The Unsung Winners of the Trade Deadline

By: Brian Sanchez
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There were really no flashy deals at the trade deadline. There have been major trades this year with Rudy Gay and James Harden changing uniforms, they just weren't at the deadline. I would feel comfortable saying all the people like me who refreshed their Twitter feeds every five seconds waiting for an update thought today's was a deadline with a capital DEAD. I would also tend to say that not too many people would jump for joy when their playoff contending team only traded the last two players (Jeremy Tyler and Charles Jenkins) on the roster for second round picks, but I did, and this is why:

1. The Warriors are under the salary cap

Left: Charles Jenkins Right: Jeremy Tyler

Coming into the Thursday deadline the Warriors were $1.2 million over the cap. There was no way GM Bob Myers was going to dupe somebody in to taking Richard Jefferson or Andris Biedrins, so the only way to get under the cap was to trade two of the end of the bench players: Charles Jenkins, Jeremy Tyler, and Kent Bazemore. Bazemore has gone from a Summer League walk-on, to a guy who provides a couple minutes of defense a game and seems to have a future as a defensive role player in the league. So naturally, that only left Charles Jenkins and Jeremy Tyler, who project to be back-ups on non-playoff teams at their peaks in the league. So, why was it so important to be under the salary cap?

2. The Warriors are out of the luxury tax

Left: Owner Joe Lacob Right: GM Bob Myers

With the new CBA, there are steep penalties for being in the luxury tax. Now, the Warriors will enter the luxury tax at some point because owner Joe Lacob is willing to if the money is being spent on a difference maker. Lacob really cares about winning. He is, in a way, the anti-Cohan. Now there is something new for Lacob to dance around financially, and that is called the repeater tax. The repeater tax is in place to try and make sure large market teams can not continue to out spend small market teams at will. In it's most basic explanation, the repeater tax exponentially increases what teams that are constantly over the threshold have to pay. Usually, a team has to pay however far they are over the threshold as the tax. For example, if a team is $10 million over the cap, they have to pay an additional $10 million in luxury tax. For large market teams, this is no big deal. If that's the cost of having Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, and Pau Gasol on the Lakers, they say, "that's fine." But for teams that are in small markets like the Memphis Grizzlies, they are so desperate to not pay the tax that they were willing to give up Rudy Gay just to save the money. To pay the repeater tax you need to have been in the luxury tax for three of the past four years. If the Warriors would have stayed over the cap, they would have started the clock on their requirement to pay the repeater tax only to keep Jeremy Tyler and Charles Jenkins who usually only play in garbage minutes.

3. They have a reason to look forward to the draft
Before the trades of Tyler and Jenkins the Warriors had zero picks in this upcoming NBA Draft. Now at the very least they have two second rounders. What could come of those two picks? Honestly, I can't imagine. The Warriors are one of the youngest teams in the league, so the likelihood of them drafting two second rounders and signing them to contracts is low. But that does not mean the picks could not be useful. They could possibly be packaged in to moving up to the end of the first round when they may be able to find a player they like or draft a European player and stash him over seas. They could also be used in a trade again. You never really know, but one thing is for sure, most people trust GM bob Myers to do something smart that helps the team.

4. Nobody batted an eye at Klay trade rumors

Eric Gordon battles KlayThompson for the ball

This is probably the bit of information that came from this trade deadline that excites me the most. Klay was rumored to have been in the works of a trade for New Orleans SG Eric Gordon. Whether or not Gordon would make the Warriors that much better compared to the price of his contract s debatable but not what I care about for this instance. What excited me was, the Warriors trigger happy second-year SG was rumored to be on the move, and most fans seemed alright with it. Even beyond that, you could see Twitter was flooded with people saying they would love to have Eric Gordon and didn't mind that it cost Klay. I don't necessarily want Klay gone, but I also don't think he's that good. It was just that I expected their to be riots in the streets with people screaming that Klay is a great shooter, cheap, young, and should be going nowhere. But the openness to deal one of the Warriors young assets was thrilling to me. People want to win, and win now. If that costs Klay, so be it.


