GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (48-34)
Two years ago, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the biggest upset in NBA Playoffs history. But that was two years ago and today the Warriors are a different team. The biggest change? Baron Davis, their floor general and team leader, bolted for sunny Southern California. Some will say it’s not a big deal that he’s gone and with the emergence of Monta Ellis (if he ever plays for the Warriors) and the addition of Corey Maggette, the Warriors will be just fine. I don’t see it that way, however. Golden State will find out just how much they miss B-Diddy this year.
When healthy, he scores at will.
Face of the Franchise: Monta Ellis. Unfortunately, the team’s best player tore a ligament in his ankle, lied to his team about it, and is now suspended until December. Not a great start for the new face of the Warriors. It is an interesting story though. He’s only 22 years old and just signed a six-year $66 million contract extension. Then he goes against the terms of his contract (bad decision) and injures himself by participating in a “dangerous activity.” He gets scared because he knows what he did was wrong so he lies to his team (another bad decision). Was it wrong? Sure. Should we be surprised that he lied? Not at all. I probably would’ve lied about it too. He is a kid and made an immature decision (okay two). He’s being punished for it and that’s that. And more importantly, is this gonna affect his performance on the court or ruin team chemistry? Assuming he comes back 100% from his surgery then absolutely not. Sure his teammates might be mad at him now that he’s been suspended for 30 games, but for lying to the team? I don’t think they’re mad about that at all. They won’t freeze him out or anything like that. And to top it off, the 30-game suspension was a good move by the team. It looks like a lot but it’s really not. I mean, he would’ve been out until November anyway so it’s pretty much like a 10 game suspension. Now he has an extra month to heal and strengthen his ankle. In the meantime, someone will be happy Ellis got injured because now he gets a chance to prove himself in this league and make a name for himself (DeMarcus Nelson?). Bottom line is, the Warriors’ best player is out and someone will have to step up.
Gotta show some love to the former Tar Heel.
Send Him Away: Al Harrington. This one seems pretty obvious. GM Chris Mullin drafted Brandan Wright and Anthony Randolph in the first round in the last two drafts so it looks like a certainty Harrington will be dealt. The question is when. His production slipped last year and if that trend continues, Mullin will not get any value in a trade this year. But next year Harrington will be in the last year of his contract and he will be worth a lot more because of it.
Impact Newcomer: Corey Maggette. They wanted Gilbert Arenas but ended up with Maggette. Not a bad consolation prize, especially at half the price. He’ll give the team 20 points and 5 rebounds per game while shooting the rock at a decent clip. While an elite athlete, he is still a minor injury risk. But then you look at Agent Zero and all his knee problems and Warriors fans should be lucky they ended up with the former Duke Diaper Dandy.
X-Factor: Whoever Starts in Place of Monta Ellis. Whoever this may be (Nelson, Marcus Williams, CJ Watson, someone else) MUST give quality minutes. It will be imperative that this player plays a good point guard and distributes, distributes, distributes. The silver lining with Ellis’ injury is that he is pretty much a scorer and there will be no shortage of points with this team. The big question mark was whether Ellis could play point guard (which he can’t right now) so whoever plays will automatically be an instant upgrade in that regard. But he’ll have to be a solid playmaker and it’d be an added bonus if he could play some defense.
Forecast: Low Lottery. Like I said before, scoring will not be an issue with this team, even with Ellis out. If the Warriors play any defense this year they will have a puncher’s chance at the 8th seed. But I think the void at point guard Baron Davis left when he signed with the Clippers will be too large for the Warriors to overcome even when Ellis comes back. He is not a true playmaker and it remains to be seen if he can make his teammates better because Baron certainly did. When it’s all said and done, the Warriors will pile up some wins but they’ll miss the playoffs by a few games.
Posted by david im 
