Isiah of the West?

Before delving into the subject for today’s editorial, I really hope that everyone got to see that Miami Dolphins head coach Nick Saban turned down President George Bush’s invitation to dinner. I think this is the final sign that the NFL has really begun to take itself way too seriously. I mean, the leader of the free world is turned down by a second year coach with a career record of 7-9? I guess I could understand if Bill Belichick said no thank you—the man does wield more influence in all of New England than any politician—but Saban is an unproven commodity. While we at HMB choose to remain politically apathetic, this can’t possibly reflect well on President Bush to the rest of the world, can it? One can only wonder…“Um, excuse me, Mr. King of Saudi Arabia sir, but would you like to go out and get some wings with me and discuss military intervention in Lebanon?” “Well Mr. Bush, I can’t—I have a prior arrangement. Can I take a raincheck?” Hey, if Nick Saban can do it…

With all that out of the way, it is time to move on to more important matters: discussing the foreseeable future of the Golden State Warriors.

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So I found myself fooling around with ESPN.com’s newest toy the other day, the NBA Trade Machine. The premise is simple enough: try to make any trade with the current NBA rosters, except the program will enforce salaries, the cap, and trade regulations, discarding any fraudulent trades. Of course I decided to have a go at it with my hometown Warriors. Now, I am a realist; I am not going to waste my time trying to come up with different packages constituting Adonal Foyle, Zarko Cabarkapa, Mike Dunleavy Jr. or any other undesirable Warrior that would net Dwyane Wade. It’s not going to happen, so why bother? As I tried to construct reasonable trades for players with a “4 Sale” sign hanging from their chains, such as Al Harrington, Allen Iverson, Kenyon Martin (would we even want him?) and others, I was struck by two disconcerting trends. One, it is nearly impossible to consummate a legitimate trade; the amount of restrictions and exemptions are staggering and put serious limitations on the flexibility of many NBA GMs. Secondly, and definitely more disturbing, is the financial commitment to this current batch of Warriors. Sure the contracts are no secret, but there is something about seeing it in writing that makes it all the more devastatingly real. Take a look:

- Mike Dunleavy Jr.: $7,438,016 this year, 5 years remaining
- Adonal Foyle: $8,125,000, 4 years remaining
- Troy Murphy: $8,285,714, 5 years remaining
- Jason Richardson: $9,999,999, 5 years remaining
- Baron Davis: $15,070,000, 3 years remaining

Of all the above figures, only the Richardson signing seems reasonable and legitimately defensible. Dunleavy, Foyle and Murphy make a combined $23,848,730 to produce a total of 30 points, 21 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. Talk about bang for your buck. Though Davis is a serviceable NBA point guard when he’s healthy, he hasn’t played a full season since his third year (extension year alert!) and has not missed less than 15 games in a season since. And this isn’t even considering what his ball-dominance (no pun intended) does to the team chemistry—another story for another time. We’ll lay off poor Baron for the moment (he is rehabbing an injured knee, you know) and instead pile on the man who assembled these fine-tuned parts at such a discounted price, Warrior legend and executive Chris Mullin.

It is no secret to any educated NBA fan that terrible GMs have run amok throughout professional basketball for a large part of the last decade. My man Bill Simmons has commented on this numerous times, most blatantly in his “Atrocious GM Summit” article, which begs the obvious question: how can men this inept be in such high positions with such exorbitant amounts of cash at their discretion? Isiah Thomas is the most recognizable example of this absurdity, for three primary reasons. First, he really is that bad. Second, he is spending a load of money. And third, he is doing this all in New York. But while Isiah grabs the national low-lines, he has obscured equally dismal performances across the NBA. The efforts of a man like Mullin--remarkably Isiah-like in proportion and effect--have been equally damaging to the franchise and fan base.

The whole Trade Machine exercise got me thinking about what legacy Chris Mullin would leave on the Warriors. If you think about the state of the team when he came in, what he did to it immediately to fix it, and its current state, it is clear that Mullin and Isiah Thomas have been drinking the same Kool-Aid. While Thomas receives most the attention, Mullin’s tenure has been just as pathetic as Isiah’s in New York.

Don’t believe me? Take a quick look at the defining transactions (so far) of the Chris Mullin era, in no particular order:

1. Signing Adonal Foyle to a six-year, $42 million contract. How long did it take Adonal, who averages 4.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg, to sign this contract? It’s not like he needed his Colgate degree here. Like Isiah with Jerome James, Mullin decided a multi-year, multi-million investment in a stiff center was shrewd.

2. As Isiah did with Lenny Wilkens and most recently Larry Brown, Mullin tried to make a big splash in the coaching ranks. He lured Stanford legend Mike Montgomery out of college and into the NBA despite definite evidence that proved college coaches had little success in the pros.

3. To make an impact on the court, Mullin brought a selfish, disgruntled point guard with an enormous contract back to his roots, a move that would satisfy the fan base in the short-term, but cripple the franchise’s long-term flexibility. Baron Davis meet Stephon Marbury. Chris Mullin meet Isiah Thomas.

4. The previous move also completely revitalized the trading partners. The up-and-coming NO/OKC Hornets were able to draft Rookie of the Year Chris Paul after purging Davis, while the Suns signed reigning two-time MVP Steve Nash and have made the Western Conference finals in each of their two full seasons without Marbury.

5. Both Isiah and Mullin have made numerous personnel blunders, Thomas through short-sighted trades, and Mullin through obscene contract extensions.

6. Mullin also signed Derek Fisher to a six-year, $37 million deal. What?

7. The parallel even goes down to their drafting capabilities. Though both men show very little capacity to manage a basketball roster, they can spot talent. Three of the Warriors most promising players, Ike Diogu, Monta Ellis, and Andris Biedrins, were drafted by Mullin. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to sign these players to long-term extensions unless the larger contracts can be moved. Thomas has also drawn solid draft reviews, although his youngsters are buried on the bench behind the likes of Jamal Crawford, Malik Rose, Eddy Curry, Jalen Rose et al.

With apologies to Minnesota, Philadelphia, Atlanta, the pre-2005-06 Clippers, and fans of all other teams with horrible front offices, Chris Mullin rightfully stands next to Isiah as the torchbearers for incompetence. There isn’t another GM more like Isiah Thomas in the NBA. Like Isiah, Mullin sacrifices long-term flexibility for short-term success and headlines, while demonstrating a complete lack of fiscal acumen. Immediately following the Davis acquisition the Warriors closed the season well, and garnered high hopes from its long-suffering fans. A decent start to the 2005-06 season had people excited, but all the positives quickly dissolved as injuries mounted and clashes with the head coach emerged. Now the Warriors are sitting on four nearly untradeable contracts while only dangling marginal young talents like Diogu and Biedrins in the fleeting hope that someone will take one of our seriously undesirable contracts. Good luck.

Am I surprised that this is the current state of the Warriors? Not at all. Hell, this was a franchise that kept Gary St. Jean as the voice of reason until 2004. All I am saying is that we better get used to this team, because we could be stuck with this roster for a while. Unless willing to part with franchise cornerstone Jason Richardson, it is unlikely that the Warriors can make any significant moves. And if the young talent does emerge, retaining the players will be difficult with the larger contracts on the books, and they will be able to walk like Gilbert Arenas did. There are some decent young players on this team, and the best hope is that they can come together to make the Warriors playoff-caliber, because it is doubtful that significant help will come from outside the organization. So Warriors fans, help me congratulate Chris Mullin, the Isiah Thomas of the West.