Posts tagged AlHarrington at FanHouse

It's pretty easy to feel bad for the city of Cleveland. None of their sports teams can manage to win anything, and everyone seems to believe that LeBron James is headed to New York in 2010. So that's why, when he debuts a new line of Nike shoes called the "LeBron VI Big Apple" on the night the Cavs play the Knicks, you kind of have to chuckle at the general paranoid aura floating out of the city that rocks! (Via Nike Press Release)

The Zoom LeBron VI performance basketball shoe represents the essence of LeBron James: team, toughness, passion and vision. James worked with Nike designer Ken Link to create a shoe that meets his performance needs and the needs of players with a powerful, dynamic style of play.

[...]The shoe's collar has been engineered with a wider opening so it's easier to slip on and wear while maintaining a full-length fit feel. On the collar, graffiti art highlights LeBron's mantras-passion, family, winning, fearless and vision.

So, yeah, pride. Family. Passion. New York!

So at long last, Al Harrington is on a proverbial train to New York City to join Mike D'Antoni's gonzo attack. Is it a good deal for the 'Bockers? Well, that depends on the source. Newsday reports Jamal Crawford, the best Knick guard, is the return piece for Golden State. The New York Post's Peter Vescey, on the other hand, has sources who indicate the Warriors have accepted only Malik Rose, a bench-warming expiring contract, in return. (Mutoni reminds us of the last Vescey-reported trade, which never happened.)

But really, it's a strong deal for the Knicks regardless of the piece. Jetting away Rose is better news for this year's win-loss tally -- without Crawford, D'Antoni might really have to play Stephon Marbury! -- but losing Crawford helps in the summer of 2010. Some have suggested Jam might opt out of his final two years and $19.3 million when his early termination option arrives this summer. Fat flippin' chance. If Ben Gordon can't make $10-12 million in this market, Jam Crawford ain't doing it.

A Harrington-Crawford swap gets Donnie Walsh theoretically within reach of a 2010 max contract for a player with 7-8 years of experience (that covers LeBron, Wade, Bosh and Amare). That doesn't account for New York's next two years worth of draft picks or David Lee, so clearly there's a bit more paring left. But if this is indeed the deal, there's no overwhelming need to cut Zach Randolph free any longer. The Knicks can be 2010 players with him.

UPDATE: Rarely wrong Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that it's Crawford.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. Washington Wizards Blog, via Bullets Forever. The Zards are installing a new camera on the baskets at the Verizon Center ... because the current basket cams are too low to capture JaVale McGee in flight! JaVale Cam!

2. NBC Chicago. A tremendous Q&A with two of FreeDarko's writers. The book is out today! (Robo)Cop that!

3. Tim Kawakami. Al Harrington's broken heart bad back has him in bed for two weeks. The Warriors are so weird.

4. Orlando Sentinel. Magic GM Otis Smith on Kings GM Geoff Petrie's eternal quest for Hedo Turkoglu: "Smith said the Kings have been in touch with Orlando since the Magic signed him as a free agent in 2004. He said it has been a while since the Kings made some offers for Turkoglu, and added, laughing, 'They wanted to give us their trash.'" That's bad pool, Otis. Team pride forces me to now blurt out the following: FRAN VASQUEZ JJ REDICK RASHARD LEWIS FOR $200 BILLION. Whew, that felt good.

5. Riverside Press-Enterprise. Phil Jackson on Trevor Ariza: "He's like a ghost out there. Like a shadow. Just all of a sudden he shows on a screen and he's gone. He's a blip and he's away. He runs the court like that."

6. Both Teams Played Hard. It's the 61st edition of the Carnival of the NBA.

One odd repercussion of the blockbuster Allen Iverson-Chauncey Billups trade is that Denver will no longer need the long-rumored services of Indiana exile Jamaal Tinsley.

A month ago, a spate of reports insisted Tinsley-to-Denver was awaiting the right moment, a sure-thing trade in the pipeline. Things never materialized, and Tinsley has spent the latent period working out in Atlanta while the Pacers rode T.J. Ford (and friends) into an upset of the World Champions.

