.jpg)
J-Rich: Sorely missed
It’s easy for an NBA analyst, sideline guy, radio talk-show host or sportswriter to take credit when he’s right. We hear it all the time … “I knew that guy was going to be good,” “I predicted that team would win the title,” “I told you months ago that trade wasn’t going to work.”
It’s harder to admit you’re wrong. So, I got to remembering some things I blew it on _ like picking the Los Angeles Lakers to beat the Boston Celtics in this year’s NBA Finals or thinking Danny Fortson was going to really help the Warriors back in the day or saying that Mark Jackson, out of St. John's, would never be a factor in the NBA _ and that Walter Berry would
But it’s time to add another to the list, even if it seems a tad premature: I was wrong to think that trading Jason Richardson to the Charlotte Bobcats for Brandan Wright last June was a good move for the Warriors.
The first mistake I made was overestimating Richardson’s on-court shortcomings and underestimating the intangibles that he brings. In March and April of last season, Richardson’s name seemed to be coming up more and more frequently in the team's locker room.
Players were beginning to wear down and some of them talked about the previous season (2006-07), when a healthy Richardson returned for the stretch run that culminated in a playoff appearance and first-round upset of the Dallas Mavericks.
Of course, Richardson wasn’t around last year, and Wright was no factor.
Richardson’s biggest on-court weakness is his inability to handle the ball and create for others. He’s also an average defender, at best, and he was a terrible foul shooter for the Warriors.
Walter Berry: The Truth
I harped too much on the fact he wasn’t a playmaker and tried to do too much off the dribble. I figured the Warriors wouldn’t lose a whole lot at the position if Mickael Pietrus, Stephen Jackson, Kelenna Azubuike and Monta Ellis got his minutes.
But it wasn’t until Richardson was gone that you realized how much you needed him. He could get you 20 points a game, and you never had to run a play for him. At the same time, he could get you that little turn right, post-up fadeaway from the box anytime he wanted.
It's a bonus when one of your leading scorers can get you points without worrying about having to get him the ball.
I never thought they would miss his 3-point shooting. Richardson shot 38 percent and 36 percent, respectively, in his last two years with Golden State. He shot 40 percent from 3-point range for the Bobcats this year. And he shot 75 percent from the line last season.
The Warriors also missed Richardson’s rebounding. He is a great rebounder for his size, and the Warriors needed all they could get. He played hard every night and was one of the team’s most competitive players. Richardson had a personal stake in the franchise and he played like it.
Richardson came to post every game, which was particularly important because there were times when Baron Davis, the team's most vocal and visible leader, didn’t or couldn’t.
Davis played in 82 games last year and was the unquestioned team barometer. But because he was so crucial to the Warriors, it was virtually impossible for Davis NOT to set the tone. That meant when Davis was going well, so were the Warriors. But when Davis wasn’t going well …
The bottom line is that because Richardson was such a pro and so intense, it helped lessen the team’s overall reliance on Davis. Richardson was key in pushing the team through Davis’ injuries, ejections and random foul trouble.
Fortson: of little help to Warriors
As for the rest of the trade, we know the Warriors did not use the $10 million trade exception they received from Charlotte. You can argue that moving Richardson allowed the Warriors to re-sign Ellis and Andris Biedrins this summer. Fair enough.
But what about Wright?
It is fair to begin expressing concern. And not just because he didn’t play as a rookie _ although that’s part of it.
I’m sorry, you can’t look at it any other way than troubling that Wright couldn’t get onto the court last year for a team desperately in need of frontcourt help, any kind of frontcourt help.
I know Don Nelson’s reputation for not playing first-year guys but c’mon. The Warriors got pounded on the inside last year. Not that Wright is a banger (furthest thing from it), but he’s young, can run and is quick. He should have been able to make things happen, at least.
There are some whispers, too, that Wright isn’t the toughest guy in the NBA and that his pain tolerance isn’t exactly off the charts. Nelson raised the possibility of playing Wright the final week to 10 days of the season, but Wright said his left groin strain wouldn’t allow it.
Wright was mainly ordinary in four games at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas a few weeks back.
It’s entirely too early to give up on Wright. He's got way too much natural ability to not be a contributor. But I don’t see Wright having as much of an impact in the NBA as Richardson.
And I was wrong for not realizing Richardson had a bigger impact on the Warriors.
Comments
and its all on "Mully".
