On his twitter feed, Marcus Thompson has quotes from Larry Riley, Don Nelson and Monta Ellis on the Jackson trade to Charlotte this morning. UPDATE: MT2 has posted an article using Nellie's and Riley's quotes.

Let's start with Larry Riley:

All in all, after evaluating the thing for several weeks, it was important that we do it now.

- GM Larry Riley

Kind of a general statement, but not of much substance or insight. Then again... this is twitter... sometimes you're not going to get as much as when MT2 puts it to print or to his blog. I short it sounds like Larry Riley just wanted to get any deal done and that this was the easiest one to execute. UPDATE: MT2 has more insight from Riley:

"I thought it was important to explore things as long as we possibly could and show some patience," Riley said. "I also thought it was important that we get something back that we could use to our advantage. But that's easy to say, but wasn't quite so easy to accomplish.

"I'm sure that a lot of people are going to say that the situation became one that they just couldn't go any farther," Riley added. "Really, I think we'd explored things enough that I did it more (because) I really felt that this was as good a deal as we were going to get. And I also thought the time was now. While our young players have done a tremendous job of doing everything that they can to not allow this to become a distraction, I also thought that if we went any further, it probably would've been. Now, was Jack giving me problems? No. Was he giving Nellie problems? No."

And later in the article saying

"It was difficult for me to put Acie in the deal because Acie's playing well and starting to show something," Riley said. "We just looked at the big picture and decided that the two players we were going to acquire, along with the cap (relief), that was enough."

Sounds like Riley was happy with the deal and he even went out of the way to say that Jackson wasn't give him or Nellie problems. Sounds more like spin than anything else.

So what did Don Nelson thing of the deal:

I’m happy for Jack. Something had to be done. I'm happy with the trade. As good as we could do under the circumstances.

- Don Nelson

Nellie sounds defeated in this statement. Basically saying we did the best we do considering he poisoned the well by taking everything public.

Finally, what does new team leader Monta Ellis have to say about his friend Jackson being dealt:

I'm not going to put no more on my back. Somebody else gone have to step up and take on the role that Jack had and be that player.

- Monta Ellis

WOW... There is a lot that can be made just from his statement. First, we have no context to how Monta came to that answer. Maybe he had been hounded by the media with various Jax trade reaction questions and this was just one answer. Or maybe this was just short brush off of the situation. I'm sure MT2 and others will have more to report latter this afternoon. But lets dive into this. "I'm not going to put no more on my back." Could Monta be continuing to vent about Nellie ripping him in NYC last week? Could this be the start of "ME wants out" of playing for the Warriors? Or could this be Monta saying he need more support from him his teammates to make up for Jackson's void?

In my opinion this is the start of Monta demanding a trade out of Golden State himself. It started with team holding the moped incident like noose over his head. It seemed to boil with the drafting of Stephen Curry and started to boil over with the Nellie incident last week in New York. Add today's quote to the list of signs that Monta wants out of 510.

via www.nba.com

Marcus Thompson and Tim Kawakami have reports up that Nellie and Monta got in a verb spat at practice in NYC today.

ELLIS: "Coach. Why do I get blamed for everything?"

NELSON: "What have I ever blamed you for?"

ELLIS: "For everything. For everything. For people not knowing the plays. I didn’t do this. I didn’t that."

Nelson waved both hands at Ellis, as if to brush him off, and walked off shaking his head.

Ellis: "See. That’s why I won’t do it. I just won’t do it."

It looks like the Warriors have gone from suck to blow.

via www.delawareonline.com

Just in, ESPN is running a piece front page of their NBA section called Second Favorites. Heck, the pharse it's self is worth a look, but what got me to read it was the pics of Monta Ellis and Chirs Paul.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

As it turns out TrueHoop ran a survey of it's network of bloggers (GSoM isn't included by the way) and 5 of them voted the Warriors as their 2nd favorite team. The next closet team was New Orleans 3 and all the other teams receiving votes had two or less. Here is what the 5 voters for the Warriors had to say:

John Krolik, Cavs the Blog (Cleveland Cavaliers blog)
Last year, the Warriors felt like a random collection of shoot-first guards, developing big men, and a coach drinking a bit too much of his own kool-aid. But this season's Monta Ellis/Stephen Curry backcourt is wholly intriguing, Captain Jack is still there, and of course, there's the majesty of Anthony Randolph. The rumored Randolph/Amare Stoudemire frontcourt would've been about the most amazing thing ever, but alas. The Warriors still have unique talent and that insane, go-for-broke mentality, so there's a soft spot in my heart for them. Even if "We Believe" has become "We're Cautiously Optimistic."

