SB Nation User Blog: Mr. Monday Night

Starting line up for the future.

Mr. Monday Night — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:11:05 -0000

Who do you want to see bring the Warriors into the playoffs. I personally would love it if this ended up being the starting line-up:

Monta
Jackson
Randolph
Wright
Biedrins

and coming off the bench (in order of importance)

Maggette
Williams
PF to be named
Turiaf

I'm just excited at the potential of the starting line-up. Randolph has a great future ahead of him and can be the ball handler needed to supplement Monta's skills while Wright & Beans turn into a rebounding tandem that should be able to defend the rim while spacing out the floor with Beans' pick & cut abilities and Wright's "Antawn Jamison" like offensive game.

As for Maggette, he's just the odd man out (he may be in the starting five should Jackson not resign w/ the W's). He can score and would be a great 6th man. This is conceivably a team that could do great things....

The Warriors' future is looking BRIGHT

Mr. Monday Night — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:22:06 -0000

Well well... we are in the midst of a complete overhaul of talent. The only players remaining from our famed playoff team are Monta Ellis, Andris Biedrins, Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington... and that was only 14 months ago. To say things are different is an understatement. Fortunately, we have a plethora of young talent to take us into the new decade.

First things first is our core, which consists of Monta, Wright, Randolph, Maggette & Andris. Think about it for a second... these players (along with Williams, Belinelli, Azubuike & Turiaf) are guaranteed to be here after next season. That will be at least three seasons of growing together and becoming accustomed to each other’s game. We have a great young group of players on this team. Coaching will be the main variable, as Nellie is seemingly undecided about whether he will return after this season.

Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington are fairly good veterans who are knowledgeable enough to hold things down and keep things together, but unfortunately, they are people who I don't really expect to be here after next season. I would love to see Jackson stay, but outside of a complete explosion where we become title contenders within the next two seasons, he really doesn't have any incentive to stay. Harrington is probably going to be leaving for greener grass, which may happen sooner as his trade value is expected to increase next season, as he is someone who can score from the 3 or 4 position with an expiring contract. By then, some of our youngins should be veterans themselves while the W’s sign others vets to fill in the roster.

Putting together a depth chart for next couple of seasons is pretty easy (as Nellie already named his starters):
PG: Ellis, Williams, Watson
SG: Jackson, Belinelli, Azubuike
SF: Maggette, Randolph
PF: Harrington, Wright, Hendrix
C: Biedrins, Turiaf, Perovic
So far that's a 14-man team, leaving one roster spot open. Penciling in Perovic to be part of the rotational injured list and Hendrix to join him or go to the D-League, we have a solid 12-player rotation to suit up barring any injuries.

Now the first unit should be solid, with the exception of the power forward spot. Nelson has stated that Harrington should be the starter, but with Wright adding a mid-range jumper to his game, it would be interesting to see Wright in the starting line-up. Unfortunately, with Ellis & Maggette out on the floor at the same time (both of whom are slashers who tend to drive and draw fouls), the Warriors need another player with Jackson to stretch the floor, which is what Harrington can currently do with his three-point range. This of course makes our rebounding a little suspect, but what’s a Warrior team w/o weak rebounding right? (That was a joke…). Should Wright be able to build up a reliable mid-range jumper, I would be all for placing him into the starting line, which would strengthen the rebounding of our first unit while leaving Harrington to come off the bench as the offensive minded scoring option in the second unit.

The bright side to this is our 2nd unit, which has a fairly good rebounding and weak side blocking base in Wright & Turiaf. Hopefully, Randolph will grow into the type of player he was hyped up to be before the draft (a talented Lamar Odom-type player) a lot sooner than he was slated to get there. We already know that Azubuike is a pretty good scoring option off the bench, and if Belinelli can find his jumper, it only makes the second unit that much more valuable. Obviously, its not going to be like this forever, as the second unit is basically a stepping stone for the new youngsters to step up, build their game through experience and hard work and get to the starting line-up.

Of course, this is all leading to the future, so we can project our starting line-up & depth chart post Jax & TMNH:
PG: Ellis, Williams
SG: Maggette, Belinelli,
SF: Randolph, Azubuike
PF: Wright, Hendrix,
C: Biedrins, Turiaf
Baring any trades or the declining of the team-options on Williams, Belinelli, Randolph, Wright & Hendrix (the first four of which looks like they will be mainstays anyways), this is a fair assessment of our base team for the 2010-2011 season. Sprinkle in a couple of rookies and a couple of veteran FA signings, and I have faith that this team could grow to be a nice fixture in the playoff picture.