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There's no Defense for this All Star Pick

By: Brian Sanchez

San Rafael, Calif.—Look, the Golden State Warriors are having a bounce back season to be incredibly proud of. David Lee has broken the Warriors long string of being without an All-Star since 1997 when Latrell Spreewell represented the Dubs in Cleveland.
     Now, normally, a team that is double digit wins over .500 which has beat the L.A. Clippers three out of four times as well as beating the Heat, Thunder, Pacers, Nets, Hawks, and Nuggets; would get two All-Stars if they had two deserving players. There is no doubt the Warriors do, with Stephen Curry and David Lee. Alas, the Warriors only get one All-Star. This is a clear sign that the rest of the league acknowledges the Warriors are having a good season by giving them one All-Star, but letting them know they have not arrived as one of the leagues notable teams by not allowing them two.

     First I'll take a look at who should have made the team between Steph and D. Lee. I understand that David Lee is having a very, very good year (offensively). He's within fractions of averaging 20 ppg. and 10 rpg. and has 27 double-doubles this year.  Curry on the other hand is averaging 21 ppg. 6.5 apg. and 4 rpg. 6.5 assists per game may seem low, but for a point guard that scores at the high clip Curry does, it is more than sufficient. Curry is the leading scorer of all players left off of the All-Star team.
     The reason Lee made it over Curry is because the NBA is obsessed with offensive stats and don't really look at anything else. If David Lee is not the worst interior defender in the league, then he must be tied for the worst. He is soft inside, often late on rotations, and allows average to poor offensive players to have big scoring days on him, which in my eyes cancels out his own offense. But who cares about that, right? How many points does he score? That's all that matters. And yes, Curry scores more than him, but Lee does it down low where there isn't always a lot of scoring in the league. What really did it for Lee was his number of double-doubles. That is what impresses people. Just the term alone gets people in a tizzy.

     I would have picked Steph as the teams All-Star, because he is without a doubt the most important player on his team. Steph is sporting some of the most impressive numbers shooting wise: 45% on three's, 43% from the field, and 90% from the charity stripe. Curry handles the ball a lot throughout a game, especially compared to David Lee. However, Curry has only five more turnovers than him, with 117 compared to Lee's 112. While I don't think stats do a good job of showing how good a player is defensively, Steph has twice as many steals and just as many blocks as David Lee. Let that sink in. An All-Star power forward who plays almost 38 minutes a game only has eight blocks. Did I mention he didn't play very good interior defense?
     With all of that said, I think both Lee and Curry should have been on the All-Star team because of how well their team is preforming. This is why I think Lee over Curry isn't the biggest problem with the selection process. My problems come with Lamarcus Aldridge, and James Harden.
     I'll start with Aldridge. He isn't even averaging a double-double, and he's shooting under 50% from the field. There is no way he belongs over Steph Curry. The Trail Blazers are one game over .500 and they are that good because of Lillard more than Aldridge.
     Same story with James Harden. Harden is having an All-Star type year according to his numbers, but is he more deserving than Curry? Harden is averaging 26 ppg. 4.5 rpg. and 5.5 apg. Very impressive numbers. He is also a black hole on offense who isn't a floor general like Curry. This is basically a toss up in my eyes. And Curry should win that toss because of the record he has lead his team to. The Warriors sit at 26-17 while the Rockets are only two games over .500 at 24-22.
     At the end of the day I think Stephen Curry will be on this years All-Star team. Chris Paul looks like a candidate to pull out due to injury, as does Dwight Howard. Tim Duncan and the Spurs are always prone to pulling himself from extra competition to rest at his advanced age.  Curry will probably be going to All-Star weekend with or without being on the team because he should be in the three-point competition. At this point in time, I would put my money on Curry being an All-Star.