Two teams went in opposite directions after this.
I got a chance to catch the Utah Jazz yesterday in their heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. If you're a Warriors fan, that game made you want to tear your insides out. Not only were you witnessing Chris Paul, all six feet of him, single-handedly put away a scratching and clawing -- otherwise deserving -- young team like the Jazz, but the Jazz were looking pretty solid.
Not bad for a franchise that once squelched the magic of "We Believe" on the backs of superstars Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, both of whom eventually made controversial departures.
Let's discuss (and help me out in the comments) how the Warriors and the Jazz got to where they are now...
At 12-8, the Jazz are currently the sixth-best team in the Western Conference, surprisingly ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Memphis Grizzlies, among others. Look at this over-achieving lineup...
How the heck did they get here, when their lineup (click the link to see the boxscore from Game 3 of the We Believe era, UTA-GSW) was this back in 2007?...
Well, I'll let you guys do the specific analysis and tell us the path of each slot on this roster, but I'll tell you what it is: balls. Having the balls to ship out the star of your team, or to make the maneuvers necessary to recover from a free agent walking away. It's as simple as that.
On that note, let me go on the record about CP3. Not acquiring a bonafide MVP-level superstar who can change the game all by himself (as he did last night), even if he for sure is going to leave after one season, means you still do not have access to the "club".
CP3 was a potential Warriors' ticket into the exclusive club. In this club, general managers take you seriously, offer you realistic deals, and play with the big chips. This is where guys like Mark Cuban watch talent like Tyson Chandler walk out and, in response, acquire same-level talent like Lamar Odom. And guess what, until you show you've got the balls, the guys in the "club" don't let guys who are not in the club in. It's not like there's a set of rules or anything. It's all unsaid, on the subconscious level. It's very basic, human animal instinct, street-cred stuff. I could try to explain it, but frankly it's not explainable. You know, "swag". Or lions and their prides in the African safari. Or Austin Powers "mojo". Or inner game then outer game. You either have it or you don't, and it's not something you acquire easily.
I like to make references to rec leagues, and there's one that's appropriate here. If you've entered enough teams in rec leagues, you eventually figure out the "swag" needed to pickup good players and win championships. Sure, there are costs. It could involve money. It could involve having unique rapport with certain players. It could involve having access to a pipeline of talent that others don't have or don't know about. It could have to do with something else non-basketball-related that's of value to guys you can pickup, that other team managers can't offer. It's probably a combination of all of these.
And pretty soon, you get used to the turnover. Toying around with various high levels of talent becomes the norm. Like the Sopranos, new guys come in, some guys are buried, some guys just exit the limelight, one or two become heroes, and only one or two of the deserving get to stay, but you know those guys can be replaced if you really wanted to. Basicaly, life goes on and you never let things get stale. It really is glorious when it all comes together, like it did for Cuban last year.
And it's not like it always has to come together. Really, you just want to know that you always had the chance for it to all come together.
The Warriors are seriously lacking in all of the above. And it doesn't get solved with other teams making you an offer that's fair.
So it's interesting when people come up with these trade scenarios for guys like Millsap or Favors. Utah loves them, but this franchise is looking to move up too, and knows that while this roster is good, it's not going to get you a championship and there's a limited timeframe for maximizing its potential before it becomes stagnant. Maybe they won't deal now, but perhaps later depending on how the playoff picture looks. And if you offer it, you better have the balls to offer them major value, like Monta Ellis or Stephen Curry.
I guess I'm saying the Warriors have little chance of rebuilding and improving by keeping Steph or Monta. One or both must go. Many fans have the same problem that Chris Cohan had, and others in the business of managing teams aren't aware of. They are afraid to deal. This can actually be seen in many other aspects of life. You don't want to lose status quo, so you don't escalate or try something new or take that leap of faith.
That can become very boring. How does that saying go? "It's better to fail miserably", or something like that. Pretty soon you do get better at it. And then all of a sudden you're The Man. Cuban and his early episode with Dennis Rodman comes to mind.
Please help me out here in the comments and fill in the details of how each franchise got to the roster it has right now. I think any Utah Jazz fan on the planet would have been happy with the loss of D-Will and Boozer, then becoming a team with an incredibly bright future, with amazing young talent and 12-8 in today's Western Conference.
Check out these Utah Jazz. They are truly an impressive franchise.
I'll be at the game tonight in the press box. Hit me up on Twitter in case you want me to try asking various players a quick question or two.
4 recs | 20 comments
the approach you advocate
is not far apart from J.West’s. What Presti did with Sea/OKC is another variation. Lacob as shown little sign that he’s ready to embrace it thus far, but we’ll see what he does around the trade deadline and over the next draft and off season. At present, it appears West has been marginalized, other than contributing to Thompson’s selection. The Logo being made a minority partner here seems to be Lacob’s equivalent of a push-up brassiere for his company’s facade.
the.monk - February 2, 2012
Oooooooo burn!
Lord knows West isn’t the only person within Lacob’s earshot clamoring to rebuild. I’m just hoping we see something definitive, one way or the other, by the trade deadline. If he wants to retain the goodwill of a lot of fans, my self included, he’s going to have to do something drastic to acquire legitimate talent or a good shot at retaining the 1st round pick. If he accomplishes neither he’s going into the doghouse for the foreseeable future.
