The free agent negotiation period began yesterday and a ridiculous amount of bad contracts were given away. Like Tim Kawakami, I’m glad the Warriors are almost capped out and trying to reduce costs. Otherwise they may have given Drew Gooden a 5 yr./$32 million contract, so they could add another skinny power forward to the mix. If the Warriors are smart they could make some moves to improve their team and fleece some of these GM’s that proved yesterday that they are capable of being duped. Let’s look at a few trade scenarios with these GM’s that I would love to see happen for the Warriors this offseason.
Memphis Grizzlies gave 0-time All Star Rudy Gay a 5 yr./ $80 million contract
- Memphis receives – Monta Ellis – They’ve shown interest in Ellis for the last 3+ years and probably still want to add him to their ball hog/no defense team. Memphis’ potential starting 5 – Ellis/OJ Mayo/Gay/Z-Bo Randolph/Gasol(I feel sorry for the other Gasol)
- Warriors receive – Xavier Henry/Mike Conley/Darrell Arthur – Warriors get a SG to pair with Curry, a flyer on a decent back-up PG who’s worn out his stay in Memphis and cap filler that can get 6 fouls on the other teams big.
Atlanta Hawks gave playoff choker Joe Johnson a 6 yr./$119 million contract
- Atlanta receives – Vladimir Radmanovic – After giving Joe Johnson that crazy deal, they’ll need to save some money so they can max out Al Horford soon. Radman comes off the books in 2011.
- Warriors receive – Marvin Williams – Not an ideal pick up, but he’s paid a reasonable salary 6.5 mil., plays his SF role well and fills a huge need at the SF position.
Charlotte Bobcats – Sadly, no crazy contracts yet, but I have a feeling the Tyrus Thomas 5 year/$70 million extension is coming real soon.
- Charlotte receives – Andris Biedrins and Charlie Bell – After all of these horrible contracts have been thrown around(Amir Johnson 5 yr./$34 million), Beans contract looks like a bargain. They’ll be interested in this trade because Beans is still young, plays good defense, will be one of the better centers in the Eastern Conference and has a contract that’s better than anyone they’ll overpay next year. Charlie Bell is a cap filler that they can buy out.
- Warriors receive – Tyson Chandler – Decent pick up for the Warriors. Like Beans, he’s injury-prone, skinny and a horrible free throw shooter, but he’s a better defender and has a little more size on him to handle the center position for the Dubs. The hope is that Chandler can revive his Camby 2.0 game, but even if he doesn’t he’s only on the hook for one more year.
The ideal situation for any team as young as the Warriors is to pick up players that can grow together and would enjoy playing together, similar to the OKC Thunder model. These trades bring on board players that aren’t selfish, gets rid of a potential locker room cancer in Monta Ellis (who was mentored by Captain Jack) and gives the Warriors one of the best young teams in the league. They’ll also have the room to maneuver with short/expiring contracts and good young pieces to play around with in trades.
Warriors 2010/11 roster
PG – Stephen Curry/Mike Conley
SG – Xavier Henry/Anthony Morrow
SF – Marvin Williams/Kelena Azubuike/Reggie Williams
PF – Anthony Randolph/Brandon Wright/Darrell Arthur
C – Tyson Chandler/Ronny Turiaf/Ekpe Udoh/Dan Gadzuric
Next up in our “Ideal Situations” columns, we’ll look at the potential head coaches.
