In light of Mullin's recent interview I decided to post about a candidate for a potential trade, who can address our need for a backup big man, without either spending too much money or giving away any of our young guns. That guy is Zaza Pachulia
  It seems that he fell out of favor in Atlanta lately. There is simply not enough minutes for him with the personnel they have;they play uptempo and small with Horford at C M.Williams/J.Smith at PF and S.Williams at either PF or C of the bench. Plus he is not exactly on the best terms with coach Woodson, and was even suspended for the game against Denver today.
 Why would we need him? He is a proven NBA player who is only 23 and makes a reasonable $4/mil a year. He was averaging 12/7 in 28min/game last year. Gives us a good size to battle down low, not a shoblocker, but a very good rebounder and post defender. Offensive game is decent, good pick and roll player, good post and face up moves. Would compliment Biedrins off the bench nicely.
 Here is a type of trade scenario Mullin likes: A proven player with good potential, who is stuck in an unfavorable situation, even disgruntled, and who can be had for cheap(or so I think)

  Do you guys think we can use him? Would Atlanta trade him, and who would you offer if they were willing to talk?    

  Kurt Thomas is an expiring contract. I'm pretty sure Seattle would like to get something for him, before he walks away this summer. Our TPE gives us an opportunity to acquire him. Seattle wouldn't want any contracts back, besides nobody would give anybody good for an expiring veteran. Our draft pick combined with a TPE can be pretty enticing, and give us an edge over the most of the other offers.
  I liked the role that Kurt Thomas played for Phoenix last couple of seasons. This year they are really strugglling with their half-court play, especially on the defensive end without Thomas. He is pushing 35, but I think he has couple of years left in him. The guy is a type of savvy veteran that still has game, that our team can defenitely use come playoff time.  
  He is tough,strong, big(listed at 235lb, but if you watch him play this year, he is at list 250lb). On the defensive end he is a strong defender overall,especially in the post, superb rebounder( rb/3min of PT), and he can block some shots for you too. On the offensive end, he has a real legit mid-range jumper, I can see him and Baron working the pick and pop. Plus he can grab some offensive rebounds, and set some solid screens for both Baron and Monta.
 One knock on Thomas is that he is very slow. Somehow, it didn't stop him to succesfully play under D'Antnoni in Phoenix. He is definately not a starter in our system, but rather a closer(when we stop running and start jacking up 3s), and I would expect him to give us a good 18-22min a game, mostly at center(with Harrington at PF)and also depending on an opponent's frontcourt strength.    
 He won't make us a championship contender,but against teams like Utah or San Antonio he can be a real difference maker for this team, banging with Boozer and Duncan in the post. Plus he knows his role,and seems like a real professional.

  Anybody else likes Kurt Thomas? Do you guys think he'll be a good fit?

 
   The question of Harrington's value to this club considering his contract has been bothering me for a while. Supposedly, he is a great presense in the locker room, and a great personality and all, but for some reason for such an NBA veteran(10th season), I barely see him showing leadership or mentoring somebody on the floor. He is a great chearleader and also likes to pound on his chest after good play, but you won't see him commanding the troops on the floor like Jack or Baron do.
   Now as far as his game, he has been a dissapearing act way too often this season. Through first twenty games he had 10 points or less 7 times already, compared to only 5 games with 20+ points. For a guy who's main strength is scoring, 15ppg in 27min, is not that great on a team that scores 110ppg. Yes he can stretch out opposing defenses with his 3pt shot,and he can run and finish on a break, but other than that he is pretty much useless on offense, doesn't go to the foul line, and cannot grab an offensive rebound for life. Take away the three pointer and you have a guy that scores 8ppg, so what if that three is not falling?
  Also, anybody who claims that he plays good or even decent defense should take a look at the stats for this season, this guy blocks 1 shot per 5 games and grabs a 5.6 rebs a game,so his team D such as weak side help or boxing out is very poor, borderline attrocious.Harrington is not intimidating anybody in the paint for sure. What about his individual defensive effort day in and day out you ask? Well, he gets less than a 1 steal per game, with all the talk about quick hands and speed advantage over opposing PF's. Almost anytime Harrington defends opposing PF'c or C's in or around the paint double team is needed,because of his inability to stand his ground, often resulting in wide open looks. So other than the spanking of the big Chinese dude, I don't remember Al locking anybody on mano-to-mano defense this year. Safe to say he is an average NBA defender at the best.
   As much as I like him or want to like him, he just rarely is a difference maker on this team. Out of 20 games,I can think of only 3 games where Al was a difference maker: the loss at Utah where he dropped 38, win against Clippers where he had 27 and 8 on a good shooting, and afforementioned Houston win.
   Now his performance would be totally acceptable with me if he was making a little above the MLE, say $6mil/year, but unfortunately he is paid $8.5mil(comparing to Jackson at $6.6mil) this year, and is going to get paid $17.25mil through the next 2 seasons. Still, he is not terribly overpaid, which makes him a great trade bait, especially combinined with  minimal contracts of Buki or Ellis. I think he might be a better fit on some other teams, especially with a dominant big men(although it didn't work out with J.O'Neal in Indy)kinda like R.Lewis in Orlando,or the teams where he'll be allowed to play at the SF spot.
  Do you guys have any trade ideas or suggestions involving Harrington?