Matt, I disagree somewhat. I'm pretty sure that when they took the skinny player who would be a sophomore at NC they knew what they were getting. I don't think waiting a few years for a "big man" to develop is a big deal. Sure, it hurts to lose a player like JRich, but both Ellis and Azuibuike rebounded quite well last year, and, seeing that they led the NBA in scoring, it's not like they missed the scoring. Quite simply, I think the main problem was that Baron played too many minutes. Afew more, and they wouldn't have been the first 48-win team in history to miss out on the playoffs.
It's also easy to forget the J-Rich was fresh at the end of the season having not played the vast majority of it.
Where did he lead the Bobcats?
Kudos, Matt.
Premature
1. We all agree that Warriors were a much weaker team last year than they would have been with JRich, even weaker than expected because of the disappointing play of Barnes and Pietrus, the injuries to THud, Cro, and Buke, and the failed experiment with CWebb.
2. As good as JRich is and as loyal a Warrior, he was overpaid by Mullin. "Fair enough" isn't sufficient analysis of the use of JRich's money to sign Monta and Andris.
3. BWright is 20. He was 19 as a rookie. You know all the stories of big man development. Nobody makes decisive statements about a 20 year old 6' 10' player. Also, you are close to the Warriors and probably know BWright personally. He doesn't need to read that you have already given up on him and have set his ceiling below JRich.
I think it's fair to acknowledge JRich contributions but the trade allowed us to keep our young players. You cannot have everybody on the team making 10mil per. Richardson had flaws too. The reason he shot 3pt shots is because he couldn't dribble and create O for himself. He basically became a spot shooter or got cheap baskets on dunks.
He was reluctant to drive to the rim because he shot 60% on his free throws. He also missed a lot of last second shots. Not a go to player.
A good deal of the field goal attempts that he takes are 3pt shots.
The great players can go inside and outside and usually take a lot of free throw attempts - Kobe, Pierce, Iverson,etc..
This is why Monta will be better overall. Not concerned that we lost Richardson.
I'm just gonna have to disagree here.
Just think about it like this: Brandan Wright as a rookie scale role playing big man has more trade value than Jason Richardson for 3 years at over 40 million.
He's 20. He'll get better.
Jrich is a spot up shooting SG who can rebound at this point. He doesn't get to the rim or the line at all anymore, and he can't consistently score against top defenders, or guard a top scoring threat.
He pretty much has to be a 3rd or 4th banana for a team to contend imo.
Agree 100% on it being a bad trade. I never liked it even though so many people were excited about Wright. They basically traded away their playoffs last year. Wright? He can't shoot! His foul percentage tells you that. He's not big enough to play PF because he is not big enough. Long arms? Who cares if you can't fight for position under the boards. He can tip a few balls alive, whooppee. People who like the trade will say they never could have signed Monta and AB but that's not true since they had their rights. Not a bad trade, a horrible one that cost them the playoffs. Jason Richardson was proud to be a Warrior. How many other players can you say that about?
About time people started to realize what JRich brought to the Warriors. Warts and all, he was a gamer and a stabilizing force for them. If the point of the trade was to get Brandan Wright and to clear enough money to sign a guy like Maggette, they should have just stayed pat and built upon the success that they had during their recent playoff run. Bravo for recognizing his importance to the franchise.
JR would have made sure the Warriors got into the playoffs last year.
This analysis is deficient: It is true having JRich is better than having nothing, but it is also true BWright (trade chip or player) is better than nothing and having salary space is better than not. So, how much did GSW miss JRich depends on what they did with his minutes (as well as how useful it is to have Brandan, Monte and Andris under contract.) Seems Monta and KAzebukie did well with his minutes - I would argue fall-off was minimal and GSW benefited from development of those fine players. JRich would not have helped on Baron's minutes, but he might have spelled SJackson better than MBarnes or MPietrus did.
JR would have stunted Monta's growth - confidence-wise, especially.
He's been a serviceable shooting guard for many years. At his absolute peak, he's a consideration for an All-Star game or two. Brandan Wright can't be judged on one year's worth of sporatic playing time. Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh and Al Jefferson weren't. He might not be that level of player but we won't know until he's had the same opportunity as they have.
Good comments. I agree that the trade isn't looking so good. I agree with J Canseco that J Rich would have made a huge difference at the end of last season pushing the team through Baron's exhaustion. In face he might even have helped give Baron enough rest that he could have had something left at the end.
When I compare Brandan to Anthony Randolph I see the limitations more than the strengths. He's a skinny 4, where you can't get away with being skinny. He has some good abilities, but we'll see this year whether they're enough for him to be effective.