D.J. Foster, Clipperblog (Los Angeles Clippers blog)
On nights when the old ball and chain is unavailable, I'll often find myself committing fan infidelity with the Golden State Warriors. The love for this group of misfits starts with the completely awesome and unquestionably terrifying Stephen Jackson, who was once quoted, which is phenomenal, saying that he "makes love to pressure.” The Captain Jack brought me in the door, but it's the Anthony Randolph chaser that keeps me hanging around.

Jeremy Wagner, Roundball Mining Company (Denver Nuggets blog)
Many people have a vice that they may not be particularly proud of.  Some take drugs, others commit arson and of course there are the Kobe Bryant fans. Me? I like the Golden State Warriors, in no small part because they are not the kind of team you bring home to momma. But there's no denying it: The freewheeling style, where the big shot makers roam unfettered by responsibility of normal basketball, is a perfect late night vice for those times when no one else needs to know what is going on in the privacy of my home.

Sebastian Pruiti, Nets Are Scorching (New Jersey Nets blog)
The Golden State Warriors are the perfect "second favorite” team. With a roster full of young athletic freaks -- Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow, Anthony Randolph -- this team was built to fit in Don Nelson's run and gun system. Throw rookie Stephen Curry into the mix, and you got a team that will run up the score without even thinking twice about playing defense, and their coach isn't even bothered by it, as long as they take the ball out of the hoop quickly. If the Golden State Warriors were my favorite team, that would make me pull my hair out, but they are not, they are my second favorite team.

Jeremy Schmidt, Bucksketball (Milwaukee Bucks blog)
Sure, the franchise is a mess and the organization is more dysfunctional than an 80's family sitcom, but look at that team. Anthony Randolph is capable of anything on a basketball court. Stephen Jackson has mastered awkward ugly dribbling and shoots with no conscience and even less accuracy. Monta Ellis glides up and down the court with such grace that I assume he has wings on his feet. And even better? They added everyone's favorite college gunner in Stephen Curry.

This article begs the question who is your 2nd favorite team?

Buried in the trade news of the day (Macro going to Canada) was that the Los Angeles Lakers release swing man Sun Yue. In my opinion Yue makes for an intriguing prospect and one that I think the Warriors should explore signing. Now, it is completely fair to argue that this guy amounted to a whole lot nothing for the Lakers logging just 28 minutes in 10 games. Mind you that he missed most of the 1st half of the season he was out with mono. At 6'9" 215 lbs, Yue is a slender SF, however his ball handling skills and court vision allow him to play both SG and PG at times.

Here is the DraftExpress.com hype on Yue prior to the 2006 draft:

Strengths
Yue is a very unique player in this draft, being a very long 6-9 international who shows legitimate point guard skills. Watching him move with the ball in his hands, its hard not to be impressed by the talent he shows. Strongly favoring his left hand, Yue is a remarkable dribbler with his good hand, while improvable with his bad one.

Already an excellent passer, he takes advantage of his size to see the entire floor thanks to his impressive court vision. Displaying solid athleticism, he slashes well to the hoop with a good first step, primarily looking to dish the ball or sometimes finish with an elegant finger roll. He plays under control and appears to have an excellent feel for the game, being highly unselfish, almost to a fault at times. The game looks very easy for him, particularly playing in the minor leagues. Defensively, he is capable of getting in the passing lanes, pulling down rebounds and even blocking some shots on occasion, being a true stat-stuffer for his team.

Weaknesses
Yue looks far from becoming an adequate shooter. He doesn’t show any reliability, delivering awful jumpers from time to time, and his mechanics don’t look particularly consistent, and he has a fairly slow release. He needs to develop more of an in-between game, particularly a pull-up jumper. He has a tendency to go left almost exclusively when driving to the basket.