Decided to compile a list of bargain salary NBA players for all of you here, who like to talk trades and salary cap. Hope it also helps for a comparison and future reference
Criterias:
No one over 32
Player have to be established
No rookie/veteran/bought out contracts
At least 2 years left on the contract

J.Howard     $9mil    07/08, $10mil   08/09
C.Butler     $8.25mil 07/08, $9mil    08/09
T.J Ford     $8mil    07/08  $8mil    08/09
S.Jackson    $6.5mil  07/08, $7mil    08/09
Gooden       $6.5mil  07/08, $7mil    08/09
Tinsley      $6.3mil  07/08, 6.75mil  08/09
S.Battier    $6mil    07/08, $6.5mil  08/09
Haslem       $6mil    07/08, $6.5mil  08/09
Barbosa      $5.5mil  07/08  $6mil    08/09
Haywood      $5mil    07/08  $5.5mil  08/09
Korver       $4.5mil  07/08, $4.75mil 08/09
L.Walton     $4mil    07/08  $4.5mil  08/09
Pachulia     $4mil    07/08  $4mil    08/09
D.Stevenson  $3.4mil  07/08  $3.6mil  08/09

How about having a starting 5 of
Ford/Butler/Howard/Gooden/Haywood or Tinsley/Barbosa/Jackson/Haslem/Pachulia and still being $20-25 mil under the salary cap?

Feel free to add players to the list or maybe argue with some selections

Hi guys, longtime Warrior fan here. I've been lurking here for a while and finally decided to post. Super long post warning!!

Watching Jackson come back in Toronto and playing exceptional man to man D on Bosh in the post and then TJ Ford of the penetration got me thinking about Artest, and how I think his presense on D would transform our beloved W's into title contenders.

Jackson can lock or slow down anybody playing 1-4(except for likes of Garnett and Boozer, but who can stop them anyways?) The problem is that he is the only great 1on1 defender on our team.Baron is a good defender, especially in the clutch, when his willpower takes over on both ends of the floor, but he spends so much energy on the offensive end, that it's impossible for him to play good 40-42min on defense. Often times Baron is asked to play D against the opposing team's second best player, and because of his fatigue he doesn't fare well. Biedrins, because of his mobility is a good team defender(weakside+rebounding), but his lack of strength in 1on1 D makes him below or close to average. Everybody else except for Barnes(who is a decent defender) are well below average. Which leads me to Artest who, if you watch a lot of Bball, is as good of a defender as Jackson. He can also guard strong 4s, something that Jackson can't. They(Artest and Jackson) do have a similar skillset when you think about it. Both play superb D, can post up,drive of penetration shoot a 3ball. Jackson is a better distributor, while Artest is a better rebounder.

Most of the good NBA teams have 2 players that initiate offense, the best ones(SA,Bos)3 at the most. Acquiring Artest would allow us to have 2 lock down defenders that can guard 1-4,and that will allow Baron to coast on defense, guarding the weakest of opposing 1-3 and conserve the energy for the offense. Artest is also a perennial NBA top 10 steals leader, and is quick enough to finish on an ensuing fast break. Plus if you slide Jackson to SG, and put Artest at SF, we will have the strongest, toughest and most physical 1-3 in the entire league, which would  compensate for the lack of strength and toughness in the frountcourt. Baron, Jack, Artest, Al, Dre would be a much better staring 5 than a last years team, much more versatile and very Nelsonesque. This team will be able to man up any opponent, and go to the zone not out of necessity, but rather on our own terms, when we feel like it.

Also something to consider is that Artest only makes $8mil this year, and that even though he can opt out in 08-09, his market value is not very high,just like Jackson's, and he can probably be had for a $9/mil a year. This is less than a Ellis/Pietrus(a trade scenario discussed on the board before)combo will command next year.
As it stands right now I would consider giving up Ellis/Pietrus/O'Bryant for Artest+Udrih or 2nd rounder.
What do u guys think? Any comments, ideas will be appreciated