Well, we're fucked. If you weren't paying attention, Anthony Randolph hasn't been getting any minutes, and it's looking like Nelson is the reason why. He deserves some burn. Him playing average-OK basketball during a lost season is better than bringing in Jamal Crawford, because he's so young and Crawford is owed some money, which ain't worth it because Crawford ain't that good. Randolph knows this, and he's mad. Now Kawakami reports that Monta is siding with Randolph, and could have the warriors, our warriors, fucked. Interesting stuff in this entry by Kawakami...
Ellis, Randolph and the further, future discontent of the Warriors
Posted by Tim Kawakami on January 6th, 2009 at 4:39 pm | Categorized as NBA, Warriors
I checked again with people who know Monta Ellis, and I will repeat and now can amplify what I’ve been saying for weeks:
Ellis is working to get back healthy, but he is not happy with the Warriors, it’s getting worse, and he definitely is not pleased about rejoining a Warriors universe that is ruled by Don Nelson and Robert Rowell.
In fact, the word is that Ellis’ recovery is coming along very nicely. Whether that means he’s ready to play in a few weeks or a month or in late-March, nobody knows. It’s just looking good for him as his ankle heals and he begins to get ready for some full-court work.
However, that is not a purely positive thing for the Warriors. It could be a very bad thing for the Warriors, unless a sudden ceasefire is called between Warriors management and Ellis.
Of course, if you’ve been following the last six months of Warriors activity, you know further ugliness is a far better bet than any semblance of tranquility. Rowell and Nelson are cultivating and attracting ugliness, for no good reason that I can see.
I’ve said that I don’t think Ellis will ever play for the Warriors again. Now I’ve got to allow that it’s possible that he plays for them merely to boost his value and increase his leverage, all after informing the Warriors that he wants to be traded. Possible.
I don’t think Ellis has requested a trade as of yet, but he’s also not healthy yet. He could also demand that the Warriors drop the $3M fine and/or immediately waive the right to void his contract, but I think the Warriors will definitely do the void-waiving at some point.
At this point, Rowell and Nelson can’t afford to let Ellis go for free. But if he demands a trade? It’s also not clear what his trade value would be. Watch how this one develops.
Because, as Ellis gets ready to play and begins to look more and more like a player worth his $66M contract, he and his associates are growing more and more confident in his position, and that means he has more leverage against the team that suspended him for 30 games and $3M.
Plus, it wouldn’t be shocking if Ellis’ stance has been sharpened after watching Nelson’s rough treatment of Anthony Randolph. I’ve been told that Ellis looks at Randolph and sees a version of himself from a few years ago: Bustling with talent, tough, young, and frequently mishandled by Nelson.
Ellis knows that Nelson wanted to trade him before the 2007 draft, straight up, for the rights to Acie Law.
Ellis sees a backcourt already stuffed with Jamal Crawford, Marco Belinelli, C.J. Watson, Kelenna Azubuike, Corey Maggette and Stephen Jackson.
I believe that Ellis, like Al Harrington before him, is realizing that he doesn’t want to play for Nelson any more–he doesn’t want Belinelli and Crawford used as pawns against him, he doesn’t want to get caught up in this spiraling season as Nelson plays his mind games.
That is not a recipe for a wonderful comeback story, at least not for the Warriors.
Oh, and by the way, you had to know that the Randolph situation is reaching a boiling point. Nelson’s playing Rob Kurz ahead of him, not because of loves Kurz, but because he wants to demean Randolph and doesn’t like that Randolph is furious about it.
My point: Would Nelson and his staff rather see Randolph meekly accept playing behind a demonstrably worse power forward? No. So why are they bothered with Randolph’s fire?
I don’t understand it. But I do understand that Randolph is a very talented player that Nelson has already lost.
