Why the Golden State Warriors don’t need Ray Allen and Amar’e Stoudemire
By Jamie Faue
With the All-Star festivities now complete, there have been rumors that the Golden State Warriors, might sign Amar’e Stoudemire and Ray Allen with the trade deadline quickly approaching. However, both players would come with a big price tag and are at what most would consider to be the end of their careers. The Warriors have also been interested in bringing back Jermaine O’Neal for help in terms of depth, size-wise, off the bench since Andrew Bogut, once again, has been fragile this season. However, O’Neal has already stated that he does not wish to return to the NBA at this time. Much like Allen and Stoudemire, O’Neal is at the end of is NBA career as well.
While the Warriors could use a solid back-up off the bench for Bogut, why fix what isn’t broken? Despite the fragile nature of Bogut and Festus Ezeli, the Warriors were still able to accomplish many franchise firsts this season.
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The Warriors set a record for most home wins in row. They also got off to their best start in franchise history, going 21-2 and ending with a league-best 42-9 record going into the All-Star break. Golden State also currently leads the league in points scored per game, as well as assists per game. While they may not lead the NBA in rebounding, they are fifth in boards at 45 per game.
Of the nine losses that Golden State has this season, six were against teams that have a lot of size. The Warriors have always struggled with teams that have size, even with a completely healthy team, but they have been more exposed this year due to lack of the stability among the bigs.
What has been most essential to the Warriors’ success this season is their ability to score points off the bench and their overall defensive improvement. Then bench production this season has gone from zero to hero. Last year, the bench scored about 24 points per game, and this season, the scoring has jumped to an average of about 46 points per game. But what would you expect from a bench that has two former All-Stars in Andre Iguodala and David Lee, to go with the explosiveness of Marreese Speights, Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa?
There have also been great strides made by Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Speights on both ends of the floor. Although Speights still struggles defensively, he makes up for it on offense and with rebounds. Both Thompson and Green have come into their own this season, having career years. Thompson has been unbelievably good, shooting 47.1 percent from the field, 44 percent from three-point range, 49.7 percent on drives, 63 percent on close shots and a 56.3 percent in efficient field percentage.
Feb 6, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward
Draymond Green(23) celebrates a basket in the fourth quarter of their game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 124-116. Mandatory credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Green, on the other hand, is averaging career-high numbers with about 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game. While his offensive numbers have improved, the best part about Green’s game is his defense. Green forces turnovers, changes shots, grabs rebounds, gets steals and holds his defenders to 46.5% shooting. Green also has 71 blocks this season and allows only about three shots near the rim per game.
Clearly the Warriors are doing just fine, andadding the likes of Allen and Stoudemire would only hurt the Warriors. Allen is primarily a sharp shooter, and would cause clutter in the shooting guard and small forward positions. Allen would, however, bring some veteran talent and insight from his past championship runs. While that might be nice to have on a team that has only been to the second round, Allen’s numbers have dropped dramatically since joining the Boston Celtics in 2007.
Last season Allen averaged about nine points a game, when previously he had been averaging between 12 and 27 points for most of his career. He also shot a career-low 37 percent from three-point range. Adding Allen would just be more of the same for the Warriors, with players who can shoot.
Also, at this point in the season, adding a new player would cause for chemistry problems. The Warriors have a strong chemistry with the players they have now, and there is no reason the front office should break that up.
As for Stoudemire, he would provide the Warriors with more depth and good production on both ends of the court, but would also be more of the same, in terms of staying healthy. Much like Bogut and Ezeli, Stoudemire has trouble playing on a consistent basis. Stoudemire has played only one full, 82-game season in his career. He has missed at least three or more games every other season otherwise. Like adding Allen, adding Stoudemire would require chemistry re-adjustments.
In the end, adding either or both players, would disrupt the greatness that is unfolding for Golden State. When a team is 42-9, the team clearly does not need too much help. The Warriors have a size problem, but they have enough shooting to make up for it. As mentioned before, why fix something that isn’t broken?