Bruce Jenkins Archive | E-mail |
Rowell tries to fit Mullin for big red shoes
Bruce Jenkins

Saturday, November 8, 2008


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Print E-mail del.icio.us
Digg
Technorati
Reddit
Facebook Slashdot
Fark
Newsvine
Google Bookmarks
Yahoo! Buzz
Share Comments (4) Georgia (default)
Verdana
Times New Roman
ArialFont | Size:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(11-07) 18:55 PST -- It's not easy to be as mysterious as Chris Cohan, the Warriors' invisible owner, but Robert Rowell comes pretty close. All we really know about him is that he runs the show, and he's ruthless, and he's about to run a good man out the door.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Images

View Larger Images


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bruce Jenkins
Rowell tries to fit Mullin for big red shoes 11.07.08
Golden State brings home satisfying win 11.05.08
It's crazy to even think about neutral site for World Series 10.31.08
How the Warriors can avoid coming home 0-4 10.30.08
More Bruce Jenkins »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It takes a particularly vicious nature to stage a personal vendetta against Chris Mullin, but Rowell has managed. He's on a big-time power trip, spinning wildly beyond all reason. And so we stand today in defense of Mullin - not as a front-office genius, but someone who at least deserves respect.

If Rowell really wants someone else in Mullin's seat as executive vice president of basketball operations - and that is now painfully obvious - he could have shown some class, quietly letting Mullin's contract expire at season's end. He could talk about "a new direction" or "philosophical differences" and let Mullin walk away with some dignity.

Instead, Rowell has chosen to portray Mullin as a clown. In announcing punishment for Monta Ellis, Rowell made sure to publicly ridicule Mullin's stance - which was the correct one, by the way (to show some compassion toward Ellis and maintain his good relationship with the club). He overruled Mullin in the Baron Davis negotiations, and appears to have done so again in offering Stephen Jackson a contract extension. Now he has fired Mullin's right-hand man, assistant general manager Pete D'Alessandro, and replaced him with Don Nelson's closest confidant in the organization, assistant coach Larry Riley.

What the hell happened between Nelson and Mullin? That remains unclear. It's always possible that D'Alessandro committed a serious breach of acceptable behavior. What Rowell has done, though - aside from giving himself a full-page photo on page 5 of the Warriors' media guide - is create the public perception that the Warriors' front office is in complete turmoil. That's the truth, as it turns out, but it comes without that magic touch called finesse.

Although Rowell had final say on money matters, Mullin orchestrated the lamentable contracts for Adonal Foyle, Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy. The Mike Montgomery call was an abysmal failure. Nobody was too thrilled over draft picks Ike Diogu and Patrick O'Bryant. But aside from Nelson's obvious influence, the Warriors became a relevant franchise for four reasons: Davis, Jackson, Ellis and Andris Biedrins (with plenty of help from holdover mainstay Jason Richardson). Mullin was at the heart of those decisions. He'll go down as the executive who pulled Golden State out of the doldrums after 13 years of disgrace.

If Rowell wants change, that's his right. It's just a shame his ego is the real story here. When Mullin walks into his office this afternoon, he can expect his desk to be gone. Tomorrow, the drapes. Suddenly, Rowell won't be a mystery at all. The public will know he's behind every move the Warriors make. Good luck on that one, Robert. You'll be accountable for every mistake. Now be a good little titan and go trade for Stephon Marbury.

Good luck on that one, Robert. You'll be accountable for every mistake. Now be a good little titan and go trade for Stephon Marbury.

Harrington, Foyle & Turiaf for Marbs

GET 'ER DONE ROWELL!!!

i'd rather get Harrington that way & save D Lee to use in another trade for a 1st rounder than give him up w/Curry for Harrington... Foyle can be bought out as he's an expiring contract & Turiaf can fill some minutes off the bench in Malik's current role... he's got a very reasonable contract over the next few years... u can try to trade Malik & D Lee in a 2 for 1 type deal to some other team to open a roster spot, or u can try to unload Curry w/D Lee in a salary dump type trade & open up a roster spot that way, but i'd still wanna get a 1st round pick back in the deal... i don't wanna give up D Lee unless we're getting back a young player that can be part of the longterm future, not just a stopgap type player.

Posted by Vmart:

Posted by TMS:

Good luck on that one, Robert. You'll be accountable for every mistake. Now be a good little titan and go trade for Stephon Marbury.

Harrington, Foyle & Turiaf for Marbs

GET 'ER DONE ROWELL!!!

I would much rather let Stephon stay a Knick and finish his contract out.

Lets all beat Vmart up!

Posted by Nalod:

Dysfunctional organizations are not just a Knick Phenom.

Oh yes, there have been worse. Believe it or not!

Posted by 4949:

Posted by Vmart:

Posted by TMS:

Good luck on that one, Robert. You'll be accountable for every mistake. Now be a good little titan and go trade for Stephon Marbury.

Harrington, Foyle & Turiaf for Marbs

GET 'ER DONE ROWELL!!!

I would much rather let Stephon stay a Knick and finish his contract out.

Lets all beat Vmart up!

Beat me up. Man hasn't the Ewing trade convinced you that sometime you let contracts expire.

as long as the contract we take back expires before 2010 i don't care who they get w/Marbury's contract... if they wanna save some money that way instead of a full buyout, then i'm fine w/it... i just don't wanna take back any bad contracts that extend past the magic threshold... a contract like Turiaf won't really hurt us at all since he's signed to less than MLE dollars anyway & if we're trading D Lee for other assets anyway, we will have use for a player like Turiaf to give us some minutes in the paint rebounding & defending, which he does pretty well in a limited role.

believe me, there are guys that we can get in this year's draft that'll make u forget all about David Lee next season, if we're smart enough to get another pick so we can nab 1 of those guys & still have ours left to take a guy w/superstar potential.

nah, we can land a mid-late 1st rounder & still nab a nice player... look at the guys that were taken that low last year... Javale McGee (#18), Marreese Speights (#16 pick), JJ Hickson (#19)... all these guys have the potential to be every bit as good as D Lee if not better in due time, & both Hickson & McGee sure look like they're well on their way so far from what i've seen (still early yes but both of them got some raw athletic ability that D Lee doesn't have & more of the defensive instincts that we could really use)

there's guys like D Lee & those guys available late in the draft every year... it's up to our GM to be smart enough to pick them out... if we don't trust our GM to do that then i'm not quite sure why he was hired to begin with... gaining that extra pick could prove to be huge, & it would relieve us of the worry of having to sign D Lee longterm to a huge money deal that we can't really afford to be investing in him at this point.

& to answer ur question, we only have our own 1st round pick this year... the 2nd rounder goes to someone else from the Curry trade I believe... next year's 1st rounder goes to Utah as part of the Stephon Marbury trade i believe also (if i'm wrong someone correct me on that)

[Edited by - TMS on 11-08-2008 4:29 PM]