So the Warriors finally got in on the trading action trading Dan Gadzuric and Brandan Wright for Troy Murphy and a 2012 2nd round pick.  Murphy makes $12M this year and will likely never put on a Warrior’s uniform.  If he cannot be flipped for another 2nd round pick he will be cut and land somewhere else as a free agent.  Brandan Wright was not going to receive a qualifying offer this Summer because he would have most likely accepted not being able to find more money on the open market. Wright makes $3.4 million this year.  Gadzuric was not getting much playing time and earns $7.25M this year.  Basically the Warriors bought a 2nd round pick in 2012 for $1.3M and opened up two roster spots if in fact Murphy gets cut. If there is a positive to take away from this, the new owners are willing to buy draft picks rather than sell them.

I would have liked to see the Warrior’s get more for Brandan Wright, but his stock was about as low as it could be.  Hindsight is 20/20 but they really should have moved him this past Summer.  I am happy to move on from the Brandan Wright era and ANOTHER failed 1st round draft pick, but this is bittersweet as the West has opened up a bit with the Williams and Carmelo trades and getting someone who can contribute to the team rather than a contract would have been nice.  However, if the Warriors bring back Jeff Adrien as Rusty Simmons is reporting then it lessens the blow a bit.  Adrien will be more useful than Murphy would be. Who gets the 2nd open roster spot if Murphy is cut? The Jewish Jordan?

I guess I can give up the project I started last night to change all of our “Brandon Wright” tags to “Brandan Wright” tags so that is good news.  Looks like Alex Smith lasted longer.

So anyone looking for more Warrior’s trades besides the slim possibility of moving Murphy for a pick?  I don’t anticipate anything and after seeing the Knicks and the Nets probably overpay in the blockbuster trades I am not confident the Warrior’s can pick up a difference maker without giving up too much.

Look Familiar? (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

For the second time this season, the Kings bail the Warriors out of a demoralizing loss by completely forgetting how to close a game. From 9 points down with about 3 minutes remaining, the Warriors got 3′s from Curry and then Monta, then, after trading a few scores, Monta made his second last minute shot in as many nights, this one to send the game to overtime (where the Warriors quickly pulled away from the deflated visitors).

The Kings opened the door by doing a nice impression of a college team, making only 3 of 6 foul shots in the closing minutes. Still, that distracts from the fact that the Kings were dominating the Warriors from the line until the closing minutes of regulation (it was something like 30-10 in FTA’s at one point, and even with the Kings fouling at the end of overtime they still made it to the line 17 times more than the Warriors).

Monta got the glory — but also an ankle injury, which according to the beat writers isn’t too serious but could still keep him out of tonight’s game against the Clippers — but it was Curry who had perhaps the most important game for the Warriors’ future success. He broke the 30 mark for the first time since December 5 at Oklahoma City, and did so with 8 fewer shot attempts than Monta (providing evidence for Feltbot’s theory that Curry would outscore Monta if he got the same number of shots — will be interesting to see how he plays tonight if Monta sits out with the ankle).

David Lee had a solid double-double, and Dorell Wright came up big on the glass with 12 rebounds to go with his 13 points. Biedrins, on the other hand, did little to respond to Lacob’s implied criticism in some of his recent interviews, with 4 points and 5 rebounds and a team low -14 before he fouled out in only 24 minutes. Yikes.

The bench was fairly quiet in this game, with Gadzuric making the most memorable appearance after Biedrins fouled out near the end of regulation. Gadzuric missed a point blank layup in the closing minute, though he did post a +16 so he wasn’t all bad. Especially if you compare it to Brandon Wright’s -10 in just 3 minutes. If there’s one thing Wright is consistent at, it’s being inconsistent.

So the Warriors avert disaster, and now get a bit of a freebie game tonight in LA against the Clippers (though it would still be nice to win another before San Antonio comes to town on Monday). Their propensity for playing down to their competition is getting a bit concerning, as they are coming off three straight wins that were way closer than they should have been. Still, a win is a win, and the Dubs now have their first 4-game winning streak in three years. They’re back within 4 games of .500, and trail Portland by 4 games in the standings for the 8th and final playoff spot. Can’t complain too much about that, given the recent history of this franchise.

Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

The Warriors come away with a sorely needed victory, riding David Lee’s enthusiasm and Dorell Wright’s hot hand to a win over the lowly T-wolves. Boy, it’s nice to see a new green tick on the left for the first time in a while!

As far as the formula for victory, on first glance this one is a bit of a head scratcher as the Warriors were out-rebounded 55-32, were out-shot from the line 31-17, and gave up 22 and 21 to Kevin Love. But what they did do was shoot over 50% while holding the T-wolves under 40%, went 12-18 from deep, assisted 26 of their 40 field goals, and dominated the turnover battle 21-11. That should do the trick most nights.

