The Warriors are now 3-14 with Crawford in the lineup and are 6-9 without, which brings up a valid question: are we a better team without him?

Personally, I am really surprised by these numbers.  Jamal is a very talented, nice player.  Sometimes maybe he shoots a few shots that he shouldn't shoot, but generally he puts up points.  I really like his skillset, I thought that he would be a very good fit with the team especially during monta's absence, and would be a very nice compliment to Monta in the backcourt long term.   

Is there anything to explain why the Warriors suck with Crawford?  If I remember correctly, the Warriors were doing pretty good when Al Harrington was sidelined with "a bad back" and then all of a sudden when Crawford came we lost like 6 straight and now the team is in a position where playoffs are definitely not happening.  Come on, he can't be that bad right?

The ultimate piece of evidence in this argument against Crawford has to be the Celtics game.  I mean come on.  Crawford sits out a couple games and we beat the defending champs with Jackson going off and Bellinelli stepping up.

This is also very relevant to the situation the warriors are in with where they have Ellis, Crawford, Jackson, and Maggette, who are all starters, all paid a lot, all have multi-year contracts, but if started together with Andris Beidrins would be an awful lineup.  The warriors have to make a decision because this lineup cannot win, and I don't see any of the 4 accepting a 6th man role.  Even if we did move, let's say Crawford to the bench, that would take pt away from Bellinelli, Watson (who are both playing great) and as much as it pains me to say it because I haven't been the biggest supporter of him, Azabuike.  He needs some minutes too.

So I really think someone has to go, and I believe that that is the general consensus around here too. 

I know everyone wants to see Maggette go--I pretty much do too--but you have to look at these numbers and think if we really even want Crawford around long term.  I mean we are freakin 3-13 with him!  we have lost over 80% of the games in which he has played in.  Those are painful numbers! 

Maggette cannot play the 4.  We just suck with him at the 4.  I am curious though as how a lineup of Ellis, Jackson, Maggette, Wright (or an even better pf) and Andris would look.  I believe that this was kind of the idea pre-moped accident, but we never really got to see it.  

So what should we do?  I think if a good trade is there that involves Maggette, we have to seriously consider it, but I don't think we should just dump him and expect our problems to be solved.  As much as I have been hating on him as of late, Maggette is a good player and I thought he was doing pretty good at the beginning of the year.  Crawford on the other hand, as much as it pains me to say it, going by the numbers, appears to be an addition by subtraction case.  We could have potentially have a situation with him where just taking him out of the lineup we are automatically better.  This, I am not exactly sure I believe 100 percent, but the numbers (including the Celtics game) don't lie.

Trading away one of these guys also opens up time for Bellinelli to be a very good scoring sixth man, and of course Buke needs a few minutes, etc.

So what do ya think??  Because I really think that the Warriors should make a big decision (again) on what direction they want to take this team in, before the trade deadline, and I would think that knowing that the Warriors are 3-13 with Crawford playing, is valuable information that may help them make the right decision.

When you consider that we were basically better off without Al Harrington and getting rid of him for nothing would have been an addition by subtraction, you gotta love that we got a really nice player in Crawford.

If you haven't noticed, we really needed a guy like him, no matter what you say about him, I think this was the perfect scenario. 

If you think about it, we don't have any superior ball handlers with out the presence of Monta.  I would say the guys that have been handling it the best so far have been Watson, M. Williams (really nice handles, sucky player overall) and Jackson, who is a little shaky consider he is not a point, but has been doing a really nice job with that being considered.

I really like this trade because we get a quick combo guard, with great handles, and a great shot.  Like Steinmetz said, this just gives the dubs more depth and more firepower.

We will also benefit from this because we will have to rely less on the 3 undrafted guys.  Yes I love Watson and Morrow and they will still play, Azabuike I am not too fond of (surprisingly he has a PER under the league average, can't shoot for crap, tries to do more than he is capable and turns the ball over, but its cool he hustles)  As much as I love Morrow, as of right now he is basically one dimensional and I still think he will help us tremendously, we shouldn't rely on him to be a major contributor night in, night out.  Watson has shown glimpses of brilliance, has exceeded my expectations and has played great in absence of Monta, but he cannot be relied on night in and night out either.  Azabuike, love him sometimes, hate him sometimes, he is inconsistent, he can't shoot, even on his good nights he is playing too many minutes.  Those guys can all play, but they are not as consistent so this gives us another option.

We really shouldn't be worried about minutes being taken away, because if they are replaced by more productive minutes, than it is much better for the team.  The best players will play.  Nellie has shown he will stick to that.  If any of the 3 players mentioned above are playing great, they will get minutes, but if they are having an off night, Don won't be forced to leave them in the game.

In the future I think Monta and Crawford will play pretty well together.  I am not sure if in the long run he will start for us, but no matter what I think he will be another weapon and an upgrade over our current guards. 

**Added

So some people are mad because of Crawford's contract.  I would like to see some discussion about that.  Personally I don't really think it makes a difference on how much the guys are paid, I just want them to put out the best team they can.  And some people are saying now we won't be able to be players in the free agent market in 2010.  Correct me if I am wrong, but even if we wouldn't have made this trade we would have to cut a lot of salary to be able to sign a big name.  My guess is that we would have to get rid of Jackson and Maggette, plus some of our younger guys we would be unable to resign.  I also have this feeling that the 2010 free agency will not live up to the hype.  Don't most big names end up just resigning with there teams?  I am really not sure though I would like to here what everyone has to say

why is it that as soon as buke learns how to create his own offense he can't knock down a shot to save his life.  His handles have improved so much, he actually has moves now.  sorry for the people that love him so much, he didn't have any game last year!  he could just hit the open shots and finish when he had an open lane.  I like what I see this year from him with his offense and his finishing but he cannot shoot!! 

I like what i see with his hustle and his rebounding but whenever I start to like him a lot he does something stupid.  He either clanks a couple threes, makes a bad pass, or tries to do something he is uncapable of doing.

I really like him coming off of the bench, I don't think our starting lineup is that great with him in it.  I totally think our lineup looks better and is more balanced with either CJ watson in his spot so we actually have a point guard in there, and let me tell you, Watson has totally surpassed my expectations and is playing great, or if we put either ronny or bwright in there so Maggette can play a swing position instead of having to guard a post.

After reading the post about our cap situation after signing Maggette, it is expected that the Warriors are still roughly 9 million dollars under the cap.

This gives us a lot of options.

Check this out.

The Warriors could potentially trade Al Harrington and bring in a player or multiple players worth 9 million + Al's contract. Al Harrington is set to make about 9 million dollars this next season plus he expires in what a year or two.

This is a great opportunity for the warriors to pick up another big name and a great opportunity for a bad team with a great player to shed a lot of money and start to rebuild.

I am pretty sure this would work out.

The warriors could send out Al Harrington (9million), maybe someone young, maybe a draft pick and could bring in a player worth Al Harrington's contract + the 9 or so million cap space they had.

Can anyone offer any possibile players.  Think bad team that needs to rebuild, that has a great player on there team.