On Friday, Warriors captain Stephen Jackson put himself on the trade block. By late Saturday, dots were being connected, and Jackson was being rumored to be a possibility for the Dallas Mavericks.Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com reported that, separate from the Jackson rumor, Golden State coach Don Nelson had been talking to folks in Dallas about potential trades. Of course, Nelson's son Donnie runs the Mavericks front office, which would make this wholly uninteresting ... if not for the ongoing war between the elder Nelson and Mavs owner Mark Cuban, which makes this sort of aisle-reaching notable.
So, is it Jackson that Nelson is trying to peddle? Or is something else going on?
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First off, it's impossible to pass on any rumor from Fisher without noting that Fisher's site is owned by a company owned by ... Mark Cuban. Each has denied Cuban has ever been involved in any rumor which has been published on the site, but ... Cuban has been caught in a lie before. So, not to besmirch Fisher's reputation, but when he's reporting rumors about Cuban adversaries, take it with an extra grain of salt.
Fisher reports that Nelson could be trying to lose Monta Ellis, who is an older, more athletic Stephen Curry without the range. Curry, of course, will be a cheap Warrior for the next four seasons ($13 million). Ellis will be expensive for the next five years ($55 million). Without a guarantee Ellis will be much better than Curry over the span, and with no need for two undersized combo guards with questionable defensive tools, you can see why Nelson would look to move Ellis.
But Jackson may fit Dallas better, in that the Mavericks don't really have quality cheap talent or draft picks to offer the Warriors for the talented Ellis. The Mavericks have no qualms being old and expensive. The team re-signed Yoda Kidd this summer, and gave Shawn Marion a five-year deal. There's probably a max extension waiting for Dirk Nowitzki at his Dallas home for when he returns from Germany this month. Salary (Jackson has $36 million of it over four years) doesn't scare Cuban, and age (Jack is 31) doesn't scare the front office. This franchise is going for it ... right flipping now. On the other end, Golden State would probably just prefer to undo the Jackson extension by trading him for an expiring contract.
Between Dirk, Kidd, Marion, Erick Dampier and Josh Howard, it would seem Dallas has a starting five in place. But Jackson's playmaking skills and versatility could be an attribute, either in some concert with Marion and Howard, or coming off the bench with Jason Terry. Or Jack's selfish offense and erratic shooting could destroy the real chemistry Kidd, Terry and Nowitzki have developed. Either way, it'd be interesting.
As for the thaw in the Nellie-Cuban Cold War ... let's all pray that's the unbelievable rumor here. I can't imagine a world without $5 million ass pimples and wishy washy hugs.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Just what Dallas needs, isn`t it, a third small forward to go with the fantastic starting power forward Eric Dampier, who is regularly out scroed already by most of the Dallas reserves. Why try to pick up Marc Gasol whom the Grizzlies don`t need, because they have Thabeet, to start ahead of Dampier, when even point guards have more post up down low game than Nowitzski? Let him go to Phoenix or New Orleans, or even Houston, shifting to power forward if Yao, Ming, gets healthy for a change and resigns. Cap`n Jack has a nickname! Marc Gasol doesn`t have a nickname. And Gasol is hispanic. If Cuban wanted a hispanic, he could start the puerto rican point guard who was waived out of the association at center. Gotta have a better low post game than Nowitzski. Ole what`s his name, who used to play with the Magic and raps, or something. Anthony Lopez? Nope, some other name. Cuban`ll think of it, if he`s so inclined, or someone in San Antonio or Phoenix or wherever will, if only for a preseason tryout to coordinate with Burrito Bell?, Tamale Tavern?, Enchilada Enclave?, Taco Treats?, something like that. (J/K, amigas!)
Giles, step away from the pipe!
Tom- With all due respect, what sort of analysis went into your Curry/Ellis comparison?
In late 2007-2008, a pre-injured Ellis had the ability to blow by or pull-up on anyone in the league. For a few months there, he was nearly unguardable.
Now, there's no guarantee his ankle recovers and he returns to old form, but my question is this: What information do you have about Stephen Curry? With little summer league play and no NBA games under his belt, are there any guarantees he's a starter in this league?
I'm a huge Warriors fan and really hope Curry can play, but he had a very hard time getting around players and into the paint in Summer League, instead settling for hand-in-your-face, low % jumpers.
This isn't a huge concern... yet. But it's there. And I hope management takes a far more cautious approach at projecting his future than you have in this post.
Or maybe you just don't think that highly of Ellis. Either way, some sort of basis for your rationalization is sorely missing here.
YES. PLEASE GIVE A CONTRACT TO ALL OF THE PLAYERS DIRK SEEMS TO BE AFRAID OF AND PUT THEM ON THE MAVERICKS. NO MORE OBSTACLES.