The extent to which our beloved Golden State Warriors have, quite simply, sucked, has been well chronicled. We haven't won a championship in around 40 years, but many teams have yet to win a championship. The problem is, obviously, our single Playoff appearance in the last 17 years.

Longtime Warrior fans will attest to the fact that it has been too long since the Warriors have had any sort of promise for the future, a player with the capability of lifting this team to the promised land. Heck, we haven't had an all-star in over a decade. In 2007, we finally experienced some success, albeit with one of the most unusual lineups ever, one not built for sustained winning over a long period of time. Still, we loved the feeling of relevancy around the league. We Believe gave us Warrior fans a moment of glory, when the entire world formally recognized and commended the team we love.

Unfortunately, our management has sucked, horribly. In addition to many unbelievable moves prior to 2007, they gave away Jason Richardson, didn't offer Baron Davis enough money. Management quite literally blew up the one moment us fans were finally proud of. 

This had us calling for Cohan's head, and thankfully, he eventually sold the team to Guber and Lacob. These two come in with bold plans, promising a Playoff appearance in just their second season. Just as they bought the team, they were able to bring in David Lee, a trade that was much heralded at the time, but since has been disapproved of. They brought in an all-star, who was a major part of our 6-2 start, and due to no more than a freak injury under-performed for much of the season. Why is it that the general consensus around here is that people want him out? The man is overpaid, but it was management's first great trade in many years (The Indiana trade in 2007 just happened to work out extremely well for us). Let them get used to making good moves, iron out the wrinkles.

I am appalled and bewildered.

This summer, rumors have been constantly surfacing discussing the Golden State Warriors, the same team we all know and love, as players in major potential trades around the league. Be it Andre Iguodala, one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, Rudy Gay, one of the most explosive, or even Dwight Freakin' Howard, one of the best, the Warriors are taking risks and trying to go big.

What has the fan reaction been? Monta Ellis is better than Iguodala. Why do we need to trade for Rudy Gay if we have Dorell Wright? 

If we trade for Dwight Howard, we'll have an ultra-thin roster and won't be able to compete with the best in the league.

Seriously?

We've practically been on our hands and knees begging management to acquire great players for years. Now that we finally have competent owners and advisers, trying to make moves and be better, people have the guts to have this reaction? 

Why do so many people need to be so damn pessimistic?

Let's look at the glass half full for once:

Andre Iguodala is a perimeter defensive stopper. This fact is undisputed. Where he ranks is undecided upon, but people know he is great at what he does. Look at any of the Conference champions of the past 30 years. How many of them did not have a legit perimeter defensive stopper? Now, how many of them had an under-sized shooting guard with awful defense who couldn't consistently make plays for others? Taking this even further, so I won't be accused of hating on Monta: How many of them had their main playmaker be someone who is turnover prone, lacks in quickness and athleticism, and is pretty darn bad at the defensive end?

Is it really that bad an idea to try to build our team based on the success of all the past champions?

Rudy Gay is a great wing scorer. Monta Ellis is a great wing scorer. The difference is Rudy Gay is better defensively and, well, is much, much bigger and stronger. No need to go into specifics.

Dwight Howard. This dude is the best center in the world right now. He's the best defensive player in the league with a developing offensive arsenal. He is feared as an opponent around the league and his presence single-handedly puts Orlando in the title conversation year in and year out.

Management is trying to trade for one of the best players in the world. We haven't had one of the best players in the world in decades. I'd trade our entire team for Dwight Howard if it was allowed. He's that good. Bringing him here would give us national respect, easing our ability to bring in other stars, giving us the opportunity to experience lasting success.

The Golden State Warriors have finally entered a new era, one that involves a will and desire to win. For those of you afraid of change, you must accept the fact that this is for the better.

If you want another 20 years of no more than mediocrity, cheer for a different team. I want the Warriors to win. Our management is finally pursuing that very goal. Let's support them with all we've got.

I was given an assignment in school to write a one page poem, called "Theme for English B," about anything that I want. Being that the number one topic constantly on my mind is the team we all know and love, I devoted it to them. I hope you find it to your liking :)

 

“Theme for English B”

The instructor said,

Go home and write

a page tonight.

And let that page come out of you---

Then, it will be true.

Is it even possible? It’s definitely, hardly fathomable.
For the City of Angels? For the Purple and Gold?
Will the L.A. Lakers actually lose
in the first round of the NBA Playoffs?
The TV is on, the analysts believe they’ve been proven wrong.
The series is tied, two games to two.
The undermanned Hornets are scaring us, Boo!
Chris Paul, their star, is posting record statistics.
Kobe Bryant’s ankle is going ballistic.
The score is 44-40, N’awlins is leading.
How could this happen? The best team is bleeding.
Number 24 is fed at the top of the key.
Fed the round ball, fed up with pointless excuses,
fed up with the people he normally abuses.
He drives down the lane, and ends with a bang!
The Black Mamba; ladies and gentleman, he strikes again.
A ferocious dunk, turning back the clock,
with absolutely no regard for human life.
He proves again why he is the best.
He proves that point to all of the rest.
From then on out, the Lakers simply dominate.
The critics cry foul, but haters gonna hate.
Mr. Bryant single-handedly put the league on notice,
All the dumb people claiming he was done; bogus.
He reminded the world to fear his every breath,
He reminded myself why I idolize him to death.
The heart of a champion will never falter.
With it, another championship the Lake Show will conquer.

