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I'm still puzzled by the deal on the NBA draft which sent Jason Richardson to Charlotte for the TE and rights to Brandan Wright. In terms of potential, it seems like a good idea for Golden State, but aren't the Warriors playing for now? It'll be a few years before Wright will be able to provide a major role for the team. By then their core will be in their early 30's and slowly declining. Now with Pietrus unhappy and out of the rotation, I really like the Warriors with Richardson as their starting SG.

On the flip side, I think the Bobcats have fallen into the mediocrity zone. They have some solid starters with Richardson, Wallace, and Okafor but nothing close to a superstar. Unfortunately, their record isn't bad enough to get a top pick so essentially they'll be hovering around 7-10th. You have to figure that if they just took Brandan Wright themselves they'd have a Top 3 pick and a chance to finally draft a franchise level player. But as it sounds they'll be adding another "pretty good" "rotation level" player to their unspectacular lineup.

It just doesn't make sense to me for both teams.

redundancy, felt that they wouldn't need him and they got a decent deal for him?

More room for Ellis to beast on everyone.

plus they are going to have to work on re-signing like 3 guys this year right? Biedrins, Ellis and Azabukie? two of which im sure will get big deals, and Richardson has a hefty tag...so, i would assume they were trying to make room for those guys...

Well, the Warriors aren't exactly doing bad this year. It's tough, but it was the right thing to do ($$$$)

beautiful trade for the warriors. ellis stepped up and replaced jrich, the warriors saved a ton of money, and they got a top prospect (even though he ever plays). a very underrated move imo.

What's Belenelli up to?

Wasn't he labeled as a sure hit player coming out with all the hype following him?

How's he fairing in GS?

he became expendable with the emergence of ellis and their other young guys showed promise. so they the TE and a guy with a ton of potention who fits their system

And the Bobcats needed to do it because they had to be over the cap minimum. Good deal for both teams involved.

Brandon Wright fits pretty well in that Nellie ball system. Monta Ellis is a budding star and would have to come off the bench behind Jrich.

It was Foyle 9 mil contract!

SHAME ON HIM!!!

They did because they have players who are capable of replacing him.

They thought they could win without him... I guess they were right.

GS made the trade because their ownership didn't want to pay the luxury tax. This was a bigger issue for next year than this year, but it's often difficult to get immediate luxury tax relief without paying a high price so they acted ahead when a good deal came along.
JRich was a large contract player who could be moved for salary relief + additional value (as opposed to Foyle who would have taken assets to move). Yet, as pointed out, GS had enough other quality perimeter players to withstand the loss without a big effect on the teams record (as opposed to trading Baron Davis).

For Charlotte, they felt they were ready to step up from promising young team to playoff team. JRich filled out their biggest positional need (SG) and role (lead perimeter scorer). The fit between the two teams is why fans of both teams talked about the trade as a good idea in the months leading up to the draft.

Unfortunately for Charlotte other problems have hurt them. They expected Felton to improve significantly (talk was having Brevin Knight around was hampering him), but Felton has instead regressed. They also lost May for the season and went several months with only one competent post player on the roster.

It's a shame Brandan Wright is such a horrible basketball player. Honestly, this kids no better than Marcus Haislip. Short, skinny PF with close to 0 skill. He and Corey Brewer are the busts of 2007.

JRich was a great player for us, but it's not like we've suffered in his absence.

J-Rich is a very good player. But simply put, we did not believe he was worth $12-$14 million per year. And we got a top prospect out of it.

As for Marco Belinelli and Brandan Wright, Don Nelson has frequently stated that he has no intention of playing either rookie this season. A decision which has irked some Warrior fans.

Bucky O'Hare wrote:It's a shame Brandan Wright is such a horrible basketball player. Honestly, this kids no better than Marcus Haislip. Short, skinny PF with close to 0 skill. He and Corey Brewer are the busts of 2007.

Warriors are a .600 team right now and are doing much better than they were at this point last season. In order to get better you have to make sacrifices and getting rid of J-Rich was necessary in order to have enough money to re-sign important players.

Stephen Jackson is much more important this season for the Warriors than Jason Richardson ever was last season. Also Monta Ellis had bee playing OUT OF HIS MIND for the past 2 months. Everything seems good for the Warriors right now, they just need a rebounder that can fuel their fastbreak game.