65 Comments

This is part of the long game to land Giannis. Beef up the Sixers bench to help them beat the Bucks and end their historical regular season. Then trade D-Lo and those 2nd rounders for Giannis. The perfect scenario would be Sixers beat the Bucks, Sixers win the Finals, Giannis becomes unhappy enough to leave the Bucks. And as a bonus, neither LA team win the crown.

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Yipe. Those picks are almost completely worthless. Total salary dump and we're not even below the tax. What is going on here.

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Burks was a free agent, so we essentially gave up nothing for next year's year. While GR3 has a player option, I strongly suspect he'll decline it, even if just for another 1+1. His deal was a classic "vet who can't find the right deal, taking a 1+1 for injury insurance" case.

So it's not like the team actually gave anything up. Even if they want GR3 back, it's unlikely trading him to a contender irreparably hurt his relationship with the franchise. If he can get more than we can pay, he's going to take it, if not, he's going to decide based on basketball reasons.

That being said, we sure do have a bunch of mediocre second round picks incoming.

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Miami gets Crowder also in Iguodala deal. Haven't seen him play this year, is he too old to defend any more (Jae not Andre)?

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Feb 6, 2020Liked by punk basketball

Myers firing up the burner account:

[Macri] With almost 3 hours to go and lots of hurdles still to jump, I'm hearing D'Angelo Russell to the Knicks is a very real possibility. At the very least, there is motivation on both sides to try and get something done.

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Hard to see how this trade is good. Mid to late 2nd rounders are basically g-leaguers. We gave them up for free.

At the very least, we needed them to take a load off Curry when he returns. Instead, now Curry will be easing Poole (who I can't see ever becoming an NBA player) and Evans' loads.

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"Poole (who I can't see ever becoming an NBA player)" - too early for that, agree with the rest though.

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People were saying the exact same shit about loon that they are saying about Poole. I don't put much stock in it, he's a rookie.

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My main point being, gaining minutes for him isn't really an added bonus to giving up our wings for free.

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I never said that about Looney.

I like Poole. He seems like a great young man. Scholarly and thoughtful but not bookish.

I'm also not going out on any limb. Late picks are always a long shot. But Poole has shown some weaknesses, like lack of focus, that seem hard to overcome with simply minutes.

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Moving Burks was a good thing, IMHO. Those minutes need to go to Poole. They really need Poole to get up to within shouting distance of a league average player by sometime next season. The more minutes he gets this season, the better.

And, it gives us more minutes to see if Evans can play. It's really hard to judge what he's done so far, given that he's been hurt and in-and-out of the lineup. I don't think he's going to make it, but by the end of the season, we'll know, and can make a good decision about him.

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[O'Connor] Leon Rose and Worldwide Wes to the Knicks is fascinating. At CAA Rose represented Towns, Booker, Embiid, Kuzma. Keep in mind Towns, Booker and D’Angelo Russell—another CAA client—said last summer they’d someday like to team up. Smart decision by the Knicks to hire Rose and Wes.

[sorry, don't know how to format twitter yet]

So it looks like the Warriors could have quite a bit of trade leverage with D'LO (maybe too late for today, but definitely in the offseason)

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[sorry to self-reply] maybe the Wolves will fell pressure to unprotect a pick (maybe even 2021)

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Sucks to see Burks and GR3 go, I wish they could've stayed, not only becasue they were fun to watch, but because (especially GR3III) seemed to love the Bay. But they get to go to a playoff team, so there's that, I guess.

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LOL, we got less for WCS.

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Burks and Robinson are certainly more valuable players than WCS.

Sounds like the Warriors could have even got more, but they really didn't want ANY salary back.

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With WCS, they got out from under his player option next year. In many ways, though that trade returned less, it may have been the better one, just for that. I think roster spots are going to be tight next year (a good problem to have)

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It is reassuring to see the GRIII love here. The guy played hard under the radar. I wish him well.

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Bummed about GR3 and tbh Burks too tbh. Does anyone know what deals they were on? Were they both FAs this summer anyways?

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They were UFA, but I think there was something about Bird rights that we lost - so now we can only offer the absolute minimum contract next offseason (assuming no more moves from Golden State today)

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We're allowed to sign GR3 in the offseason right??

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Maybe, but we're now not able to offer non-bird. I wonder though, if they manage another move to get us below the tax line, if we're allowed the full MLE next season? If so, we could possibly be more competitive for fringe roster fill-outs like GR3.

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Sucks to see Burks and especially GR3 go. Hopefully we can at least get Robinson back next year, he can play a critical role on our team.

Also, I think the best course of action for us (and the one Lacob will take) is to dump Evans and Spellman (I think Poole still has good upside, as shown by the fact that he did very well in the G-League, and we have too much talent as bigs in Chriss, Smiley, Looney + bigger C who we'll get) such that we go under the tax. It's Lacob's money, but he can be more reckless with his spending this way.

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Helping the 76ers beat the Bucks = Giannis becoming a Warrior! 😉

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Bucks winning the title would allow Giannis to go to the Dubs and still be a hero in MIL, though

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If true, light years...