The biggest problem for Yue is his position on the court. He’s probably not quick enough for a point guard and he doesn’t have the shooting touch that you look for in a wing. He picks up his dribble at times and suffers from intense pressure he occasionally sees from smaller and quicker guards. He also needs to add some bulk to his skinny frame. Defensively, there are concerns about him whether he’s playing the point or small forward. He has a tendency to be a little too passive at times, passing up scoring opportunities and not being quite as dominant offensively in a league where he is always the most talented player on the floor.

Competition
Yue plays for a Chinese team that migrated to the American ABA, a semi-pro minor league that is now a shadow of what it used to be 20-30 years ago. He puts up excellent numbers in this competition. He has some experience internationally with the Chinese national team, but has been inconsistent playing with them.

And Nba Draftnet's profile of Yue says:

Strengths: Has the size that the NBA covets at the point guard position Ball handling ability is superb. He uses a number of crossovers and between the leg dribbles to get separation from his defender Unselfish player who has a pass first mentality Owns above average court vision and has improved on controlling the tempo Excels at creating scoring for his teammates off the drive and dish Possesses three point range on his jumpshot For his height, has great mobility and leaping ability Is an excellent finisher and can dunk with flair Size creates mismatches as he can shoot over most guards . Defensively he does a good job of using his long arms to disrupt passing lanes and block shots Despite a tendency to be out of position, Yue makes a solid contribution rebounding the ball Does a great job of pushing the ball up the court on the fast break

Weaknesses: Still lacks upper body strength which would benefit him greatly on both ends of the floor Must continue to improve on his lateral quickness as quicker guards can give him trouble At times he fails to protect the ball, especially when going for the spectacular play Perimeter shooting has shown improvement but still remains a work in progress, particularly his shooting mechanics Yue must improve on moving without the ball as he has a habit of standing around Lacks the post moves to take full advantage of mismatches Defers too much to his teammates and can be unselfish to a fault Mid range game remains underutilized, either he drives or shoots the three. There is no in between jumper Struggles to maintain his dribble when pressured by quick and aggressive defenders It remains unclear what position he will play in the NBA: Hes slow for the point guard position and lacks shooting ability for the two guard

In D-League he put up decent, but not great numbers playing mainly SG and SF. His pre-draft measurables were as follows:

Again, not great but not terrible either. I think that Yue would be a great gamble for the Warriors for several reason. First, after been bought out for 1.5 million by the Lakers we should be able to sign him for close to minimum. Second, it would be a nice PR move for the organization and might help drum up some interest for the causal no-nba fan in Bay Area. Third, he'd offer us something that Nellie loves a mis-match that can handle the ball on perimeter.

Around roughly 8:00 am is morning ESPN began running with a rumored story that the NBA salary cap for the 2010-2011 season will around $53.4 million with a luxury tax line of $61.2 million. I'm not 100% sure how the NBA come up with the cap, but I have a strong feeling that it's tied to league shared revenue from ad's and national cable contracts with ABC/ESPN. In any event, all it really means is that every team is going to be panicking over 2010. Not because half the league's stars are free agents, but rather that nobody is going to have the money to sign anyone.

So, where do the Warriors stand in regards to the $53.4 million soft cap and $61.2 million luxury tax (aka hard cap)? Below is a table of the Warriors salaries as of 07/07/09 from Hoopsworld.com (thanks to GSoM poster homer simpson for the table).

Player Option / Early Termination Option / Team Option / Qualifying Offer / Non-guaranteed

As you can see that doesn't include Curry who should clock in around $2.6 million this season and $3 million in 2010. Granted that Belinelli, Law, Randolph, and Wright are all players that the Warriors have team options on. Assuming that they bring all 4 of those guys back, Azubuike opts-in and that Curry is around $3 million that would bring the Warriors salary up to $59.6 million well over the $53.4 million mark and that does not include what ever draft picks or FA we sign to a mutli year deal this current off-season. The Warriors are essentially at the cap for the big 2010 off-season. So what should the Warriors do?

