The Warriors Finally Trade Al Harrington

The big news out of Warriors land is that Al Harrington is no longer a member of the Golden State Warriors. It is well known around the Bay Area that Harrington isn't really a Don Nelson guy and he knows it. He made it public that he didn't want to be on the team. Nellie was quoted as saying that he thinks he's better than he is.

He thinks he's a superstar. I think he's a very good player. If he wants to be traded, we'll try to accommodate him.

ESPN.com reported that the Warriors and the New York Knicks have agreed in principle to a deal in which the Warriors would send Harrington in return for Jamal Crawford.

According to Kelly Dwyer from Ball Don't Lie, this deal helps the Knicks get all their contracts set up to clear by 2010, when they are expected to make a huge push to get LeBron James. GM Donnie Walsh also drafted and then later traded for Harrington, so he seems to be high on him.

I have mixed feelings about the deal. Crawford is more of a shooting guard in my mind, and the Warriors are waiting to get their star shooting guard back from injury in another couple months. Crawford is scoring nearly 20 points a game this season, which will definitely help the Warriors in the scoring department. The Warriors have had to turn to undrafted rookie Anthony Morrow for offense of late because of the lack of scoring from the back court. But what happens when Monta comes back? Crawford and Ellis play the same position and are both better shooting guards who will be asked to play point guard. Crawford likes to shoot the long ball more, while Monta likes the shoot the mid range jumper and go to the hole more. I'm not sure they can really co-exist on the court at the same time, but if Crawford was a 6th man, I could see Don Nelson putting together some interesting lineups. Also, Crawford can shoot the three, which the Warriors don't do very well outside of Morrow.

Right now, it looks like a good fit for the Warriors. I just worry about what happens when Monta comes back.

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