This is my page for English B.

The Warriors have undoubtedly been playing awfully lately, as you all are already well aware, so I thought it would be fun to speculate types of moves the Warriors can make to rebuild. I'm not saying I'd necessarily want to make any of these trades, nor would I mind if any of these trades actually occur, but it's interesting to explore options that seem more realistic. (Meaning we probably won't land a superstar by trade this season)

Trade 1: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2fn35sf

Warriors get: Danilo Gallinari, Landry Fields, Eddy Curry

Nuggets get: Monta Ellis, Vladimir Radmanovic, Reggie Williams

Knicks get: Carmelo Anthony

(Some picks and cash may be involved if any of the teams aren't completely happy with their end.)

An article came out that 'Melo will only sign an extension if he's traded to the Knicks, which this deal proposes.

Why GSW would do it: The Monta/Curry backcourt will not get us championships, as offensively prolific as they can be. This way, we rid ourselves of Monta's contract (I personally prefer Curry by a trillion miles) and at the same time solidify our starting SG spot with the rookie, Landry Fields, who appears to be a great role player and perhaps even a star for years to come. We get the lights out shooter (what we've been missing) in Gallinari which will result in D. Wright becoming our sixth man, improving our embarrassingly shallow SF depth. And we get the expiring contract that is Eddy Curry, making the salaries work without sacrificing cap room to possibly make a free agent splash this offseason. We lose Vlad Rad (I don't care about that, do you?) and Reggie Williams, but I'd prefer the future Fields and Gallinari offer.

Why DEN would do it: They need to move Carmelo Anthony, or else they'll lose him for nothing, unless they can bring in another superstar (they don't possess pieces to do so, though). This way they receive Monta Elllis, who will replace 'Melo's scoring and become they're main offensive option, they get an expiring contract in Radmanovic and Reggie Williams who can provide a spark off the bench, as we've seen over the past year or so. Whether or not they prefer Monta/Reggie over Gallinari and someone else (possible Fields, as ESPN reported), is anyone's guess, but it's an interesting option.

Why NYK would do it: I actually think, at least for the coming days, New York would hold up the trade. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." They're riding their longest winning streak in a couple centuries (I kid) and everything seems to be clicking. However, they've salivated over Carmelo ever since his name began surfacing in trade rumors and they'd probably pull the trigger if all they lose is Landry Fields, Danilo Gallinari, and the expiring contract otherwise known as Eddy Curry.

The Trade Machine calculates the only effect this will have on any of the three teams is two fewer losses for Denver, so even it doesn't consider this deal unrealistic in any way, shape, or form.

I was going to propose more ideas, but the thought of breaking down the team-by-team benefits after this already-lengthy fan post is not attracting me. Post your thoughts and/or any (hopefully semi-realistic) trade ideas you can come up with.

In response to Spreefor3!!!'s article, "What the Hell is Keith Smart Doing?"

I was going to post a reply, but decided it would be too long and I'll go in depth at my epic frustrations with our head coach.

I broke it up into sections of coaching, in no particular order, and identified problems and possible solutions. If I can do this, you'd think a head coach in the National Basketball Association wouldn't have a problem doing it, either.

 

Defense

Defensively, we keep getting burned game after game, practically possession after possession, on backdoor cuts. How hard can it possibly be to fix something so idiotic like that? A couple hours of emphasis in practice should be enough to plug the leak. I'm impressed with our defense so far this year, and can't complain about the improvement from last year, but this failure is simply glaring and can help us out too much to be ignored. Smart's getting them to hustle on this end, but he forgot to teach them how to hustle, and how to use their energy efficiently and intelligently.

 

Offense

Offensively, it has been a complete embarrassment. I'm fine with his decision to terminate the Run & Gun style of play, and run ordinary half-court sets, but what the hell are they "running" out there. The most movement I've seen all season on the offensive end has been 3 players weaving out beyond the arc waiting for someone to make a decisive move. That move would come with the shot clock winding down and a usually difficult, contested jump shot. More often than not, we lazily trot upcourt, make one or two passes, then isolate a certain player and everyone else clears out and stands around. Here lies an even bigger dilemma than lack of movement. Isolations were a powerful element in Don Nelson's system. He was brilliant at exploiting mismatches, setting up players in terrific position to go one on one. It's definitely not the prettiest and most efficient offense available, but it can and has worked. However, I'd like to know who came up with the idea to let Dorell Wright isolate against someone like Rudy Gay. Same goes for everyone on the roster aside from Curry and Ellis. These guys simply are not players who specialize in creating for themselves. Then Keith Smart has them create for themselves against more talented players. The only iso's the Warriors should utilize are with Ellis and Curry, and and then Lee or Biedrins if they're rolling from the post. (By the way, props to Andris for his monstrous effort, it was a beauty.) Basically, our "flex motion offense" has been anything but that. Half the time, we leave our best players (Curry and Ellis) standing around while Rodney Carney's running a pick and roll with Vlad Rad, which is obviously unacceptable and drives us Warrior fans crazy. Our offense this year has been simply atrocious. Defense wins championships, but you can't win if you can't put the ball in the bucket. Smart needs to get smart or get out.