Now I know, I know… how can this team be a playoff type of team? First off, that starting line-up wouldn’t have any gunslingers from the three pt line, meaning we wont have any quick threes running down the court. Secondly, that starting unit already as two 20+ PPG scorers in Maggette & Ellis who rebound very well from the guard spots, a big 2nd ball handler in Randolph (should he continue to improve) and two excellent rebounders and adequate shot blockers in Wright & Biedrins. Off the bench would be Belinelli and another 3 pt shooter (TBA via FA) to switch the tempo of the game with Williams serving as primary ball-handler and Turiaf in the same role as the high-energy defender. This team would also have the ability to go small by taking out either Beans or Wright and placing Williams at the point, moving everyone down one spot.

I, for one, am extremely excited for the future of this team. This is the youngest team we’ve had since the Arenas, Richardson, Jamison, Murphy & Foyle w/ Dunleavy days with one main difference; this team actually has the chance to grow together and build chemistry. The Arenas/Richardson/Jamison combo only had 2 years together… one year where Arenas finally got the starting nod toward the end of the season over Larry Hughes and one year where they were able to all play together. We all remember the potential, and we all remember the heartbreak afterwards when Arenas said Cohen didn’t look him in the eye and Mullin pulled the trigger to move Jamison and start all over with J-Rich/Dunleavy & Murphy as the core. Our current core has at least three years to play together before contracts are up for Wright & Belinelli. Assuming that they’ll be resigned, this team could potentially play together a few years beyond that. It’s a hell of a lot better and more fun to watch than putting our playoff hopes in the hands of Coles, Jackson, Marshall, Weatherspoon & Dampier.

Josh Childress to Greece for $6.33 mil/yr

Mr. Monday Night — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:30:20 -0000

He's currently being offered, and considering, a 3 year deal @ $20 mil. Ok... now before I get into my rant... let's look at this guy's numbers (last year's and his career)

Last year: 12 ppg, 5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1 spg, 1.3 to's, 57% fg, 80% ft @ 30 mpg
Career: 11 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2 apg, 1 spg, 1.4 to's, 52% fg, 80% ft @ 31 mpg

Beyond these numbers, he was a very high basketball IQ player who predominately made the correct decision to put his team in a winning situation. He doesn't chuck up the three very much (less than one attempt per game @ 36% over his career) but he is a very good ball handler with good defensive instincts and a fro like no other's today. Now I know that the tax situation do factor into this equation, so let's just say he's getting the equivalent of $7.5 mil/yr (taxes are a bitc....), do you think that he would be worth a 3 year contract @ $8 mil/yr? I certainly think that he would fit in with the Warriors at the SF spot fairly well. Now whether the Hawks would match or not would be a moot point, because our chance has passed... and we all know what Maggette can do.

Now... the question is would you rather see Maggette get his 5 yr $50 mil deal or see Childress get a 3 yr $25 mil deal (just rounding up)?

Poll

Who would you rather see in a Warriors jersey at their slated price tag?

Corey Maggette @ 5 yrs/$50 mil

115 votes

Josh Childress @ 3 yrs/$25 mil?

88 votes

203 votes | Poll has closed

Another crackheaded idea to make the Warriors better

Mr. Monday Night — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:07:19 -0000

Now I strongly believe this to be much more realistic than some (well most) of the trade ideas that have been thrown around, but that wouldn't really be saying much... you've read those posts! Now please keep in mind that I'm going to estimate most of the numbers to the nearest million, with a couple of exceptions.

Now let's just say that the NBA salary cap will be somewhere around $58 mil and the luxury tax cap will be around $70 mil (based on the projected increase in revenue, as both caps are based on a % of overall revenue). Please keep in mind that both caps are "soft caps" meaning that teams would be able to exceed the caps. Well the Warriors' team salary is currently at $47 mil, which includes the contracts of Baron Davis, Brandan Wright, Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Marco Belinelli and the dead contract of Adonal Foyle. So as of right now, we are approximately $11 mil under the salary cap and $23 mil under to luxury tax cap.