I was also disappointed with Marco in summer league. When he got torched by Quincy Doubey and couldn't score either, his weaknesses became much too apparent. He just can't stick with quick players.
Unfortunately, after this summer league I'm not expecting much out of Brandan and Marco. I'm hoping Anthony Randolph gets more playing time as he has a dramatically higher upside. I even like Richard Hendrix as he can at least be an effective role player at an NBA level in the right situations.
boy, you do like to stir it up! I can't fault your logic, except maybe on the money part, and Wright did look really average in summer league.
I hope Wright's performance this year makes you write another post to take this one back!
Don't worry, everyone drank the Danny Fortson Kool-Aid at the time.
Baron bolting really throws a wrench into the whole thing. BUT JRich wouldn't make a difference RIGHT NOW, cus he is simply taking the spot of Maggette/BWright. We would not be a lock for the playoffs by any means. If we didn't trade JRich we wouldn't have had much capspace even if Baron bolts. Keeping Baron, keeping JRich, re-signing Monta/Biedrins minus Maggette/Turiaf means our payroll is in the $80M range right now. And no way Cohan signs off on that. The JRich trade needed to happen.
You do realize Matt that JRich still makes more than any of the guys on our current roster (even after the spending spree) - and how many of those guys is he better than at his position? Is he better than Jack? Is he better than Mags? Is he better than Monta? And am I the only one who remembers him looking lost in the playoffs irregardless of his somewhat decent numbers? I love JRich and I was disappointed to see him go, but in the NBA you always take a risk on size - always.. 2-guards come and go.. PFs dont.. now this is not to say that I am sold on Brandan - not even close, but at his salary and skillset Jason was expendable
Put me down as among those disagreeing with you Matt. Trading JRich was a smart salary dump. The players occupying his salary space (Turiaf and Maggette) more than compensate for his loss, and it's too early to give up on Wright. Who cares whether they would have made the playoffs and gotten eliminated early. We now have Randolph!
Love Jason Richardson. Was my favorite player on the Warriors when he was here. But I can't agree with you that the Jason trade was a bad trade. He was athletic but the athleticism couldn't translate into easy offense because he couldn't drive (much less hit free throws when fouled) nor did it translate on defense. He scored alot because occasionally, he'd hit a hot streak and hit alot of threes. But there were alot of 2-12 nights where he threw up gooseggs. Nights where if he could take it to the whole and hit free throws, he would have been effective. Now we have Magette. Jason Richardson that can drive and hit free throws. One other aspect of the trade that's a bonus: With Richardson gone, Monta had to rise to the challenge and rise he did. If JRich was still here, Monta might never had the chance to blossom until the player he is today. Davis would have left the Warriors regardless and now we'd have Monta not ready to play and be the point. Shoot, they might have even packaged him away for a Point or PF if they didn't learn about his potential soon enough. Nope, when I said bye bye to JRich, it was bye bye for good and no turning back or second guessing. It was the perfect trade.
Come on Matt, JRich was a guy who gave great effort but he's not the reason the W's did not make it last year. You're conveniently forgetting that if JRich is here, Monta does not explode like he did last year and keep the W's afloat down the stretch because Monta is sitting while JRich is playing. Also that JRich contract is a killer. No way the W's keep Monta and Andris with JRich around, even if Baron is here or gone.
As for Brandon Wright, let's not go overboard after just one year, and one year with Nellie. I know you've got lockerroom access to whispers that I don't but I think you've got to give a guy at least 3 years to prove that he does not belong. Brandon may not be a banger, but he's got quickness and good hands and a huge wingspan, plus, more importantly, he shows that he's got a good basketball IQ. Patience, please.
The W's are going to struggle some this coming year, but let's give the youngsters some time to ripen before we rip them.
You should've saved this article for this time next year if Wright doesn't make a big step in production this coming year. But atleast you got quite the reaction most posts on a post you've made since I've been reading.
Also, do you think if J-Rich is healthy the last year he was a Warrior and Nellie gets to see everything he brings to the table. Do the Warriors still trade him?
Keeping J-Rich means saying goodbye to Monta or Andris. End of story. If you’d choose him over the younger players, that’s your opinion, but I simply don’t agree with that.
Trading for Wright isn’t why this deal was made – the Warriors envisioned a backcourt of Baron Davis and Monta Ellis in the long term. Clearly, as you saw last year, Ellis is a starter in this league – more efficient than Richardson – and there wasn’t any space for Jason Richardson. Baron chased less money per year and the Warriors decided to move on rather than give him more money than they felt he deserved.