UPDATE - 06/02/09:

PICK	TEAM	PLAYER	VITALS
	Golden State	Jonny Flynn	Position: PG Height: 6-1 Weight: 196 Age: 20 School: Syracuse

Analysis: The Warriors don't have a traditional point guard and I think it will be hard for them to pass on Flynn if he's still on the board. I thought they'd be taking a serious look at Brandon Jennings here, and they probably will, but Flynn has the leadership and heart that the Warriors desperately need. Jennings is a project who is much farther away. - Chad Ford

Here's a quick look at the top PG measurables in this upcoming draft. For more info see my post REMIX: More NBA Combine Measurables.

_____________________________

The Original Case:

One of the fastest rising players in the nba draft blogsphere has be none other than Syracuse's 6-0, 186 lbs guard Jonny Flynn (yes that's how he spells his name). As post on Sactown Royality, ESPN's Chad Ford see Flynn's stock rising fast.

Flynn has a natural charisma that you can't teach. Whether it was leading Syracuse into the tournament or rallying players inside Tim Grover's ATTACK Athletics gym, Flynn has the personality to play a leading role on a team...

When Flynn gets into 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 drills, he's the most vocal player on the floor, calling out plays and screens. No matter what's going on in the gym, your eyes eventually end up gravitating back to Flynn....

I watched him in the gym for two days and thought everything about his jump shot looked smoother, less forced. He's been working with a shot doctor and seems to have found his range. He was hitting everything from midrange jumpers off screens to dribble-drive pull-ups to college and even NBA 3-pointers. Like virtually every prospect I've seen, Flynn still isn't an ace from the NBA 3. But he looked OK shooting it from there...

Over the past few weeks, a number of GMs seem to have been warming to Flynn and he looks like a potential lottery pick at the moment. A number of teams in the lottery including the Kings (No. 4), the Wizards (No. 5), the Timberwolves (No. 6), the Warriors (No. 7), the Knicks (No. 8), the Bucks (No. 10), the Pacers (No. 13) and the Suns (No. 14) all need point guards. And after speaking with at least one source from every team, I learned Flynn is in the mix for all of them.

- Chad Ford, ESPN

And Chad Ford isn't the only talking up Flynn's abilities. Jonathan Givony, Draftexpress.com, feature Flynn in his report on the A.T.T.A.C.K. Athletes Workout.

Flynn is one of the most explosive point guards in this draft, right in the same class as Brandon Jennings and Ty Lawson. His shiftiness in the open floor and pure speed getting up and down the court was very impressive, as were his ball-handling skills. While there wasn’t anything to take away from this setting in terms of evaluating his play making skills or court vision, it was great to see what a natural leader Flynn is around his cohorts. He looked incredibly focused and professional at all times, and really appears to have the ideal personality you look for at his position, as he’s extremely engaging and charismatic.

- Jonathan Givony, Draft Express

This brings us to the next question: DOES IT MAKE SENSE FOR THE WARRIORS TO CONSIDER DRAFTING FLYNN WITH THE 7TH PICK???

If indeed Flynn is as charismatic and vocal as Ford and Givrony has billed he'd have an intangable that was all but void on the Warriors last season. After being dumped by Baron Davis, the Warriors never found that leader at the PG spot. Sure Captain Jack was vocal and running the some of the sets, but we all know that isn't the role he was meant to fill here. I know that Mully would have loved for Ellis to assert himself become that leader, but with his mopped incident and subsequent 30 suspension that all but nuddered any vocal leadership we might see from him (grant that wasn't something he'd exhibited in previous season either).

The case for Flynn is simple. If we believe that Monta isn't the answer at PG, and if we believe that it's important to have a floor general at PG who's had significant college experience, than Flynn is answer. He's not a Curry or Evans in terms of shooting but as Draft Express reported in it's PG situational statistics article Flynn is an effective offensive player.

