Every die-hard NBA fan can remember where they were and just how far they jumped out of their seats the moment when Baron Davis burnt past a Utah defender, down to the baseline, cocked the ball back to seemingly his hip, then finished one of the most impressive and most humiliating dunks (at least for Andrei Kerilenko) in NBA history. Type in Baron Davis on Youtube and the search bar already knows what you’re looking for, immediately filling in the words, “Dunks on Kerilenko” as fast as the new, “I can read your mind” Google. The dunk served as a loud exclamation point that the Warriors (who were fresh off eliminating the 1 seed Dallas Mavericks) led by Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, and Stephen Jackson were a force to be reckoned with and would be on their way to the top of the Western conference scoring 120 + points a night.
But something happened after the 2007 playoffs that can really only be described as a drunken one night stand when both people wake up the next morning and say, “I think that went really well, but let’s never do that again.” By 2009, Richardson was traded away to the Bobcats. Jackson was serving firearms suspensions, and Baron Davis signed on with the Los Angeles Clippers. The only significant pieces that remain from that exciting, 19,000 + fans a night, Oh-my-God-Snoop-Dogg’s-In-The-Crowd, Warriors team are Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins. Throw in Stephen Curry and new addition David Lee and I think eventually the Warriors could be a pretty good team, but since they only won 26 games last year, anything more than 30 wins and an eighth pick in the 2011 draft is wishful thinking.
Projected Starters
(PG) Stephen Curry
In 2008, everyone in the country fell in love with Stephen Curry and the Cinderella story that was Davidson basketball. I had the privilege to see him play live in the Sweet 16 against Wisconsin and couldn’t believe how easily he scored 33 points on a Wisconsin team that usually holds opponents to about 25. I also had the horror of being on a plane ride during the Kansas vs. Davidson game, sweating off nearly 33 pounds in fears that Curry’s “tournament of destiny” would also involve another painful Kansas exit.
No one could argue that Curry wasn’t a big time college star, but there was skepticism of his size not being able to work in the NBA. If you haven’t seen Stephen Curry play since college, the truth is his 6’3 180 lb frame is doing just fine. He scored nearly 18 ppg dishing off 6 assists a night and earned a spot on the Gold medal Olympic team. Just like college, I think Curry is better off as a shooting guard, running off of screens rather than having to bring the ball up the court and create for other people, but unless paired with a physical point guard like Derron Williams, Curry will have to continue embracing the role of point guard.
I think Curry’s ideal situation would be landing on the Miami Heat. If the Heat aren’t able to win the title in the next two years, I could see Curry coming in to be the knockdown shooter that Eddie House and Mike Miller are positioned to be right now. Curry would guard point guards on defense but offensively he could run wild around screens as LeBron pounded the ball up the court. Foreshadowing? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzAoxWEj8kY) In terms of how the contract would fit in, never underestimate Pat Riley.
(SG) Monta Ellis
If you play fantasy basketball (it’s like fantasy football except no one actually plays it) you recognize Ellis as the guy you’ve never heard of but somehow sits at the top of the lists of point guards/shooting guards with secretly 25.5 ppg. The problem with having Ellis on this team is he too is 6’3 180 pounds. Playing Ellis and Curry at the same time means that against the Lakers one of them has to guard Kobe, when both of them are best off guarding Derrick Fisher. I see Ellis being involved in some type of three or four team blockbuster trade in the next year or so resulting in him probably ending up in New Orleans, continuing to average 25 + a game but yet disappearing further and further into obscurity outside of fantasy drafts.
(SF) Dorell Wright
Good news: Dorell won an NBA title as apart of the 2006 Miami Heat team. Bad News: He left the Heat after six seasons and signed with the Warriors the same summer the Heat signed LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
(PF) David Lee
An interesting thing to watch this season will be how effective the D’antoni offense really is. Knicks management is hoping that Amar’e will emerge as an even bigger star than he was in Phoenix and deep down they’ve gotta be hoping that David Lee’s statistics will drop so they’ll be able to say to Carmelo at some point in July, “Look Amar’e numbers went up 5 ppg and David Lee went back to being a 10 and 8 guy.” I think David Lee will still get around 20 and 10 and help the Warriors compete with the Western conference big men.
(Center) Andris Biedrins
He's from Latvia and wears a lot of hair gel.
Interesting Bench Story
Rookie Ekpe Udoh
Could be the next Dikembe Mutumbo or could disappear out of the league/to Toronto by 2013.
Verdict
28 wins.
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