J-Rich? He went to the Eastern Conference, didn’t become an All-Star as he was supposed to do, and .. oh .. his team only won 32 games and couldn’t make the playoffs IN THE EAST. Does he do a lot for the community? Yes. Is he a tremendous person and by far one of my favorite players? Yes. But did the Warriors have to choose one over the other in the best interest of their franchise? Yes, and they didn’t choose Richardson.
Wisely, I might add.
And what happened to the Warriors? Oh wait! They won more games than they ever did with Richardson and had their best season since 19-freaking-94. Now they've got a young nucleus and actually have a future.
Richardson had his chance in the tune of six years that led to doormat status.
Needless to say, he didn't work out. I love the guy, but it's time to move on.
I agree with Matt trading JRich was a total mistake. People don't realize how vaulable he was to the Warriors. Every year he came back a better player with something different in his game and what he didnt had fundamentally he made it up with his passion to play hard every night. Let's not forget that he was on horible teams with horrible coaches his first five years with the Warriors. Not even BD could help turn the team around for almost to years until a coach (Nellie) and some real players (Jackson, Harrington, even Barnes)came around in 06-07. He help propel the W to the eight spot when he came back off injury averaging 23 pts from march til april of that year and average 19 pts in the two rounds of the playoffs. JRich had a great year in the East averaging 21 pts a game while leading the NBA in 3pts made and I'm sure he's only going to have a better year this year with Larry Brown arrival. Monta is the future and he showed it last year with a great year, but is he going to have the same success now that all of the attention is focus on him now that Baron gone? Preetom of Hoopsworld said that the Warriors one more games this yeat without Richardson, indeed they did win more games but sorry it still wasn't enough to get them to the playoffs no matter if it was their best record since 94, they were sitting at home watching the playoffs just like he was. If you ask me I feel like the Warriors took a step back after losing Richardson and took another after losing Baron, so to me they are back to where they were pre Don Nelson (the second time) a team building with a bunch of young guys who not going to make the playoffs in the tough West.
I got to agree with Preetom. Matt, for a guy who is on the floor every day you have a rather narrow view of the situation. We didn't trade J-Rich for Brandon Wright, we traded it for a future with Monta and Biedrins. How did you not know this? In what reality could we have kept J-Rich, Baron, and afforded to re-sign Monta and Andris. Perhaps to you, this fantasy is worth dwelling upon, but the reality of the salary cap does not afford the rest of us the same luxury. I value your input as you have direct access to players and the management, but at least do the numbers before putting something like this out.
I agree with most of your points. In particular, I think JRich's determination/heart and ability to make shots with a high degree of difficulty are sorely missed.
Having said that, I still think it was a good trade.
Chris Mullin last offseason:
1) could reasonably assume that Baron Davis wouldn't opt out of his contract
2) wanted to sign Monta/Biedrins, and knew that they would get large contracts
3) needed to adhere to a presumed owner mandate to not exceed the luxury tax threshold (unless a game-changer like KG could be obtained)
Given these constraints, significant salary had to be shed (so as to prevent an Arenas-esque situation where the Warriors lose out on a free agent because they didn't plan ahead). That would leave two options, Richardson and Harrington. The Warriors at the time had a glut of swingmen and were short-handed at the 4 and 5 spots. Plus, Harrington had been productive that year; and offensively-prolific 2's are relatively easier to replace than guys of Harrington's size and skill.
Yes, the trade probably cost the Warriors a playoff berth last year. But it had to be done. You could argue that a different trade could have been made, and that'd be fair (though, getting a #8 pick seems like a pretty decent return), but Richardson had to go.
Maggette and Richardson put up awfully similar looking numbers last year. I haven't seen enough of Maggette to know anything about his heart or toughness, but in terms of production, he seems like a legitimate JRich clone (for a little less money, and much better ability to get to the line...and hit foul shots).
I didn't like the trade at the time and I'm still not sure JRich is more than #3 option on a team, albeit a great #3 option. But I'm far from ready to even judge Wright. With the way kids come into the league now, it takes 2-3 years to find out if they are going to make it at all. Was Wright a soph coming out of UNC? The system itself is broken as it encourages guys who mentally and physically are far from ready to go to the NBA. It puts more pressure on a coach and team to ease them in, (which we all know is not our coaches strength).
