Grading the Deal: S-Jax to Charlotte
I suppose it was inevitable that the Warriors would trade the player formerly nicknamed “Captain Jack,” Stephen Jackson. Since the offseason, Stephen Jackson hasn’t done much captain-ing, and has generally been a disturbance to an already disturbed team.
This probably isn’t the place to go on and on about the general incompetence of the Warriors coaching and management staff, with regards to the overwhelming sense of discontent and near-riot status of the Warriors’ locker room, so I’ll limit myself to on-court talk. It should be enough to say that I can’t wait for Nelly to leave, for Rowell to be fired, and for Cohan to sell the team.
Let’s talk about the trades that weren’t made first.
Supposedly, the Cavaliers offered a resigned, and only partially guaranteed Wally Szcerbiak and Delonte West for Jackson. This trade meant that they could keep Zydrunas Ilgauskas, giving them someone to throw out there when Shaq takes his periodic breaks (like right now) and/or they would still have something they could turn into a better piece before the trade deadline.
While this trade would have meant that the Warriors would have more salary cap space (they could waive both Szcerbiak and West for very little monetary penalty), it would have meant that the Warriors essentially traded Jackson for money. And given the injury problems haunting the Warriors right now, they could not bring themselves to pull the trigger on this deal.
Another scenario was that Charlotte would have offered the same two players, Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic to Philadelphia for Samuel Dalembert. Given the shaky status of Tyson Chandler right now, I’m sure the Bobcats would have appreciated the shot blocking of Dalembert. Also, his contract expires in 2011, much earlier than Jackson’s, which expires in 2012 (although Jackson is paid less). However, as much as they need a defensive presence down low, the Bobcats also need scoring, and tons of it. Thus the move for Jackson.
Let’s now talk about the actual trade that went down – Stephen Jackson and Acie Law for Vladimir Radmanovic and Raja Bell.
For the Warriors, the trade accomplishes two things. They get some salary cap relief, stemming from the fact that Raja Bell’s deal expires next season for $5.3 million, while Radmanovic has a player option next season for $6.9 million, which he will probably pick up, but that’s a deal that will clear the books earlier than Jackson and for less money. The second thing it accomplishes is that it puts some people who might actually play on the roster. The Warriors have been missing Andris Biedrins and Ronnie Turiaf, their main two big men, Kelanna Azabuike is out for the season thanks to his leg injury, and CJ Watson has swine flu. Coupled with Brandan Wright being out for the season as well, and the corpses known as Devean George and Speedy Claxton, the Warriors would have been down to 6 players if they accepted Cleveland’s deal.
Recent developments though have alerted us to the fact that Raja Bell has opted to take wrist surgery, so he’s out as well, reducing the Warriors to just 7 active players.
It’s clear that Bell doesn’t want to be here, although his veteran presence would have been great in the locker room, especially with Steph Curry, but it’s looking more likely that he’ll be waived and then sign with a championship contender, or traded.
I like the move for the Warriors. They really needed to be rid of Jackson, and they got some nice contracts in return. In total, the Warriors now have 5 2010 expiring contracts, totaling to $14.4 million. These will make for excellent trade bait for teams that are trying to clear cap space, or they can use it to clear cap space for themselves. Either way, the only time I’m going to be ecstatic over this deal is if the Warriors can package those contracts plus someone like Monta Ells (who reportedly now wants out as well) into an All-Star caliber player, or use that space to sign someone in 2011 (when they’ll only have around $34.6 millionshould all team and player options be picked up). Should the Warriors just stand pat, then this deal looks a lot worse.
On the other hand, this deal doesn’t make that much sense for Charlotte. True they needed scoring, and acquiring Jackson gives them a good trio when combined with Gerald Wallace and Boris Diaw. Also, Jackson can bring down the ball and run an offense, something the Bobcats point guards have been failing at lately. The problem though is twofold: age, and money. Jackson is too old that when the Bobcats are in a position to contend for the 8th spot in the East, it’ll be in spite of him, not because of him. Secondly and relatedly, Jackson’s contract is ridiculously long and more money than he really deserves. The team is already burdened with DeSagana Diop’s bloated deal that come 2012, when the team will have only $29 million on the books, the two will make $18.8 million of that amount.
True, it still remains to be seen if Jackson will really stay. Part of the appeal of executing a trade like this so early in the season is the chance to move the players around if things don’t work out with plenty of time before the trading deadline in February.
Grade for the Warriors: B (but incomplete)
Grade for the Bobcats: C-
Crank Up the Trade Machine!
– GSW trades S. Claxton, R. Bell, M. Ellis and V. Radmanovic to NOH for C. Paul, J. Posey and P. Stojakovic
Why GSW Does It: It’s Chris-Freaking-Paul
Why NOH Does It: Dumps their two biggest contracts and compensates for the loss of Paul with Ellis
– CHA trades S. Jackson, A. Law and R. Felton to CHI for K. Hinrich and T. Thomas
Why CHA Does It: Upgrades their point guard position and gets them the secondary shot blocker and potential monster player.
Why CHI Does It: Salarywise, Jackson makes less per year than Hinrich. Coupled with the two expiring contracts, this gives them more cap space to make a run at Chris Bosh or Dwayne Wade.
Project: Column 