Tim Kawakami said that according to his (unnamed) sources, Larry Riley and the Warriors are going to make an all-out push to trade for Chris Bosh, as Riley was hot for CB4 at the trading deadline. Possibly to inflame his rabid commentariat, Kawakami even suggested that Riley and Don Nelson might possibly part with Tony Randolph to get Bosh. I’m not going to say anything about this potential deal or Kawakami’s sources. I’ll let RealGM do it for me:
“In a vague and unsubstantiated blog post, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News suggests that the Warriors will pursue Chris Bosh via a possible trade. Golden State also showed interest in the Raptors’ All-Star at the trade deadline.
“Kawakami suggests some potential deals, but later appeared to realize that they would be impossible according to the rules of the CBA.
“Kawakami famously wrote on repeated occasions that Monta Ellis would never play for the Warriors again and would demand to be traded, which was proven inaccurate.”
Thank goodness, because the Warriors shouldn’t trade for the RuPaul of NBA big men anyway. Unlike the Warriors, the Raptors actually have a legitimate point guard and still finished 13th in the East in a season where Bosh played 77 games. Renting Bosh for a year makes no sense long term; the only benefit at all to making the trade would be if Bosh played fantastically in his contract year before bolting for greener pastures.
The Warriors are at least going to attempt to shake things up in the coming weeks to take the focus off this week’s awkward official transferal of GM duties from Chris Mullin to Riley and Robert Rowell’s new role as the Bay Area’s top sports villain (just ahead of Eugenio Velez). Will they be able to pull off a trade in a rough and still uncertain economy? Who knows, but if they do look to make a blockbuster deal it probably wouldn’t be for Bosh, but for Amare Stoudemire.
Why would the Suns trade Stoudemire to a division rival? Because the Suns were desperate to deal Stoudemire last season and couldn’t get it done, and because Steve Kerr hardly seems convinced that Stoudemire plays enough defense to lead the Suns any further than the first or second round of the playoffs. With Grant Hill and Matt Barnes set to become unrestricted free agents in a matter of weeks and after years of draft nonsense, the Suns possess a pretty shallow roster beyond Steve Nash, Shaq, Stoudemire, Jason Richardson and Leandro Barbosa. A trade with the swingman-rich Warriors could fill quite a few roster spots for the same price as their athletic but defense-phobic power forward.
Why would the Warriors trade for Stoudemire? While I have no sources to corroborate this, I’m pretty certain Riley and Nelson aren’t going to pass up an offensively skilled star who runs like a gazelle just because he doesn’t play defense. Stoudemire would be close to Nelson’s ultimate fantasy at the 4 spot (the only thing holding Stoudemire back in Nellie’s eyes would be that he doesn’t shoot threes, which means Stoudemire would certainly play center in Oakland). Last but not least, Stoudemire’s a huge name, even bigger than Bosh to many West Coast fans, and he’s someone the Warriors could build around without having to give up Randolph or risk losing after one season (Stoudemire’s contract has three years remaining at $15M per).
The Warriors would have to give up a lot though, and the Suns won’t be interested in Marco Belinelli (fragile headcase), Corey Maggette (overpaid and completely unnecessary on a team with J-Rich) or Jamal Crawford (same as Maggette, just switch J-Rich’s name with Barbosa’s).
If the Warriors wanted to pull off a deal before Andris Biedrins’ Base Year Compensation status expires on June 30 (a fact Kawakami neglected to notice until he was corrected by a few commenters and got some help from Larry “This is my Salary Cap porn name” Coon), a possible deal would be Biedrins, Stephen Jackson, Anthony Morrow (a very valuable trading piece, as he might possibly the best cheap shooter in the league next season) and Brandan Wright.
Sounds like a huge amount of talent to give up, right? Well, it’s either that or Randolph. Also, if the Suns would rather wait until after Biedrins’ BYC status expires, the Warriors can replace Jack with someone like Kelenna Azubuike. Still sounds like a lot to part with, until you realize Biedrins is only slightly better defensively than Stoudemire, Azubuike and Morrow are role players and Wright has never played a full NBA season. I’d say the Warriors would have to thrown in their draft pick, but the Suns seem to abhor draft picks more than Casey Blake hates the Giants’ bullpen.
A trade along those lines would certainly make the Suns better defensively and much deeper. The Warriors would lead the league in dunks and points allowed (again), and could have a lineup that looks like this if they’re unable to trade Crawford and Maggette this offseason (a likely development, given that the demand for overpaid stats-first guys is fairly low at the moment):
PG: Moped
SG: Jack/Buike
SF: Maggs
PF: Tony
C: Amare
Bench: Crawford, Turiaf, Watson, Rookie 1st-Rounder (Brandon Jennings?), Belinelli, Davidson and a D-Leaguer or two to be named later.
I’m not saying this is a trade the Warriors should or will make. I’m just saying it’s one I could see happening, a lot more than the Warriors selling the farm for Bosh.
One area where Kawakami and I probably agree is that while Rowell might give lip service to winning, the Warriors are far more worried about selling tickets, putting an entertaining product on the court and avoiding the luxury tax. They want to make a profit next season, and trading for a star like Bosh or Stoudemire won’t necessarily bring more wins (although it could if either one had a Baron Davis-like resurgence in Oakland) but it’s the best way to pacify a fan base ready to storm Oracle Arena with pitchforks in their hands and Mullin jerseys on their backs.
Besides, if we’re all just speculating and tossing out water-cooler topics, I don’t need any unnamed sources to let me know that trading for Stoudemire is the move that absolutely screams Don Nelson and the Golden State Warriors. Trading for Bosh just screams Kawakami.