Remember Jermaine O'Neal sitting the bench his first year? Remember McGrady being the 7th man for two seasons? Exceptions like LeBron and Carmelo make us overoptimistic when a twig with pimples comes out of college after just a year or two.
I'm not holding my breath on Wright (when did length become a selling point in the NBA?), but I've still got my fingers crossed.
now that we know BD opted out and JRich would of fit into the salary structure even w/ Monta & AB's resignings,
for the next 3 years, would you rather have JRich at 12.2, 13.3, 14.4 or BWright, Maggette, and Turiaf?
technically w/ JRich we could also add someone else at Wright's salary... but at 2-3 million you're typically not going to get much.
the Bobcats were somehow worse w/ JRich than without. if they didn't get Nazr, they would of been a 20some win team.
We got rid of Richardson for salary cap purposes. We would not of been able to sign Monta and Andris as well as add Corey this year who is better all around than Richardson.
I loved Richardson, everyone remembers his high flying dunks, timely threes, but I also remember him dribbling into traffic for a turnover, dribbling the ball out of bounds, and mostly I remember him not coming through in the clutch. Wright may never play many minutes for the Warriors. Reason, well we just drafted Randolph, similar in every way to Wright, but with allot more skills. And Hendrix, who may or may not be good, is everything Wright is not, a big strong banger.
I heard rumors of us trading Wright, Bellinelli and Harington for Josh Smith. Though its never going to happen, I would do it in a heart beat.
Bellinelli is a great shooter, in the summer. I would miss Harrington, and Wright, potential is there but we aint got no time for the jibba jabba, produce not or proceed to the exits.
I totally agree that it was a mistake trading Jason. He was the heart and soul of the GSW Warriors and his loyalty was unquestioned. I will never forget that game where he was badly injured and grinded through the rest of the game refusing to give in. In times of such heroism, I can only repeat the refrain which I oftentimes use "tongue in cheek" -- "we're not worthy!". This time I meant it.
The problem with Wright, and its not his fault, is Nelly didn't play him. I recall towards the end of the year they started him in a handful of games. I was lucky enough to attend a few of those and when he played, he did well. I recall more than one first quarters where he put up 10 points and 6 boards. He changed shots and his length and athleticism caused problems for the opponents bigs.
I love JRICH. He was all heart, but when your SG cannot handle to save his life, you cannot have a Don Nelson team. He just didn't fit and he cost wayyyyy more than he was worth. Matt, I think you are a little too emotionally involved on this issue. I see where you are coming from, but I think his impact on this team over the course of an entire season would have been negligible.
As a fan from the Run TMC era, the JRICH (I still love JRICH)trade has the smell of Billy Owens Part 2, but I with hold judgement until this year to see BW play.
I've been seeing JRICH and barnes play well go Pheonix Warriors.....
That opinion alone should make you quit writing about men's basketball. Try the ladies.
Will someone please give a good explanation why they broke up the 96-97 team?
There were only two problems with the JRich-Wright trade.
First, Nelson's coaching butchery has failed to let Wright develop, and has also dangerously undercut BW's self-confidence. (Nelson's doing the same stupid thing with AR this year, while letting old hacks like Jack, Maggette and Jamal make bonehead play after bonehead play without getting yanked). And the beat writers -- even now -- are too chicken to call Nelson out on his arrogance, petulance, non-coaching, non-teaching, even as he's dragging these guys down the tubes to 10-26.
Second, the great windfall of the trade was that we got $10MM of cap space. But then Rowell goes all nuts with his idiot trifecta: signing Maggette for over $50MM, extending Nelson BEFORE the season even started (and what a disaster THAT's been), and extending Jack into his Social Security years. (Let's not count the Harrington-Crawford gem, where we took a guy that can't defend and will be stuck with him for an extra year or two.)
With a real coach -- think Jerry Sloan (who would have used BW last year and AR this year, without a doubt) -- and with someone running the show that knows something about BBall, this would have been a terrific trade.
BTW, did you catch JRich failing to cover SA's Mason on the open three that cost the Suns that Spurs game? It was an obvious play, and he never got anywhere near his man. Shades of Maggette!
Now if any of you beats would just nut up to Nelson once in a while, maybe we could force him out -- or at least out of his obdurate lunacies in pretending to still be an NBA coach.
jsl,
dude, I'm no Nellie fan, but Sloan would of had BW in tears and kicked Randolph off the team already. good lord, no other coach breaks down players more than Sloan... maybe Larry Brown.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!