For some reason Hoopshype.com has Elton Brand listed as a free agent, so let's just say that he opted out of the final year in his contract, making him an unrestricted free agent. Well... let's just say that Elton Brand either smokes crack one day or someone from the Make A Wish Foundation asks to see him in a Warriors jersey. He could technically sign for the remainder of space under the salary cap ($11 mil, which is significantly less that what he would be slated to make this season by staying with the Clippers). That would bring the Warrior team salary to $58 mil while leaving them with six players on the roster.

After the hangover of signing Elton Brand, we would still have various options to fill in the remaining 9 roster spots (15 available) even though we're already at the salary cap. First off, we would be able to sign our rookies, Randolph & Hendrix, to rookie contracts at $1.325 mil and $675 k respectively (based on draft position) as per the rookie exception that would allow us to go over the salary cap. Then we would be able to match/resign both Monta Ellis & Andris Biedrins (per the Gilbert Arenas rule and the Larry Bird rights). Let's just estimate their salary at $11 mil and $9 mil respectively. The signing of those four players would bring our team salary to $80 mil, with the team roster sitting at 10 players.

Now we would still have the mid-level exception (approx $5.25 mil; can be used on multiple contracts) and the bi-annual exception (approx $1.75 mil; can be used on multiple contracts) to sign the remaining players. I'm confident in the ability of Mullin and Nelson to find five more players to fill out the roster utilizing the exemptions... possibly devoting a substantial chunk of the MLE ($3.5 mil or so) toward a formidable back-up point guard, using the BAE toward a random, useful veteran (maybe in the form of an Austin Croshere) and the rest of the MLE on D-leaguers and unsigned prospects.

Important note: The signing of Brand would have to occur before any of the rookie signings and resigning of Monta & Beans.

The final product of the off-season would produce the following roster: A starting five of Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Elton Brand and Andris Biedrins with a bench of Al Harrington, Brendan Wright, Anthony Randolph, Richard Hendrix, Marco Belinelli, and the acquisitions utilizing the MLE & the BAE. This playoff caliber... NAY! CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER team would be ridiculous to contend with. I don't know about you, but this is a pipe dream team that would be able to compete with the Lakers and the Spurs and the Celtics in the NBA for the championship.

In the end, this would bring this team's salary to approximately $87 mil, approximately $17 mil over the cap. This would in turn force Cohen to pay approximately $19 mil in luxury taxes (as per the luxury tax rules). Now before you shoot it down, think about the potential revenue that this team would be able to bring to the Warriors' owner. I think that the spike in TV, sponsor and merchandise revenue alone would be enough to make paying the luxury tax worth it. Then you figure in the additional revenue from the playoffs, both from the playoff ticket sales and from the league incentives for winning in the playoffs, and this would make for one ridiculous cash jackpot for the owner. Do you think that Cohen would refuse to put together this cash cow of a team? I wouldn't think so either.

Now that my wet dream is over, can the olympics get here so I can have some televised hoops in my life?

BIG TRADE BETWEEN RAPTORS & PACERS

Mr. Monday Night — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:14:46 -0000

BIG TRADE BETWEEN RAPTORS & PACERS

Not that it affected us, but it could have been indicative of how cheap the Pacers were shopping J. O'Neal. This definitely is a questionable move but should solidify their frontcourt while giving Calderon the reigns at the PG spot.

Another year has passed...

Mr. Monday Night — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:54:52 -0000

Another year has passed. We are now one year removed from the ultimate fan high from the Warriors epic playoff run last year. Who knows... one Tracy McGrady 4th quarter heroic performance in game 7 and we may have been in the conference finals... We owned Houston as much as we owned the Mavericks. One less foul from Robert Horry and there could have been an upset in the conference finals... we did match up well against Phoenix. This would be en route to running the Cleveland Cavaliers out of the championship picture. Maybe we keep Jason Richardson and play the playoff team one full season healthy. I know why they made the trade... it was smart financially (getting Richardson's contract off of the books) and potentially for the future (Wright plays like a beast when he gets the time). Or maybe... we get the dream trade of KG and salary dumps for Wright, Biedrins, Harrington and a slew of picks... banking on a chance to win within the next two seasons. Maybe we trade Baron this season... there's been a lot of talk about that. We can start building for the future again. Everyone talking all this mumbo jumbo about what if's or trade possibilities just remember this: We are only two years removed from having a below average team... and it took 13 years of rebuilding to get to the playoffs... the longest streak ever for any team in any sport. We just had a 48 win season, the most since 1994. Do you really want to go through years of mediocrity to rebuild this team again?