I've been busy at work but also haven't had time to digest the Stephen Jackson trade to Charlotte from this morning. Basically, I don't think there were any winners in the deal. Of course, in the short term, Stephen gets out of a very dysfunctional situation and the Warriors have the cloud of poor team chemistry removed. However, take a step back and you'll notice that both teams lose out.
For Charlotte, they'll get an indiscriminate scorer who will work Larry Brown's every last nerve. How many walk up brick three's do you think Larry will take before he says enough? Also, Charlotte has no clear leaders that can stand up to Jackson. When he was in San Antonio, it was clear that he was a role player on a team with superstars. In Charlotte, he'll be one of the go-to guys along with Gerald Wallace (who ironically plays the same position ... no butting heads, I'm sure) along with a bunch of young players who he can "influence". For the Warriors, they're basically getting salary relief but not soon enough to make a big difference in the 2010 free agent class. Bell's $5.3M contract ends this year but Radmanovic's $13.3M (over next two years) contract doesn't expire until 2011. Adding insult to injury (pun intended), Bell, who is a good defender and decent 3 point shooter, is playing with a nagging wrist injury. And don't get me started about how useless Radmanovic is.
All in all, something had to be done. I don't know if the Warriors get better or worse because of this trade but if nothing else, it could mean more minutes for Morrow and Randolph. I'd rather see them play and improve than watching an aging B+ player pollute the minds of a young team.
