NBA Trade Center: Warriors Give Jackson Away

The Deal: The Golden State Warriors trade G/F Stephen Jackson and PG Acie Law to the Charlotte Bobcats for G Raja Bell and F Vladimir Radmonovic.

The Warriors had their back against the wall with this deal. Jackson demanded a trade and was causing divisions on the team. Golden State had to get him out of town, and moving him and Law for Bell and Radmonovic helps the Warriors with some salary relief, team chemistry, and getting a decent scorer in return.

That being said, there are quite a few head scratchers with the deal as well. The first of which is including Acie Law, who for two years had been a bust, but now seemed to find a role as a solid player off the bench. Now the Warriors still have plenty of depth at guard, but including Law was a bit strange. When it comes to salary relief, this deal does get Jackson’s contract off the books, and will allow the Warriors to be a player in next year’s free agent market. Taking Radmonovic back in the deal limits the amount of money they will have to spend next season. Also, the inclusion of Radmonovic speaks to the level talent the Warriors could get back for their one time star player. Radmonovic at one time was a nice role player, who could give you a good 20-30 minutes a game. While never an inside threat, he always provided some offense from the wing. Recently though his game has fallen off, and he is no longer worth that much floor time (or his contract). Bell does give the Warriors, a nice player on the wing to replace Jackson, but their is a major problem looming. Bell has been playing with a hurt wrist severely limiting his effectiveness, and could opt for surgery at any time.

This deal isn’t too much better from the Bobcats perspective as well. Jackson and Law are a big time talent upgrade over Bell and Radmonovic, but at a serious CO$T. Jackson’s contract will be very limiting to the Bobcats in free agency over the next couple of seasons. Which is not good for a team lacking in star power. Charlotte is a team with a number of very good complimentary players, but no true superstar. If they had been able to go out and add a big name to the core of their roster, the Bobcats could have been a dangerous team next season. Now the Bobcats add a small spark to their offense, but limit their ability to add talent down the road. That may have made sense if Charlotte was looking for a playoff run, but they are 3-7 right now and seem to be heading for a lottery pick instead of a postseason berth. Another issue for them is team chemistry, how will Jackson react going from one bad team to another? Sure he might be saying the right things now, because he obviously wanted out of California. But how soon will he be demanding a trade out of Charlotte?

Winner: I really can’t decide a winner in this trade, and the only thing appropriate is one of my favorite quotes from The Wire, “No one wins. One side just loses more slowly.”