Rotation

We all (should) know Smart's the worst coach at putting in the right guys at the right times. I'm tired of seeing him leaving out Ellis for all of the first quarter and the first few minutes of the second quarter. Monta constantly becomes fatigued and it shows in how his production significantly drops off in the second half and he's been unable to close out games. All out other starters also do not need to be playing 11 minutes in a quarter. He needs to start subbing players in at around the 5 or 4 minute mark of the first/third and Monta/Steph need to get their breathers with 1 or 2 minutes left, and then rest for the first minute or two of the next quarter. I'm not a fan of having Ellis and Curry both out of the game at the same time, but as we get healthier and deeper, it shouldn't be such a horrible problem for the 3 or 4 minutes they'll sit. Aside from that, I was bewildered when neither of them were in the game for almost half of the fourth quarter in a tight ball game! How stupid is Smart? Curry sat out the second half of the third quarter due to foul trouble, and I thought he would play the entire fourth, for sure at least 9 or 10 minutes. Furthermore, when I saw him pulled after a short few minutes of action and only reinserted with two and a half minutes to go, I began fuming. All hope was pretty much lost by then, Ellis was fatigued from over-abuse in the first half, and Curry had no hope of getting in a rhythm while sitting and watching on the bench.

 

I probably left out a few sections of Keith Smart's futility (his horrible use of timeouts, for one), but the point was clear. If we want any hope of making the playoffs, Smart needs to get his head straight or a change must be made. Before the season started, I listed a number of player transactions I thought would improve the ball club. I stand by those ideas/thoughts (especially trading Ellis while his stock is high, 'cause there ain't no way he and Curry can play together and expect to raise Lacob's/Guber's promised banners in the future), but a great coach is the most necessary plug to vault this team to new levels. Keith Smart appears to not be that coach (to say the least).

You guys are gonna get pissed at me for posting this and think I've gone crazy but try and here me through on this trade proposal:

 

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=284cvch

 

Warriors get: Gerald Wallace, Boris Diaw

Bobcats get: Monta Ellis, Andris Biedrins

 

Why the Warriors would do this:

Gerald Wallace is hands down one of the best defenders in the league, bar none. He's perhaps the best rebounding SF in the league, too, and his presence alone (and his impact on others around him) will pretty much eliminate (or almost eliminate) the Warriors' two major problems last year: Defense and Rebounding.

As has already been discussed, Monta's scoring will be replaced fairly easily. The biggest problem I assume all of you have is this leaves us with nothing at the Center position, which is true (Gadzuric doesn't count).

We get Boris Diaw, who although is only 6'8", can give us some positive minutes to help make up for the loss. In addition, we get his $9 million dollar expiring contract, which along with Gadzuric's and Radmanovic's will give us more than enough money this offseason to sign either a max free agent (although you guys don't like to hear Melo and max in the same sentence) or some very serviceable players for years to come (Marc Gasol, anyone?) or even some combination of the two.

 

Why the Bobcats would do this:

Unfortunately for the franchise that just reached the playoffs for the first time, they have pretty much peaked in terms of potential and ability.  They lose their best player in Wallace but get a top tier scorer (whom they desperately need with the worst offense in the league) in Monta Ellis and a definite starting C in Biedrins (who would replace Dampier, major upgrade down low).

They get 2 very young pieces to start building around (who are still a few years off their prime) who along with Stephen Jackson (Monta's good friend) and Tyrus Thomas can create an interesting starting lineup to develop and improve. Boris Diaw's loss will not really be felt.

 

This is really just another option for the Warriors to get an all-star such as previous posts regarding Iggy, Granger, and of course, Melo.

In my opinion, as long as they don't give up Curry, I would trade pretty much anything (though not everything) to get any of these players. Opinions?

Poll

Who would you rather the Warriors trade for (as long as Curry is not involved and the trade is not horribly one-sided against the Dubs)?

26%

Carmelo Anthony

97 votes

31%

Andre Iguodala

116 votes

15%

Danny Granger

57 votes

9%

Gerald Wallace

36 votes

14%

No one, let's let these guys play out the season (or at least until the trade deadline)

51 votes

1%

Someone else (specify in comments)

6 votes

363 votes | Poll has closed

As has been repeated infinitely this summer and in years past on GSOM and beyond, Chris Cohan's tenure as GSW owner was flat-out embarrasing. With that said, now that Lacob and Guber have purchased the Dubs for $450 million, it's safe to say most of us are expecting immediate results on the court and in the offices leading to a monumental turnaround. Unfortunately, with our current lineup, along with our cap situation, there is no way we can expect to improve beyond a few wins even if we remain healthy.

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