$10 Warriors Trade Exception - Some Options

Golden State has 11 players coming back next year for sure - assuming they keep Biedrins and Monta Ellis (and they will). If they bring C.J. Watson back, they'll have 12. That means they'll need at least one more player to meet the NBA roster minimum, and more likely 2-3 more (it never hurts to have an extra). Since the Warriors will be over the cap when they lock up Biedrins, Ellis, and Azubuike, it's going to be a pretty tall order to sign 2-3 more players with only the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions. While the GSW will likely try to bring back Pietrus and Barnes, Pietrus is probably ready to bolt and Barnes is a hit or miss player. What makes more sense is to acquire a proven veteran using their $10 million trade exception. Here's a list of options and their likelihood. 1) Marcus Camby or Nene (Nuggets): Two chances of this happening - slim and none. Denver needs players (they're under the NBA roster requirement right now), so they're not likely to let one go without getting one back. Never mind the fact that Denver and Golden State are rivals. Denver is desperate to cut salary, but this is not going to happen. 2) Tim Thomas (Clippers): While it's hard to imagine these two teams making a deal, the Clippers ownership is notoriously cheap. Tim Thomas is nothing more than role player for the Clips, and moving his contract (about $6 million a year for two more years) would give the Clips some cap room to make a run at a free agent in a couple of weeks (especially if Maggette opts out as he is likely to do). Thomas would fit into the Warriors system, provide a backup at PF, and his contract only lasts two more seasons. Get the Clippers to throw in a draft pick and this is a deal. 3) Damien Wilkins (Seattle): It's not that exciting to talk about, but Seattle's Damien Wilkins is a solid scorer who would enjoy playing in Nellie's system. He's also cheap ($3 million for two more seasons) and he's ready to leave Seattle behind. The Sonics have so many 2nd round picks stockpiled, they'd probably give Golden State one just to take Wilkins off their hands. 4) Trenton Hassell (Nets): This one isn't that exciting either, but Hassell brings veteran leadership and defense. His contract is fair - $4.4 million for two more years - but with the Nets in full rebuild mode (not to mention a full roster), they might be willing to toss a draft pick at Golden State just to get rid of him. 5) Mike Miller (Minnesota): If Mike Miller is officially a Timberwolf on or before the 30th, there's an outside chance that Golden State could con Minnesota into giving him up for some future first rounders. I'm not sure how useful Miller would be in the current system, but it would give Golden State license to trade Baron Davis and move Monta Ellis to point. This one isn't very likely either, but it's fun to think about...imagine a 41% 3pt shooter playing Nellie ball. 6) Any NY Knick not named Zach Randolph: The Knicks need to dump salary, but the player Golden State would be most interested in (Zach Randolph) makes $13+ million a year, so that won't work. The Knicks would probably give Golden State the keys to Madison Square Garden if they took on Eddy Curry's deal, but it's hard to imagine that *ever* making sense. The same goes for Quentin Richardson, Jared Jeffries, and just about anyone else on the Knicks current roster. Isiah really screwed that team over... There are a host of possibilities - any player that makes $10 million a year or less could be had. However, it's important to remember that whatever team that surrenders their player gets nothing back - at least not this year. Golden State can always send future draft picks as part of the deal, but that's not terribly attractive to a team that's trying to win right now. There's also one more consideration - a lot of teams are under the minimum NBA roster requirement. Letting a player go without getting one back isn't an option for half the teams in the league. Comments - anyone I missed?