In one fell swoop, the Warriors appear to have found a backup point guard while losing their best cheerleader.
Golden State expected to send Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks to the Lakers for Blake, league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) February 20, 2014
Kent Bazemore was fun to have around. But after the way he played when given some opportunities at point guard early in the season, this move isn’t surprising. Since he didn’t overstay his welcome, he’ll be a Warriors fan favorite forever … unless he figures it out and becomes a star for the Lakers against all odds, then Warriors fans will lose their minds unless Blake somehow ends up becoming the missing piece that propels the Warriors to a long playoff run.
Golden State also says goodbye to MarShon Brooks, who probably won’t be in the NBA a year from now. Not that Bazemore is guaranteed a job next year, but he’ll probably see more minutes than Brooks in Los Angeles.
Steve Blake has only played in 27 games this year for the Lakers, who are in the midst of a very strange rebuilding process around Kobe Bryant, who may not play again this season. But Blake has played 33 minutes per game this season, averaging 9.5 ppg, 7.6 apg and 3.8 rpg (that’s almost a full rebound per game more than Klay Thompson). He’s a career .390 three-point shooter, which should certainly help the Warriors as well.
He also looks a lot like Alex Smith.
Since I’m still trying to figure out the NBA’s salary cap with limited success:
The Warriors remain under the luxury tax, with the room to sign a veteran to the minimum if someone of interest is waived from another team.
— Rusty Simmons (@Rusty_SFChron) February 20, 2014
So that’s probably it for the Warriors before tomorrow’s trade deadline. What, you didn’t actually think the Warriors were going to trade Harrison Barnes for Jarrett Jack, did you?
