The responses I got back from my piece on the David Lee trade (thanks for those, folks- I really do appreciate them) overwhelmingly came on the side that I was overly critical of Golden State?s end of the trade. To a point, there is logic there. Golden State did acquire the best player in the trade and did not give up any major long-term pieces that Lee would not have made redundant.

What stuck in my craw about the trade, which has been amplified recently, is the gigantic opportunity cost of making a move like that one.

Tim Kawakami recently insinuated on Twitter that a deal similar to (but not exactly) Anthony Randolph for Kevin Love was seriously discussed before the David Lee trade was consummated. Now, there can be interesting arguments on both sides of that argument as well, yet it crystallizes the biggest problem with this summer for the Warriors- they gave up flexibility and committed to exactly the wrong time frame.

A better way to discuss where the team could have gone actually goes back to a trade offered during the season. The intrepid Marcus Thompson II (who I trust immensely on this) reported that Golden State was offered OJ Mayo and Hasheem Thabeet for Monta Ellis and turned it down. While there absolutely still is time and opportunity for Monta to become the off-guard next to Stephen Curry that he can be, OJ Mayo has a similar chance and has the benefit of being on a rookie contract so the financial commitment is much lower (as it is for Thabeet, because worst case scenario he has two team options for 11-12 and 12-13)

So let?s see what happens if you combine these two trades with the Corey Maggette deal (and feel free to dump a lower end rotation player if you feel they were necessary to complete the Love/Randolph deal):




PG: Stephen Curry / ????

SG: OJ Mayo / Kelenna Azubuike / Reggie Williams / Charlie Bell

SF: ???? / R. Williams / Azubuike

PF: Kevin Love / Brandan Wright / Vladimir Radmanovic

C:  Andris Biedrins / Ronny Turiaf / Hasheem Thabeet / Dan Gadzuric



The remarkable thing about this core is just how financially reasonable they are- This group of players? combined salary for 2010-2011 (including both rookie salary slots) is $51,496,628 with a whopping fourteen players on roster when accounting for the two rookies.

From here, the team could choose to use either around $6.5 million to spend under the cap or the remaining exceptions (including the full Mid-Level exception and some lower-level sections) while also retaining the ability to generate more space by moving a player or two from the guys already on roster. On top of that, the Warriors would still be plenty under the luxury tax. What makes this situation even more insane is that depending on how management wanted to move forward, the 2011 books would have been unbelievable. The only players locked in for 2011 (Curry, Mayo, Love, Biedrins, rookies, C. Bell) cost less than $30 million for that season, meaning that the Warriors could either use that money then, lock in some of the other players currently on roster, or some combination of both.

With that in mind, the team could have chosen to use the additional money (that Warriors team costs $17 million less than the current Warriors) to go after Dorell Wright as they actually did this summer while also retaining Anthony Morrow if they liked. Even with those players signed at their new contracts, Golden State would have been fine with the luxury tax and still been plenty under whatever the salary cap line will be next season. Both would have been logical fits that should develop into players with clear niches in the next few years while making reasonable salaries. Furthermore, the Warriors would have an avalanche of legit expiring contracts and undervalued players to use in a trade for the remainder of the 2010-2011 season.

Beyond that group, that already deep team would have a 2010 Draft pick to work with. Considering they would have Kevin Love or Anthony Randolph locked in to the PF spot, they could have gone in a few different directions. Taking Greg Monroe as a PF/C to either be the third big accompanying Love/Biedrins long term or even taking over for Biedrins if he got moved would have worked, as could swingmen like Paul George and Xavier Henry. Plus, Golden State could have picked up something small like a future pick or a 2nd from Utah if they decided Greg Monroe wasn?t their man, as they should have done on Draft night once they chose Ekpe Udoh.

The biggest overall discrepancy is more philosophical than anything else. It is hard to find a legitimate argument that the Warriors are any better than the eighth best team in the Western Conference right now even after their bold moves this summer. Having what would have largely amounted to an open slate plus Curry, the 2010 draft pick, and either Anthony Randolph or Kevin Love would have opened up a wide variety of possibilities for strong teams down the line in what should be a weaker West.

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