They had a nice start, taking a lead at the end of the first quarter for the first time in a while (though they did bleed a bigger early lead down to 2 by the end of the period). And their third quarter was one of their best of the year, with Wright refusing to miss from outside and Gadzuric providing a huge burst of energy off the bench.

Gadzuric finished with 8 points and a team-high +18 in 18 minutes off the bench subbing for a foul-prone Biedrins, and Smart deservedly gave him the game ball. Dude is obviously awkward and borderline uncoordinated, but damn does he bring the energy every night. Unlike many Warriors of recent vintage, effort is never the problem with him.

Outside of Gadzuric though, the bench reverted to its largely useless status. Monta played the full 48, Wright was over 46, and Lee played 43 minutes in his first game back from two weeks off. I think Smart was well aware of how much they needed this game.

So the legend of David Lee will grow, even though he only had 10 points and 6 rebounds. But he seems to have a big impact on defense with his size and communication, and the team clearly benefits from his energy and leadership. And as GSOM notes, he kept Vlad on the bench which may have been his biggest contribution of all.

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Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

The Warriors waste a career night from Biedrins and, more important, a great opportunity to steal one on the road before Lee comes back tonight. They shot 49% from the field, outrebound the Grizzlies 44-33, held Randolph and Gasol in check, and were even close in terms of foul shots with 23 attempts to the Grizzlies 29. But when it really mattered at the end, huge turnovers and missed shots pushed the losing streak to five games.

Dorell Wright was the goat in this one, as he missed two huge shots near the end — one a botched attempt to pick up a foul, the other a wide-open 3 with the game on the line. Let’s hope he bounces back like he did the last time he had a wretched game…3 games ago. After a great start to the season, games like this make you wonder if there was a reason why Wright never got a chance to play big minutes until this year.

Back to Biedrins, he was an absolute beast around the rim tonight. Perhaps most impressive was how smoothly he moved around the rim, taking a single dribble when needed to get in better position for a layup. That’s something we never would have seen from him a few years ago, and combined with his improved set of post moves from about 8-10 feet he might be using enhanced skills to make up for any lessened quickness compared to his earlier days.

The controversy du jour from tonight’s game was Smart’s 4th quarter decisions with regard to the bench: both Monta and Steph were kept out of the first five minutes of the quarter, and while the reserves didn’t do too bad as the deficit only grew from 5 to 8, as Steinmetz pointed out on the post-game show that stretch was the perfect opportunity to close the gap with the Memphis starters on the bench (Smart was planning to bring them in a bit earlier but there wasn’t a dead ball for several minutes). The decision to pull Curry after two bad plays and leave him on the bench until the 2-minute mark was also odd, and raises some questions about Smart’s coaching skills.

I thought this exchange from the Chronicle writeup was a big strange:

“I had two possessions when I was rusty. I’ve got to learn to ease my way back into a game when I sit that long,” said Curry, who had 26 points.

“I don’t buy that out-of-rhythm stuff. That’s a cop-out by ballplayers,” Smart said. “When I played, we were ready to play at any time.”

Silver linings? Jeff Adrien had a breakout game with 12 points (on 6-11 shooting), 8 rebounds, and a team-high +6 in over 30 minutes. Adrien still has flaws — the Grizzlies got a lot of easy inside baskets in this game — but until Amundson is back, he needs to jump over Gadzuric and Radmonovic in the front-court rotation.

Speaking of those two fools, Gaszuric managed a -15 in only 8 minutes of action last night. Radmonovic was slightly better and even hit a three, but his behind-the-back pass to the Grizzlies’ bench near the end of the game was a killer. The rest of the bench was similarly worthless: Carney in particular was extremely disappointing after a few solid games in a row; Lin was ok defensively but went 0-4 from the field with all four shots being blocked; and Reggie Williams played a largely forgettable 17 minutes with only 7 points.

And O.J. Mayo going for 23 off the bench? I guess no one read my game preview…

So now it’s on to Minnesota for a must-win game on the back end of a back-to-back. At least David Lee will be waiting for them when they get there — now we get to see how much the recent slide has been his absence and how much is just a tougher schedule exposing the Warriors’ flaws.

The Warriors got some good news before tonight’s game, as David Lee has been cleared to play and is flying out to Minnesota to meet the team for the final game of the road trip. But he won’t be available tonight, so the team will try once again to get that elusive second victory without their big offseason acquisition. The Warriors won the first meeting between these two, though the Grizzlies were without Zach Randolph and he’s back and expected to play. What to watch for tonight:

• Home Cookin’. Memphis is Monta’s offseason home, and he had the team over for Thanksgiving dinner last night at his “compound.” Monta’s been struggling since banging his hip, and is mired in his worst shooting slump of the season. Here’s hoping a couple nights in his own bed have recharged him a bit.
• Inside, inside, inside. It’s been a broken record since Lee’s been out, but this game will once again hinge on whether the team of Andris, Gadzuric, Adrien, and, yes, Radmanavic can hold off Randolph and Marc Gasol inside.
• Hold the Mayo. Regular Monta trade rumor partner O.J. Mayo has been struggling this year, and he was recently demoted to the bench for the first time in his NBA career. So he’ll be motivated to have a big game, and lord knows the Warriors are a good target for those sorts of attempts. I’ll probably watch the ESPN 2 feed, but for those of you watching CSN I hope you don’t have to hear Fitz ranting about the amazingly poor luck that would cause Mayo to go off against the Warriors of all teams — since defense of course can’t be blamed.

