they played great defense and rebounded. The best way for the Warriors to get better is to get bigger and stronger with guys who know how to play defense and rebound. The Lakers are studs because in addition to Gasol and Bryant being elite scorers, Bynum and Gasol know how to defend without fouling too much (Bynum is still learning).

Frankly, the Warriors have done a very poor job of drafting and signing foreign players who are bigs. Biedrins has topped out and is in serious decline. Try to think of another player who has regressed as much in so short a period of time. They had a chance at Noah and picked Brandon Wright instead.

 

I'd say the best big we've had since the the 70's was probably Cliff Robinson. He was the one guy that would actually shut down KG.

 

Just imagine if we had uncle cliffy when he was in his prime. The guy was really multi-faceted.