FanHouse KelennaAzubuike

PHOENIX, Ariz -- Kelenna Azubuike is a young, athletic, and potentially explosive offensive player for the Golden State Warriors. But his up and down play this season has made him somewhat of an enigma to his coach, Don Nelson.

Azubuike scored 25 points and made four of his six three-point attempts during the Warriors' win over the Suns earlier in the week, but completely disappeared in the rematch on Friday. After playing 27 minutes in the first meeting, he managed to stick around for just 15 minutes in the second, and finished with just five rebounds and three personal fouls -- but zero points.

When the game was over, I asked Nelson what he was seeing with Azubuike, considering the extreme change from game to game in his performances. With an unopened Bud Light in his right hand (hey, technically it wasn't a press conference), I got a sarcastic yet classic response from the veteran NBA head coach.

From the perspective of Cleveland and New Jersey, the Knicks went from Jean Grey to Dark Phoenix today. But we won't know if the Great Contract Sell-off of 2008 actually worked for roughly 586 days, so let's focus on the present: the weirdest team in the league just got more gonzo. Don Nelson already starts four two-guards, and now he's acquired Jamal Crawford. Does the trade make you tingle, Nellie?

"I'm stoked, is what I am."

Once Monta Ellis returns and Crawford suits up (the Warriors expect him to be ready Tuesday), I expect you'll be able to describe six of the top seven Warriors in minutes per game as two-guards. Corey Maggette currently mans the power forward position. Stephen Jackson has been alternately running point and sitting at small forward. Anthony Morrow has gotten two starts at the two-guard (with another expected tonight), and Kelenna Azubuike has been alongside him for more than a week.

In the Matt Steinmetz Examiner piece linked above, Nelson notes that Crawford will likely start at the one for now and will share the associated duties with Ellis. Crawford, Ellis, Jackson and Maggette figure to be your starters, with Morrow and Azubuike ready to jump in before the first true power forward or center (Brandan Wright and Ronny Turiaf are each under 18 minutes per game).

Nellieball is getting even more bizarre before our eyes. Andris Biedrins, I hope to ready to keep on rebounding.

H/T: Golden State of Mind

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A season ago, the Pacific Division was able to send just two of its teams to the playoffs, but one of them went all the way to the Finals. And while that's not likely to change this season -- at least the part about the two playoff teams -- each club definitely has its share of intriguing story lines.

Let's start off in Los Angeles, where the Lakers' playoff run last season took place with one of the team's key components on the sidelines. There are always many stories in Laker-land, but a lot of the team's fans seem to be most interested in this one: With the return of Andrew Bynum, do the Lakers have a shot to win 70 games?

Despite the recent flood of positive Andrew Bynum stories hitting the L.A. papers lately (seriously, his P.R. machine is working overtime), I'm not convinced that his addition to the lineup automatically makes the Lakers unstoppable. There's the whole thing about figuring out how to co-exist with Pau Gasol, and how Lamar Odom will perform (likely) playing further away from the basket. When you add in the fact that even if the team was capable of winning 70 games, there's really no motivation to do so, unless someone else is on the same ridiculous pace and it would mean home court advantage.

And the hits just keep on coming.

Less than two months after losing Baron Davis in free agency to the Los Angeles Clippers and anointing Monta Ellis as their point guard of the future (a risky proposition in and of itself), the Golden State Warriors have now lost Ellis to an ankle and shoudler injury for 3-4 months, keeping him out until near the beginning of the year at least.

ESPN reports that Ellis was scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday to repair a torn deltoid ligament, and also has sustained a severe ankle sprain that will require his leg to be immobilized for six weeks. That would be when training camp starts, for those keeping score. The injury occured when Ellis was working out at home in Jackson, Mississippi.

So just to review, the Dubs lost their star player to free agency, signed Corey Maggette who's not really considered elite by anyone's standards, almost lost Kelenna Azubuike to an offer from the Clippers before matching, traded for the Nets' Marcus Williams, and then started to hear Stephen Jackson grumbling about his contract. Now they are face to face with the reality that their $66 million dollar investment is down and out for the first two months of the regular season at least. So if you know a diehard Warriors fan, you might want to give them a call, send them a candygram, possibly talk them off the ledge. The sky may not be falling, but it sure looks closer than it did three months ago.

No, silly Europeans, Andris Biedrins is for Nellie!

The Warriors shored up their remaining free agent quandary today, according to the infinitely reliable Marc Stein over at the WWL. Stein says the Dubs have given Biedrins a 6 year, $63 million contract, with a player option for the fifth year. Tim Kawakami respectfully disagrees with Stein's report on the amount, putting the number at $54 million. Six years, $54 million seems a little more reasonable for the top big man on a team that was, you know, kind of terrible at both defense and rebounding. Still, Don Nelson is big on Biedrins, and after Baron Davis absconded to LA, the Warriors needed to shore up their roster in-house.

It's unknown at this point what effect Biedrins' position on the NBA Overseas Defection Watch had on the urgency for the Warriors to get the deal done, if any, but anyway, go ahead and cross him off the list. And, barring injury or a team losing their mind in a trade (we're looking at you, Atlanta), this should pretty much lock up the Warriors roster next year, with both Anthony Randolph and Richard Hendrix signed. So for better or worse, it's Monta Ellis, Kelenna Azubuike, and Andris Biedrins resigned, Mickael Pietrus and Baron Davis gone with the wind, and Corey Maggette and Ronny Turiaf newly acquired. Your guess is as good as ours as far as next season goes.