Flynn was a standout in two areas: his ability to get to the rim, and his one-on-one skills. Thankfully for him, those are two skills that the NBA values dearly. Clearly, his productivity is grounded in his first step. Flynn got to the rim 8.8 times per game, which accounted for a lot of his scoring, but his 1.24 PPP in unguarded catch and shoot situations and .94 PPP on pull up jumpers are both very respectable. His 4.3 possessions per game on isolations are amongst the best amongst big-conference players, and his 41% shooting on those plays isn’t awful. Couple those tools with his capacity to drive in both directions and his ability to draw fouls (16.1% SF), and it becomes hard not to think that Flynn could be, at the very least, a high quality backup if he improves his efficiency, especially once he masters the pick and roll (.84 PPP).

- Jonathan Givrony, Draft Express

Plus he can drop a highlight such as this:

Granted there is one major concern about drafting him, his height. As Ford said is article today

"But he's going to raise a lot of eyebrows when it comes to measurements. Syracuse has listed him, generously, at 6 feet for the past two seasons. Standing next to him, it's easy to see that Flynn will be lucky if he can crack 5-foot-11 in shoes. A measurement of 5-foot-10 is a better bet."

- Chad Ford, ESPN

If you like Aaron Brooks or Nate Robinson game... well that's Jonny Flynn. A 6-0 or under freak athlete that jam like no other for his size. However, what sets him apart for Brooks and Robinson is that his other calling card is that he's a true point guard. Were as Brooks and Robinson are much more dangerous with their jumpers and like Monta are really just an undersized shooting guard.

I'm not sure if a Flynn/Ellis backcourt would work, but I do know that it would be athletic as hell. Still have doubts? Check these clips:

And you want to see how his A.T.T.A.C.K. workout when then check out these clips from Draft Express.

Finally, a Buffalo, NY TV station (WGRZ) ran this piece profiling Jonny Flynn as the anti-athlete. That's a grounded young man, who's approaching the upcoming draft like a professional rather than seeing it as a birth right.

Overall, I'd grade Flynn as mid-to-lower level lottery pick. His height is definately a concern. However, I'm of the belief that you draft the best available player and if the Warriors are looking for a more experience PG with a rock solid background, then they should look no further that Jonny Flynn.

Four days ago I passed on the news that DraftExpress.com (DX) had release the initial measurements of the players in my post NBA Combine Measurables Released. Today they released the agility and strength number.

For a sortable table go to this link on Draft Express' website.

This morning the various NBA draft website will be reporting on the release of the measurables from the 2009 NBA Combine. Here are the numbers that Draft Express is reporting.

Seeing that Jonny Flynn, Ty Lawson, Patty Mills are all about 5'11" is interesting. Flynn has a 6'4" wingspan, Mills 6'2" wingspan and Lawson a essentially an average personal with a wingspan the same length as his height.

Blake Griffin meassures out the same as Tyler Hansbourgh? What gives with that? Two other interesting measurements: Blair is 6'5" with a 7'2" wingspan... that getting close to Barkley esque and GSoM fan favorite Jrue Holiday with a legit 6'3" with a 6'7" wingspan.

Cannot wait for the drill times (though Griffin is pussying out of those).

fter the lottery show ESPN's Chad Frod released his Mock Draft (1.0) and with in it he had the Warriors selecting Brandon Jennings PG from Lottomatica Roma.

via content.draftexpress.com

Drafting Jennings would be a swing for the fences by a team lacking a traditional point guard. He wasn't great in Italy this year, but he has all the raw tools to be a terrific backcourt mate for Monta Ellis for years to come. - Ford

As we all know, Jennings has been toilling away over in Europe playing a limited number of minutes and in recent weeks riding the pine during Lottomatica Roma's playoff run. For those interested, Draft Express has a stats page on Jennings with his numbers from Europe.

In 27 games he's averaging: 17 mins, 5.5 PPG, 1.2 REB, 2.3 AST, 2.1 STL, 1.5 TO

Not quite the stellar numbers you'd expect. However, the guys is a very gifted passer and as DX reported he's matured tremendously over the course of the season for Roma. For my book seeing is believing when it comes to NBA prospects and since there aren't any great statistical metrics on measuring guys stats from Europe then, I guess this is the best we have go on

Here's a clip with Jennings (#11) in white

Here's a clip of Jennings in red

Here's a sweet clip (horrible quality) of Jennings driving baseline

Finally, here's a clip of Rubio and Jennings from their SLAM cover shoot