The Bimbo Coles Experience - February 2, 2012
they should be ready to make moves by
All Star break.. that is when playoff teams are looking to strengthen their rosters for a playoff run. It is the best time/opportunity to move players like monta, david lee, biedrens, etc for draft picks/expiring contracts..fill those spots with klay, ekpe, tyler so they can gain experience to finsh out the year while hoping we lose enough games to keep our pick. rebuild with our high draft pick and try to sign somebody with the cap space. the rebuilding can be quick if it’s done right. all good teams do it except for us. i hope the warriors management realize this and actually have the “balls” to do it!
reppinwarriors - February 2, 2012
The first half of that game last night was incredible and video game like
wallywagon11 - February 2, 2012
good lord, I just made the mistake of clicking on the FDR "quote" in your sig line
where do you find this stuff?
Duby Dub Dubs - February 2, 2012
"STFU Einstein!"
wallywagon11 - February 2, 2012
We can start by trading Monta Ellis.
Anonymous1337 - February 2, 2012
Why trade the guy who's value on the open market is less than his value to a good team?
tafkasam - February 2, 2012
He's not that good.
He’s not effective playing a huge role on offense (so wouldn’t be a good 6th man) and can’t play defense.
GovernorStephCurry - February 2, 2012
okay i'll start
note the owner passed away sometime between 2009-2010 and his son took over
Harpring retired from chronic knee injuries
Brewer got hurt and was traded to Memphis and Wes Matthews took over who then left for Portland after that year
Korver left for Chicago as well as Boozer(joined by Brewer)
Deron traded for Favors, Kanter, Harris, and GS Pick from Marcus Williams trade
Hayward came from the knicks from a series of trades but boils down to Marbury, Kurt Thomas, Gugliotta swap where Utah took Googs off Phoenix and got the Knicks pick(with protections) as compensation
Kirilenko is still in Russia because of the lockout(he elected to stay)
Okur after being injured two years ago found himself out the rotation and was traded to new jersey this year for a second round pick
Traded Koufos for Al Jeff who was coming off ACL rehab and a DUI arrest.
Millsap and CJ Miles, Jeramay Evans, and Alec Burcs are homegrown via draft
Earl Watson, Raja Bell(part duex), and Josh Howard came as free agents.
Giriceck and the rest of those role players not sure off the top of my head. But most of these guys that departed happened after the son took over(Deron, Boozer, Matthews, Brewer, Maynor, Korver) as it seems he went into cost-cutting. The Jazz were treading luxury tax lines around the 2007-2009 times with Kirilenko making about $16, Boozer $12, Deron $17, Okur $10 million a year while on the Jazz plus all those role players.
Who knows if they would have went the Paul Allen route and kept everyone on a bloated payroll would it have worked(aka getting a title because anything less in the SLC market is a failure with that much money tied up on the payroll)
also left out minor players(like Ronnie Price and Jarron Collins as two i could think of) who had little significance in the transform of the roster. but as you see aside from good drafting they have reaped the treasures of other teams bad front offices(Isiah Thomas in New York, Cohan and Riley trading what could be Anthony Davis or at worst Perry Jones III for Marcus Williams
Warriors were at the same crossroads but instead they dealt players in lopsided deals in favor of the other teams and handed out big contracts to flawed players who are nowhere near elite and borderline building blocks. Most of the Jazz players at the time were already on extensions(some good some bad) and the only person they committed more money to was the obvious choice Deron Williams
starbury_to_s-jaxci2000 - February 2, 2012
Favors + Kanter + 5 years in the future = perennial contenders
If only anyone on the Warriors had Deron’s value at that time. Maybe Curry in a year or two? Even then, what are the odds you can convert that value into two young bigs with all-star calibre upside? Very low, I’d say.
The Bimbo Coles Experience - February 2, 2012
yeah, we just have to keep our eyes open for a desperate franchise
The Nyets were dying to get a big name…sadly, the only team I see as perhaps making some sort of desperation move to land a marquee name is the Dubs
Duby Dub Dubs - February 3, 2012
Maybe the Bobcats?
polar - February 3, 2012 via mobile
Major rec for PMC
And what i’ve been saying for a while.
Not trading Curry for CP3 was a bad move.
Yes he’s a 1 year rental, but you’re not going to get more for Curry. You get 1 year guarenteed of the 5 best players in nba. From there on it’s your job to show you can keep him. If you can’t you’re always doomed to failure.
tafkasam - February 2, 2012
I particularly loved this
tafkasam - February 2, 2012
Good Teams Have A Plan
If the Warriors had a plan for how to make this team better, like other teams do, it might help. For some strange reason, they haven’t figured out that being in the middle of the lottery keeps you as a bottom feeder. Not good enough to matter, not bad enough to get that stud draft pick. How long have we been here? With this roster, this is going to be your fate every year.
Why were all of these new people hired in the front office? Where are they? The bad decisions just keep on coming. Cohan and Rowell couldn’t have done a worse job with the amnesty and Udoh over Monroe.
robynk - February 2, 2012
The best thing the Jazz did
Was secretly trade D-Will. Great trade
doubleteapot - February 2, 2012
how the Jazz got to this point
let Boozer go, Kirilenko expired, and ripped off the Nets
polar - February 3, 2012 via mobile
I’m a fan of CJ Miles. Not a superstar wing, but very good two-way player.
polar - February 3, 2012 via mobile
He may be worth a look at MLE
after getting Hibbert, McGee or Kaman this summer. Can score off the dribble better than Wright, and shoot well when open. Defends well from what I’ve watched. I think all this fuss over our pick is unwarranted because we have enough guys on rookie scale to trade for someone else’s in the top 5. Teams that I consider include the Raptors, Bobcats, and Wizards. We might even be able to gain space and a pick this summer i. e. Curry + Biedrins for Biyombo + top 5 pick or have Washington draft for us and trade them Ellis straight up after they amnesty Lewis.
polar - February 3, 2012 via mobile
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