I was sitting bored in a lecture when I flipped on HoopsHype to see if the trade deadline buzz had built up to anything.
Then I read the headline.
“The Milwaukee Bucks are trading Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson to the Golden State Warriors for Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown.”
I think my heart almost went into tachycardia.
I’m writing this basically two minutes after I read the news when I managed to stop going mental in my head and somewhat coherently gather my mind.
OK, first of all, let me tackle the smaller parts of this deal first. Captain Jack was a hero in the Bay once upon a time – but he wore out his welcome once he got a new contract and started pouting. He seems to have a bitch fit about his deal every season even if he has plenty of time left on it. Whether he keeps it up in his second Golden State stint remains to be seen. I’m guessing he’s gonna play some 2 and 3 and give us depth – the guy could still play last year and his lack of time this season has been more due to feuding with Scott Skiles. If he can handle coming off the bench, good, if not, he needs to go one way or another.
As for Ekpe, he is what he is. He’s a top shot blocker and plays good D, but he’s not an offensive threat and doesn’t rebound well enough. I still think he can be a valuable role player for a good team though. Kwame is Kwame. Enough said.
Now let’s tackle the main parts of the deal.
My excitement comes not just from the fact that my team has added a franchise center, but just who it is. Having the best Aussie baller in the NBA – probably the best of all time when all is said and done – on my favourite team is almost making me want to have an orgasm. Fuck this crowded lecture theatre. Who needs Dwight Howard? WE GOT THE BOGEYMAN BITCHES!!!! I never believed it could actually happen.
(P.S. Rob, JT – if he gives us another interview and you don’t let me do it I will never write for NBAMate again. I’m not going to turn into a fanboy, but I need to know some Warrior secrets as well).
Emotion and bias aside, we all know what the big man can do. He’s a top-5 center in the NBA and one of the best defensive players in the league who can defend almost any big one-on-one with ease. If it wasn’t for Dwight Howard and injuries he’d be an annual All-Star. Golden State haven’t had a franchise center since…Wes Unseld? Now we get one who’s a perfect fit for this team. His presence inside covers up our weaker defensive guys (Curry and Lee in particular), he gives us a legit post threat which frees up Lee to play the pick and roll/mid range area and he gives Jeremy Tyler someone to learn from.
Of course, the injury question is the big one with Bogut, and the main reason the Bucks made him available. However, the Warriors medical staff are pretty good (not Phoenix’s but up there with the rest). I love love love love love this deal.
Well, except that it means saying goodbye to Monta. But I’ll have a separate piece on him tomorrow or so. My relationship as a GSW fan with Monta Ellis is too complex to just give a mention.
Anyway, I better go. I was actually writing up a presentation that I had failed to do any work on earlier before I read the news. Gotta wing something in seven minutes.
Curse you, trade deadline and what is now gonna be a constant flow of news.
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Andrew Bogut (GSW)
Patrick Mills (SAS)
Aron Banyes (SAS)
20 Comments until now.
Mate i am sorry but you seem to be the only person happy about this trade???…many many MAD as hell GSW fans out there screaming for blood….not happy with Bogut heading there way..
me i dont mind as long as he stay’s fit….but also would like to see Santa and the easter bunny at my next party!
Why would the Warriors not be happy with getting Bogut? Especially for Monta. They were consistently worse with Ellis on the floor, weren’t going to sniff the playoffs this season anyway, broke up the horribly undersized and defence-free Curry/Ellis backcourt, got a defensively-dominating centre who is the perfect compliment to play alongside David Lee and now they don’t have to start a guy like Biedrins.
I’m trying to find a negative for the Warriors to tell you the truth.
agree with ya DJ Leon Smith
Natty – the thing is that a lot of Warriors fans (including myself) really loved Monta. He was probably the best player drafted and developed by the Warriors to do a significant stint here since the Run-TMC days (we had C-Webb and Gilbert Arenas but they only started here and left quickly, and Baron was traded to us).
But I’ll talk more on Monta tomorrow.
Monta for Bogut makes sense to me (not really for the bucks). Well. Kind of. But the rest of the deal was terrible for the warriors. Why take Jax contract? Why give a really good piece in Udoh (who i like ALOT), and Kwame’s expiring? Warriors have basically locked themselves in for the next 2 seasons.
The warriors were the biggest “what if” team in the offseason. They could have amnestied Biedrins instead of Bell and offered max deals to either Marc Gasol/Chandler or Nene.
They could have moved Ellis for Josh Smith.
Then suddenly you line up w Curry/Wright or Thompson/Smith/Lee/Chandler or Gasol.
So effing frustrating.
To Leon,
I get what you’re saying. But Udoh was showing signs of being a dominant defensive big man. He’s really going to be sneaky good and he can score. He showed that at Baylor and he’s starting to show signs now.
So you lose a VERY good young big on a rookie contract and give up an 7 mil expiring for JAX!???? and his contract for the next 2 season?
They basically have 20 + mil committed to Biedrins + Jax. They have no where to move, and no flexibility. As i said, they’re the biggest what if team.
@Yiew
They don’t get Bogut without giving up Udoh, and without taking on Jax. Period. Jax is irrelevant in this deal, was just a throw in, everyone knows he will be gone at some point.
If that’s the case, it’s terrible effing deal.
I love Bogut. I do. But they gave up way too much and tied themselves in.
I actually think the bucks would have ended up doing a Bogut for Monta trade, but i think the warriors caved.
I’d like to smugly point out that I predicted pretty much this exact trade.
If you read the previous “Howard to GSW” comments section the alternative I’d originally offered revolved around similar, if not exact same pieces.