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Disappointed. It's easy to overvalue your own players. I knew or rather had a feeling that this high second we were talking a few weeks back for Burks would never materialize. Inconsistent scorer. Below average defender and passer.

GR3 on the other hand is NOT worth any second round pick exchange out there. I understand the possibility of using second round picks as trade assets but GR3 exactly the type of player that can sustain a locker through all this losing and or youth movement and can round out your bench nicely at full strength. That carries more value than any trade asset (even our own back from Dallas). I sincerely do hope that we put all these picks to good use because while I think Myers is great at finding free agents to round out the roster or making trades. He's a below average draft evaluator. This has Lacob and the luxury tax written all over it though

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" He's a below average draft evaluator."

I think you're entirely wrong on this, and one needs to only look at the talent evaluation skills of the other GMs in the league to see that Bob is above average. You don't compare in a vacuum, you compare against your peers and other people who do your job. Most GMs don't hit on most of their picks.

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Well, he claims to have done that comparison and Myers was found lacking. I don't find that to be a stretch. To my eye test, the Warriors seem to do about average draft wise.

Which isn't a knock. The draft is a crapshoot. The knock is expecting to maintain a quality team through the draft in the short term, which the FO seems in danger of practicing.

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I'm with you on Robinson. But much Burks' inconsistent scoring was being forced into being a #1 option so often, which is way outside his lane. Give him a chance to play with our healthy team, and I think he'd be a dangerous bench addition who punishes teams who double up Curry and Klay.

There may be other 3/4s available next year who have similar value to Burks/GRIII, but they won't have a half year's worth of experience in our system.

And we're still in the luxury tax zone and almost definitely will stay there. So no real benefit.

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Lacob has shown the willingness to take on whatever salary is needed to win 3 titles. The Warriors have been a tax team for a while. If Durant would've re-signed, he would've been willing to pay tons of tax (the most ever I think?). So this unexpected gap year, it's reasonable to expect some bummer trades to get under the cap. He's earned the right to. Sucks for Burks and GRIII, but who knows what;s coming in the offseason and whether or not they'd be able to stay with the team. I just wish they'd been on last year's team.

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Except with these trades he didn't get under the cap. And he won't get under since we have to fill our roster stil.

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yeah, that's true, at least we didn't trade my favorite non-star player, Looney to the Rockets lol that would've hurt big time. That's why I think a DLo trade might happen today (the Knicks - aka Dolan - might want to make a big splash with a new front office and completely overpay in picks). Poole + Evans works, though. (not that I'm ready to give up on Poole yet)

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I love Looney too. I hope he uses this time to keep working out his jumper and dribble.

I'm not going out on much of limb by saying Poole isn't an NBA player. The number of airballs he tosses on wide open threes makes me think he just isn't this level.

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I feel similarly. We talk all the time about how the 2nd round is a crapshoot and we're super lucky if one pans out. And it takes time to develop any rookie, let alone a 2nd rounder. We've now exchanged proven veterans for a crapshoot that will take time to develop when Steph's career is well into the back 9. I know these guys only had one year deals, so it's not quite that simple. But this feels like a handful of not magic beans to me right now.

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Side note: looks like we can't edit comments here? Is that something on the radar, because I hate not being able to edit comments, the 60s timer on "the old site" was bad enough...

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author

Yeah, our short list for comments are:

-formatting (bold, italic,embed links in text)

-gifs / pic uploads

-edit comment

These are all coming eventually but this is sort of a mom and pop operation here so we have to be patient with changes we are asking from the platform host (Substack). They're cool, and into it, but it's all deep architectural changes so they are giving progress with targets as "quarterly"

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Feb 6, 2020Liked by punk basketball

For now I will see if I can finally type out a picture like I always wanted to. Here is one dedicated to GRIII...

_II_II_II_II

( o o )

( > )

( ccccc )

_________

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yikes, that didn't work.

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@D^3 please add a fixed-width font option to the list, is super useful for any kind of in-line table

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great article from Monte Poole about how this was the plan. Once Klay and KD got hurt, and then we lost KD, it started this cascade of contingency planning. This isn't where the Warriors WANTED to be, but they had a plan and as much as it hurts, the plan is working as designed.

"To move three veterans for as many future draft picks as possible, and they now have four more than they had two weeks ago."

https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/warriors-offseason-plan-sign-and-trade-veterans-worked-perfectly

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Feb 6, 2020Liked by punk basketball

Well, it’s only gonna get more interesting the rest of the season. We’re gonna get to watch a few new prospects along the way to the lottery. Endless possibilities now. And of course....... Unleash The Geech!!!!

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Sorry to see Burks and Robinson go. I guess we needed the cap space, but I question the 'need' for 2nd round picks. Those players have a chance to be good but after Steph, Klay, and Dray start to decline. The time to win starts next season. We don't have time to wait for those long shot draft picks to get good; we've already got Poole, Spellman, Evans, and Smailagic as young projects. How many of THOSE do we need?