With Denver out of the equation, how many teams still have a desperate need for a middling, high-priced (relative to the market) point guard signed through 2010-11?

Bay Area media types wrestled over the legitimacy of Al Harrington's reported trade request the last few days. On Wednesday, any lingering questions about whether Harrington wants out were squelched as, erm, Harrington told Marcus Thompson III of the Contra Costa Times he wants out.

By itself, that's not terribly exciting. But Harrington's reasons sure pry open the Golden State Pandora's box a little bit.

"I don't think me and Coach is going to work out - because I feel like he uses me in certain ways and I don't think that's going to change. We all know how Nellie is. We all know his history. If you're not one of his dudes, you ain't never going to be one of his dudes. And that's the truth."

For his part, Don Nelson questions how any player could be unhappy in his system, where you're allowed to shoot as soon as you cross mid-court. Nellie simplifies things a little too much in that assessment: isolation basketball (Harrington's strength) isn't the same as Helter Skelter run-and-chuck (Nellie's system). But Nelson is correct in noting that Harrington should be happier with the Golden State way than most other systems.

The most interesting trade rumor at this point is a bit related to this discussion. Tim Kawakami says the Knicks have offered Eddy Curry for Harrington, but the Warriors are pushing for David Lee and salary scraps. Mike D'Antoni sells an offense more disciplined than the system in Oakland ... but I'm not sure Harrington would end up doing more than chucking threes regardless.

Normally, you'd look at an opening night game where the Warriors took the New Orleans Hornets down to the wire without Monta Ellis and say "Hey, that's pretty good! How about these Dubs?!"

Unfortunately, it ignores two points. One, the Warriors still lost, and two, the Warriors completely abandoned the youth movement they centered around all summer. In last night's game, Don Nelson ran a 7 man rotation (outside of a scintillating 23 second performance by C.J. Watson), that featured all veterans, DeMarcus Nelson for about long enough for Nellie to figure out he didn't like him, and Al Harrington who has publically begged, demanded, and pleaded to be traded.

Who got the DNP-CDs? Marco Belinelli. Okay, that's understandable, the guy's never put in a good regular season stretch yet. Marcus Williams. Okay, when you're in the Nellie doghouse, you're in the Nellie doghouse. Brandan Wright. Huh. That's odd. He's a second year guy and they really need to get him some time. Guess he's still in the doghouse, too. Anthony Randolph. What? So after four months of talking about how much you love the kid and gushing over his handle you just sit him and don't play him?

When Mickael Pietrus fled in free agency, it seemed for the first time in two years Golden State finally had a roster full of men who adore Nellie Ball, that frantic series of mismatches Don Nelson calls on offensive philosophy. Well, another Warrior has turned his back on Nellie Ball and wishes to be rid of the Helter Skelter style. That Warrior: guard-center Al Harrington.

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News knows some people who know a guy named Al who says he's done with Nellie Ball.

Two NBA sources, both close to the Warriors veteran forward, told me that Al Harrington recently informed the Warriors that he does not want to play for Don Nelson any more and is requesting to be traded as soon as possible. [...]

In fact, one league source with knowledge of the situation said that Harrington's agent, Dan Fegan, is "actively working to get (Harrington) out of there" and that a few teams already have proposed tentative deals.

Ironically (or not), Nelson just bestowed a one-third share of the Golden State Captaincy upon Harrington. Captain Harrington ... sounds like the antagonist in a psychological thriller based on a sea shanty. Alas, Kawakami indicates that honor might have been a peace offering from coach to player. Harrington needs more than a patch, though.

To be perfectly honest -- and I mean this in the nicest way possible -- if Harrington feels he doesn't belong in Nellie's mind experiment, where Al has free will to shoot from 35 feet in, he doesn't belong on any NBA team. You give Harrington structure, and he's the perfect diagram of "tweener." You give him 40 minutes of Nellieball, and he's an explosion at the ready. This isn't about playing style, it can't be. It's about minutes. Harrington wants more, and he doesn't think he'll get them with Nelson. Fair enough, but let's call it what it is.