At the time I’d thought that that trade was much more realistic than this wacky real life one.
I’m sure not sure if it’s smart or not of GSW to trade away Klay Thompson, for me that’s the biggest mystery in this deal, not Bogut’s fitness.
Oh they didn’t trade away Thompson.
Good, then I’d certainly give the edge to The Warriors in this deal.
Even if they have assumed a healthy Lee & Bogut combo.
Translation: Golden State have upgraded to a Portland level, highly reliant on lack of injures and now very capable of a realistic non-embarrassing playoffs appearance.
And the Bucks need to start tanking to get anything at all out of their next 5 years of rebuilding, which ultimately starts now.
Congrats Ash.
It’s also a win-win for the warriors long term.
Either tank this year rest up Lee, Curry and Bogut, add a potential top 7 protected pick (which Utah own) or potentially make a Bogut, Jackson and parts trade offer for Howard next season, or they are all healthy.
All up sides.
@ TJR.
I don’t get why you think this is a win for the warriors?
They’re not getting Howard for Bogut and Jackson, besides, Howard isn’t going to stay so there’s no point discussing this.
I like the Bogut piece, but they just gave up way too much for him. There’s also no way they’re going to tank that much that they’ll get a top 7 pick. besides, the quality of this draft is completely overplayed. I actually don’t think it’s that good.
Biggest things after the CBA is having flexibility, and the warriors have just given away their flexibility and pieces over the past 7 months.
@Yiew
The warriors were a fundamentally flawed basketball team that were never going to make traction with the pieces they had. Acquiring Bogut potentially changes that entire dynamic, because he is something they have never had, and are crying out for. Cap space is not so important for them because its proven that big name players don’t want to go there, so they have to build from within with good prospects (ex. Curry and Thompson) and also through smart trades. If Bogut returns to health they could finally turn the corner, in way that could never happen with Ellis. Udoh and Jax was just the risk they needed to take. Regardless, they needed a pretty drastic change because they were going nowhere.
@Deaksy
The Warriors could have addressed this issue for the past 2 seasons. They had the ability to move Monta. they could (should) have amnestied Biedrins and offered the max to a host of good bigs out there.
They’ve made what feels like a crazy desperation trade. Salary cap doesn’t matter? They did sign David lee on basically a max deal? If they had offered a max deal to Marc Gasol/nene they would have taken it. They could easily offer 7 mil for someone like Taj Gibson and he’d come. Salary cap is everything.
As i said. i like the Bogut part, but it’s 12 months late and they’ve given too much.
I’m not saying the deal is perfect, because its clearly far from that.
If you (Yiew) really want a winner here there isn’t one. They both lose.
But the future in my opinion is much brighter for GSW out of this trade.
Look into the future, next year and beyond.
Who would you rather have?
GSW: Bogut, Lee, Thompson and in all likelyhood a decent high draft pick next year to build on. Plus Curry, Jackson, both in contact years to be used as potential trade chips. or…
Bucks: Ellis (if he isn’t traded away) running a team with who? Jennings will be gone, Ilyasova ditto. Who are the second, third and fourth best behind Ellis? Luc Mbah a Boute? Udoh? No one?
Exactly, who knows.
Make no mistake, neither of these teams are winning a ring any time soon, but the best case is much more known for GSW, and the realistic next step for Bucks isn’t to get better, but to fire their coach then wait around a few years for picks or some sort of miracle on ice. I know where I’d rather be.
Howard was just an example of a big future trade potentially, Curry + Ellis for anyone is a lot less likely then a Curry, Bogut or Jackson as a kicker trade.
Jackson may be a potential locker room cancer, but when eventually he does go away for cap space/other it’ll help the Warriors much more than it ever could have the Bucks.
The worse thing the warriors have done over the last 7 months (Besides hire Mark Jackson) is amenity Charlie Bell and instead of Lee or Biedrins, that’s the sort of bonehead mistake they’ll have to pay for, much more so than this trade.
nail on the head TJR.
Warriors have just made dumb moves for the past 12 months. For me, this is a complete panic move. I don’t like that they’re locked in for the next two seasons.
Plenty of time to talk about this it in the future, but in the mean time here’s an interesting short take on what Jerry West has to say about it.
http://www.ibabuzz.com/warriors/2012/03/14/jerry-west-on-the-trade-i-think-next-year-oh-my-goodness/
There’s some interesting/confusing things in there.
Yeah. I mean, he’s trying to assure fans which is fair enough.
I just don’t like that the warrios have lost any room to move. they have no cap or player flexibility anymore.
As you said, they really should have traded Biedrins, and i really think moving Kwame’s expiring + udoh is going to be a mistake.
Maybe they couldn’t move Bogut for just Monta. But if the warriors back office did their job, they’d be a playoff team by now.
Also, HUGE stretch to say Bogut is the 3rd best big in the league.
Not really a huge stretch to say Bogut is the third best centre in the league when you consider there’s a defensive end of the court. He averaged 11rpg and led the league in blocks playing with one arm.
(But yes of course you have to add “when healthy”, and his injuries have been more freak accidents rather than chronic aliments.)
Still don’t see the downside for the Warriors, it’s pointless to play the “what if” game when looking at past transactions. They were going nowhere with their current roster, may as well shake it up, and they managed to do it and kept their best young player, probably their best player full stop. If Bogut doesn’t pan out, they’ve lost exactly nothing. It’s not like he’s joining the Bulls and could be messing with the formula of a conference finalist team.
For me, it’s Howard, Bynum, Gasol and then Bogut.
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