SwanShadow Thinks Out Loud

Stephen Jackson got half of what he’s been clamoring for: a one-way ticket out of Oakland.

Unfortunately for him, the journey ends in Charlotte.

Stack Jack, who devolved from team captain to malcontent in the course of  a single preseason, had hoped for a trade to a contender — specifically, the Cleveland Cavaliers, who reportedly passed on picking him up. Instead, he and guard Acie Law were shipped cross-continent to the Bobcats, a team with an identical record to Golden State’s 3-6, an equally difficult coach in the much-traveled Larry Brown, and arguably dimmer future prospects than even the Warriors.

Good luck with that, Jack.

In exchange, the Warriors receive swingman Raja Bell, an excellent defender and outside shooter who’s on the down side of his career (he’s 33) and nursing an injury (a torn wrist tendon), and 6′ 10″ Vladimir Radmanovic, an overpaid bust with an expensive option for next season. The 6′ 5″ Bell, assuming he keeps playing hurt, will pick up most of the minutes Jackson had been getting in Golden State. He’s a similar player — a little smaller, somewhat less of an offensive threat, but on the other hand, less greedy for the ball. Radmanovic will be lucky to get off the bench in Don Nelson’s system.

I’m sorry to see Acie Law go. He looked like a player in the limited action he saw during his brief stay here. But almost any price is worth being rid of Jackson, who was only going to get grumpier and louder as the season wore on. Given that the Warriors aren’t going anywhere this year anyway, they did well to take what they could get, and move on.

Now if we could just get Nellie to retire to Maui, and let chief assistant Keith Smart take over the team.

This entry was posted on November 16, 2009 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Celebritiana, I'm a Warriors Worrier, My Home Town, Ripped From the Headlines, Sports Bar. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.