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Mr. Mullin Deserves Some Credit

A common assumption in most realms of professionalism is to assume positive intentionality among those you associate with. We can be clear, we can be honest, and we can be straight, but there always seems to be that seed of doubt – is what we're being told really the truth?

For the Golden State Warriors, the jettison of Jason Richardson's contract had ostensibly clear goals: keep some flexibility (Traded Player Exception worth a whopping $9.9-million dollars), pick up a young big man that to fit Don Nelson's system (Brandan Wright), and free up some cash to extend players already on the roster (Baron Davis, Andris Biedrins, and eventually, Monta Ellis).

Davis and Biedrins didn't get their extensions this summer and Ellis is due in July 08 .. but is it possible that the move wasn't done for financial reasons at all? The Warriors may have sent out their franchise player over the past six years with the intention of actually getting better on the basketball court – the classic "addition by subtraction" scenario, and the results are clear with the way the team has played thus far.

"It was tough," Warriors Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin said of trading Richardson on Draft Night. "It was a tough deal to pull off, but it was something we felt we had to do. We got a good young player in Brandan Wright, and with the players remaining on our roster we feel we're going to be okay."

Mullin made one thing clear during the summer – the Warriors were simply not good enough as they were constructed. Yes, they finished the season 16-5 and made the playoffs, shocked the world, blah blah blah. But that isn't what's important; they were still a bad rebounding team, still struggled with consistency, were a bad free-throw shooting team, a bad team away from home, etc.

In other words, Mullin was being clear. He was being honest. And he was being straight.

Yet there remained a seed of doubt – did the Warriors just trade Jason Richardson away to save some money?

Very rarely do GMs and executives get credit for their statements that were right on the money. It doesn't happen that we give people their due for their honesty, but as it turns out, the Warriors have been more than "okay." While Richardson and the Bobcats are struggling to a 7-12 record (losing 8 of their last 10 games), the Warriors have just completed a 8-2 stretch and are squarely in the Western Conference playoff picture – a picture seemingly more and more crowded every year.

The Warriors resurgence has been credited to Stephen Jackson's return to the lineup and Nellie's system. But it's the deviser of this mad machine that deserves some credit as well – that would be Chris Mullin.

Is there anything really wrong with cutting costs if doing so actually leads to a better squad on the court? By moving Richardson, the Warriors were able to hang on to Kelenna Azubuike (at a minimum contract) and bring back Matt Barnes for another year.

The results? Azubuike averages 13.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in just over 30 minutes a game. Last season, Richardson produced 16.0 points and 5.1 rebounds in almost 33.0 minutes, but was literally paid eight times what Azubuike is paid. Factor in a full season of Stephen Jackson (upping his averages to 21.8 points and 4.0 boards a game because of the added time due to Richardson's departure), who has more than filled the void as the team's glue-MVP, and didn't Richardson just have a redundant skill set for the Warriors?

Between Azubuike, Jackson and Barnes (7.7 points and 4.5 rebounds), Richardson's statistical impact has been replaced. His emotional leadership and intangibles? The Warriors don't seem to be having a problem in that realm either.

Most importantly, without Richardson, the Warriors have actually increased their flow on offense. Since Richardson was a volume shooter (he's leading the Bobcats in field goal attempts but has one of the lowest field-goal percentages on the team), and the Warriors are now eighth in the league in assists. The team has successfully found a sense of cohesion that is required for their frenetic pace and is succeeding because of it, as any team would.

The bottom line? The Warriors are more efficient than they were last year and they're financially more flexible as well.

It isn't as though the Bobcats are now finding themselves in this terrible situation because Richardson is on the roster – he's going to pair with Gerald Wallace in the coming years to make a formidable duo. Once – and if – the Bobcats get healthy, their squad is pretty deep and dangerous.

No team was shafted in this deal, there are no clear winners and losers – the Warriors got the financial flexibility while actually improving their roster and the Bobcats got a perimeter scorer that they desperately needed.

Credit for that belongs to Mr. Mullin, who has re-engineered the Warriors' arsenal after a few years of learning on the job.