The problem for O.J. is that he’s on a team with three above average players (Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol, and Zach Randolph) that all need looks and more often than not it seems like Mayo gets the short end of the stick.

On the season, Mayo is averaging the second most field goal attempts a game for the Grizzlies, but minor injuries have slowed the starts of Randolph and Gasol to this point and they will both likely be more aggressive and effective once they are 100% healthy. Additionally, Mike Conley seems like he is going to be shooting the ball a bit more this season based on his play during the first couple of weeks, which only takes more looks away from Mayo.

He offers up a bunch of trade scenarios with multiple teams one of which is our GSWs:

Golden State Warriors Receive: O.J. Mayo, Hasheem Thabeet

Memphis Grizzlies Receive: Monta Ellis

This offer was reportedly made last season but the Warriors turned it down. Ellis has looked a lot better this season, so there is obviously still incentive for the Grizzlies to make this deal, but Conley’s extension means Ellis would be stepping into the same role Mayo was forced into and he’s a lot more assertive than Mayo with his shot attempts, so that may not work out for Memphis. Still, there are few players as talented as Ellis and his ability to create, even though he prefers to shoot, is better than Mayo’s at this point.

I cannot imagine that this trade is even a remote possibility. If the offer was indeed made last season and the Warriors turned it down why in the world does he think it is now a possibility. Ellis is playing much better and more importantly seems to be much happier. The only reason to have even thought about this trade last year was if you thought Ellis and Curry could not play together or that Ellis was just going to Capt. Jack his way out of town. However if you think Ellis and Curry cannot play together what makes you think that Curry and Mayo can play together? Add that to the fact that Biedrins is playing much better this season and when David Lee is healthy and the emergence of Jeff Adrien off the bench I don’t know if Thabeet would even be wearing a uniform most nights. He may be more useful than Gadzuric, but probably not more useful than Vladimir Radmanovic and certainly not more useful than Adrien.

In short: NO DEAL.

With very few outside shots falling, I give full credit for the win to the front line that produced another winning rebounding battle (continuing the perfect link between a positive rebounding +/- and winning the game).

Lee had troubles with his shot, but had the huge tip-in late and another double-double with 14 and 15. Andris was also huge inside with 20 rebounds, playing about as big and quick as I can remember seeing him.

Gadzuric was surprisingly good off the bench, bringing plenty of energy and hauling in 6 rebounds. He was tapping a few balls in addition to the rebounds he was credited with. I also liked what I saw from Carney (especially his big late bucket), though his team-low -6 doesn’t impress.

Now they take it on the road, playing some teams that they definitely should be able to beat. I’d love to see them win at least 2 of the 5.

The Warriors and Blazers get set to do it all over again two nights after meeting in the Rose Garden. What to watch for:

• Replacing Amundson. With Amundson out for 1-4 months, can anyone step up and show that they can handle backup minutes at the 5? Gadzuric and Adrien are the only real options (outside of playing Lee there out of position), so let’s hope that one of them can give some quality minutes tonight.
• Curry’s handles. He had 8 turnovers last game — let’s see if he can at least get things down to a 2:1 assist to turnover ration, and preferably 3:1.
• The “New” Monta. After a couple of efficient games, Monta threw up a 5-16 last game, with four missed threes. Can he once again give us hope that he’s rediscovering his 2007-08 form when he shot over 50% from the field?
• Bench scoring. Can someone — anyone — score some points off the bench? Williams and Wright, I’m looking at you (since I have little to no hope for anyone else who’s healthy)

Rusty Simmons has a quick article in the SFChron discussing the 15th roster spot. What it lacks in any sort of depth it makes up for in quotes from Coach Smart and the two players battling it out, Jeff Adrien and Aaron Miles. Interesting that Jeremy Lin’s name is not thrown in the mix, but I guess marketing to Asian-Americans and his potential (not to mention his contract) have guaranteed him a roster spot.

At this point I would lean towards the rebounding Adrien, for when B-Wright or Biedrins go down, but then what to do at the point to spell Curry? Is Miles better than Lin? Is Adrien better than Gadzuric? Are the new owners willing to buy out any awful contracts to open up roster spots for better players?