C.J. Miles -- who has consistently clashed with Jerry Sloan -- almost saw his way out of Utah by signing a four-year, $15 million offer sheet with the Un-Sonics. The Jazz were not expected to match, as Deron Williams' max extension has landed the luxury tax right into Larry Miller's lap for the 2009-10 season. But after some minor maneuvering (which we'll get to in a sec), Utah made the call to match the offer, keeping Miles under Jazz authority.

Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune notes that Miles now has pressure to earn his keep. Before, C.J.'s lack of action on the court was more annoyance than crime; Miles was just a minor prospect who might someday be a decent bench cog. But making almost $4 million a year -- Sloan will be forced to get Miles minutes and Miles needs to deliver quality play, lest everyone end up fools. (It's almost a similar situation as with Amir Johnson last season -- Detroit paid him, but Flip Saunders wouldn't play him. Sloan's in no danger either way, but it certainly wouldn't hurt the harmony if Miles got a chance.)

Besides Utah and OKC, one more team took an impact from this move, as ClipsNation notes flawlessly. To create a little breathing room, Utah dealt Jason Hart to the Clippers for Brevin Knight. Hart makes roughly a half-million more than Knight. When L.A. made the trade, the Warriors still had about a day to match Kelenna Azubuike's offer from the Clippers. Utah surely wanted the Hart deal done ASAP so they could make a decision on Miles. So L.A. pulled the trigger. Once the Warriors unexpectedly matched on Azubuike, the Clips were left with a hole on the wing and (thanks to Hart) less money with which to address it. L.A. really should have waited on the expiration of Golden State's matching period before making any related deals. Jason Hart just ain't worth the heartache.

Apparently Chris Mullin enjoyed his time in Vegas, got some time in by the pool, then came home and decided to clean the slate on his offseason To-Do list all in a matter of days. Here's a little sneak peak at that list.

1. Match Kelenna Azubuike.
2. Re-sign Monta Ellis to a 6 year, $67 Million contract.
3. Pick up dry cleaning.
4. Send basket of rotten fruit to Elgin Baylor.

Well, you can scratch out #2, as today the Warriors agreed to just such a contract with Ellis. Which is good, because as Tim Kawakami put it tonight, if they hadn't, they wouldn't be "a real franchise, anymore." After Baron Davis skipped town (sorry Warriors fans, I'm not trying to keep bringing it up, but it kind of caused a ripple effect), the Warriors needed to batten down the hatches and take care of their roster. And while the biggest acquisition they got was Corey Maggette, they did lock up a young scorer with incredible speed and considerable upside for six years, along with Ronny Turiaf and securing Azabuike.

The question now becomes if they overspent on Ellis, which is something only Ellis can decide. Have I mentioned this kid needs a nickname?

Chris Mullin told me while in Vegas for Summer League that the Warriors were "definitely going to resign (Kelenna Azubuike) ... or not." Apparently the "definitely going to" was the important part of that sentence.

The Warriors today matched the Los Angeles' Clippers 3 year, $9 million offer for Azubuike, staving off the raiding forces from LA seeking to poach another of their free agents.

Azubuike was brilliant in short bursts but seemed to fade down the stretch last season. With Baron Davis off to Lala Land, it's likely that "Buike" will get more playing time.

It's not a monster signing to quell the masses of Warrior fans nervous about the future of the franchise, even after signing Corey Maggette, but at least it stops the bleeding that seemed to be occuring with the Clippers gouging their Bay rivals. It also signals a commitment to young talent that both Mullin and Nelson have alluded to. Monta Ellis, Azubuike, Ronny Turiaf, Brandan Wright and Anthony Randolph. Yup, that's youth. Corey Maggette and Al Harrington? Not so much, but it could be worse. That might be the theme for the Warriors this season. "Not so much, but it could be worse."

Notes from a trip to the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Chris Mullin has had a pretty eventful offseason. He lost his star player (Baron Davis) to the Los Angeles Clippers, signed Corey Maggette, signed Ronnie Turiaf, and now is trying to decide whether to match the Clippers' offer sheet on Kelenna Azubuike. You'd never know the guy has so much on his mind at summer league though. He's been watching the games intently, keeping an eye out for talent, shaking pretty much everyone's hand, signing autographs and pretty much just taking it easy. It seems like everyone knows him and is happy to see him, stopping to shake his hand and chat with him. He did take a few minutes out of his time to talk to me about a few things, though, and gave me the scoop on the Azabuike signing. Almost.

MM: What's summer league like for a GM?

CM: Summer League is all about giving guys opportunities to show what they can do. You know, scoring, like they might not be able to in other situations, so you see what they're capable of. You can explore what they can do.

MM: What do you feel like Ronnie Turiaf brings to your club?

CM: Great experience, a lot of help on the boards, shot blocks, defense, guys that can do those things, but keep our pace. He's actually really fast. It's not often that you get big guys that can do that, so we think he's going to be really great for our team.

The Clippers have apparently decided that the rest of their cap space would be best spent on the Warriors' restricted free agent Kelenna Azubuike. L.A. made a play for their second player from the Bay area this summer by offering Azubuike a three year deal worth $9M.

The Warriors are loaded at Azubuike's position (he can really play the two or the three), and with guys like Stephen Jackson, Monta Ellis, and Corey Maggette all likely to be ahead of him in the rotation, I'd say that there's a pretty good chance of the Clippers getting their man here.

As a side note, the fact that Azubuike had his best game of the season against the Clippers probably helped him out a little at the negotiating table. Kelenna poured in 33 points on 12-17 shooting in his team's second game of the season, punctuated by this highlight-reel-dunk on Chris Kaman.