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2nd rounders are probably more important as lightweight assets than they are prospective players. The more you have, the more you can do things exactly like this: pick up a couple veterans to fill out a mid-season need. Or, attach one to a contract for someone to take off your hands. Not at all exciting, but hey — both those guys were basically signed off the scrap heap anyway.

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it's the cascade timing of the picks though. Look, the Warriors got one per year. It's a solid stream rather than a messy jumble. All these dudes are only under contract for a year or two. This is a lot of little shots at it.

Bob doesn't hit on all of these, but they find the Draymonds and Paschalls and Smileys, given enough shots at it.

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Feb 6, 2020Liked by punk basketball

I don't mean to beat a dead horse Duby but why is it that we laud Myers for Paschalll and Smiley for a small sample size but give him a pass on Poole and Evans for the same exact reason: small sample size. If anything to be fair shouldn't we say he bombed on Evans and Poole and hit on Paschall and Smiley?

Bell and McCaw also showed alot of promise year one. Id say those are two solid misses because we have more than two seasons to make a fair evaluation on them. I just think that people want to justify many of Myers misses by moving the goal posts consistently. You either hit or you don't. I'm not asking to hit on front line starters. He's missed more time than he's hit on rotation depth

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You have to take hit and misses from every club, not from just one in a vacuum. To me the hits far outweigh the misses and I would think there are a bunch of other clubs that would have liked to have our percent of plus players picked in the 2nd round over the last 10 years.

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Like which clubs? I've looked at every club's 'hits' and misses over the last ten years in the second round. We have probably one of the worst rate of hits in the league in the last ten years both at the botton of the first round and in the second round IF that is the SOLE basis you are using. Now if you're analyzing draft picks as trade assets (which netted us the likes of Iguodala) then I would say Myers has more than held his own.

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Oh, I don't dispute that he misses more than he hits! My point is that hitting at even 25% from where we've been picking from should be considered a success

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Exactly. How many 2nd-rounders ever become valuable 2nd-string guys, let alone starter-quality players?

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Yeah and any of these teams can end up having season like ours and we end up with #31. As far as I know that are not protected.

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Feb 6, 2020Liked by punk basketball

Maybe they will magically turn into Giannis!

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I expected Burks, but I didn't expect GRIII too.

The FO has now ensured the tank job. The team is so void of talent at the wings I'm not sure they win much more even when Curry comes back.

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Feb 6, 2020Liked by punk basketball

Maybe there is some way to get GRIII back. He had such skillz!

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Feb 6, 2020Liked by punk basketball

Aww shucks! Just when team starts gelling, something happens - either a player goes down or trades occur. Another 12+ loss streak coming up.

Oh well! Hopefully this pays off in the long run. Hopefully one of those three picks will serendipitously end up in a range where we end up picking another Dray or Paschall.

And may be GRIII comes back next year.

To quote from Hitchhikers Guide, "So long and thanks for all the fish".

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Feb 6, 2020Liked by punk basketball

Sad to see them go, but I think they appreciated their time here. They were able to show their worth. Wonder If Robinson would choose to come back next year.

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Yeah, I'm sad too. I was just reading the Slater article about Robinson and how much he liked it - said he would take less money to play here. I hope that door is still open next offseason.

(paywalled link: https://theathletic.com/1587472/2020/02/06/was-it-wise-for-the-warriors-to-trade-glenn-robinson-and-alec-burks-away-for-three-second-rounders/?source=shared-article)

"It shouldn’t have been too surprising. Burks and Robinson were both very vulnerable — two desired veteran wings on expiring deals who can help a contender. They weren’t in direct rumors, but anyone who knows the business would’ve had them on high alert.

Even so, this hit the locker room like a sledgehammer. Before the game, Kerr called the team for a meeting and turned it into a group goodbye session. "

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Feb 6, 2020Liked by punk basketball

Dammit, I wanted GRIII as our starting 3, or ideally backup wing next year, assuming we can find a better starter.

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Feb 6, 2020Liked by punk basketball

I was just coming in here to reference that article. More disappointed that you have a player NOT acting like it's a business and being heartfelt about his desire to be here AND yet still being traded for pennies on the dollar and then being expected to sign back here in the off-season. Glad Andre took Lacobs ass to the cleaners in 2017.

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yup. You've always gotta remember that this is a business first and foremost. Teams do nice things (as do players) but these guys are "assets" and in my opinion it's totally fair for players like Iguodala to leverage their power positions when they can get them.

I always think about Steph asking for a trade approval clause and getting rejected. I was like "give that man whatever he wants, period!" but that's not how the business is done.

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The league could fix some of this by getting rid of the ludicrous luxury tax rules which are designed to punish teams and non-star players for anything resembling loyalty in the name of "competitive balance". They already have "max" contracts for individual players. Set the salary hard floor at $100M, the hard cap at $150m, and be done with it. Organizations where players want to play will have a small advantage, and that's how it should be.

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That seems unlikely to me. They would have then traded 3 second round picks for Glenn Robinson??

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But they're late picks right? Almost zero value anymore

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I expect there will be a min restriction and he will only be out there to get and stay in game shape. Expect Greens mins to be reduced as well.

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