Chris Mullin is a rock. He is an island.

He is incredibly chill about losing his $66 million point-guard for 4 months.

As reported by the irreplaceable Tim Kawakami, Mullin told local reporters that though disheartened by the loss of Monta Ellis for the start of the season, he is not in panic mode. Kawakami reports that Mullin and Don Nelson are looking at their options, including inserting Marcus Williams as starter, or going to a bigger lineup with Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette. Mullin also said he will be going to a long-scheduled meeting in Chicago with former Clipper Shaun Livingston. Livingston, as you may know, kind of has his own injury issues to work out, but Mullin says he's not in any rush because he "has enough ball-handlers, even without Ellis."

While the Warriors are archetypically comprised of big men that can run and score, they still need a central point guard, and preferably one with speed, to execute Don Nelson's offense. The idea of a Stephen Jackson-Corey Maggette-Brandon Wright/Anthony Randolph-Al Harrington- Andris Biedrins lineup is fascinating, though. It would be like a fleet of giraffes. Not going to frighten you in any respect, but you will stop and watch it for a while, just because it's so bizarre. My first thought when I heard about the Ellis injury, other than "Fate is cruel" was "They should look at Livingston." Livingston had a ton of talent and potential before his knee exploded like the Fourth of July, and he's worth taking a look at.

Hey, at least you can see the worst case coming in that scenario.

As Watson noted earlier, Baron Davis has been mentioned in some pretty hefty mega-super-uber deal between the Warriors and the Pistons. The rumor is that an Al Harrington and Boom Dizzle for Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups swap would go down. The problem?

Baron can still opt out of his contract, meaning the deal simply could not happen. But Dizzle, through his agent, appears content to get paid $17.8 million next year and stick with the Warriors.

"It doesn't seem likely," [Todd] Ramasar said. "The market could change anytime, but it's unlikely."

[...]"Baron's adamant about remaining a Warrior, but we've yet to come up with an extension," Ramasar said. "As of right now, there's no guarantee that those talks continue, and from a player's standpoint, it becomes emotional."

Here's the second catch -- Baron can't officially not opt out until next Tuesday. And because such a deal between the Pistons and the Warriors would almost certainly have to include a draft pick (as MW, the 14th pick seems reasonable).

Of course, those timelines don't exactly match up. But it's not like the Warriors can't simply pick who Detroit wants and then make the trade for Big Shot and 'Sheed immediately following Baron's decision.

Now, there's puh-lenty of risk involved with that, namely that Baron doesn't opt out. But you would have to figure that Joe Dumars and Chris Mullin would have the particulars worked out ahead of time. Either that or Dumars just told him to hit up on the swell piece Tuesday if he didn't do anything crazy tomorrow. (Read: this smells like a dead end).

When Joe Dumars put his entire roster on the block, he opened the door for a summer of crazy rumors. First came the Carmelo Anthony rumors, which became so rampant that 'Melo demanded an explanation from Denver's front office. Today's speculation du jour? Baron Davis to Detroit.

Geoff Lepper of the Contra Costa Times got the ball rollling by citing an unnamed source within the Warriors who indicates that the Pistons "are now looking at Davis" and would be willing to offer Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace in return. In order to get the money right, Lepper speculates that Al Harrington, who's already thinking about requesting a trade, would be thrown into the mix.

As Tim Kawakami correctly notes, the Pistons would be getting the short end of the talent stick in a Davis/Harrington for Chauncey/Rasheed swap. Could the Warriors sweeten the pot by throwing in the 14th overall pick? Well, possibly, but this deal can't happen on draft day (read: tomorrow!) since Davis has until July 9 to decide if he's going to opt out of the final year of his contract. So unless the Warriors happen to pick someone the Pistons really like, that's a dead end, too.

In other words, there are simply too many moving parts in this deal to think everything could line up perfectly. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News called this rumor "a total fabrication." I won't go quite that far -- Lepper's source isn't just making things up for fun, right? -- but it's possible Detroit's interest has been exagerrated or distorted, much like their alleged "pursuit" of Anthony.