I’ve been following, from a distance, the Warriors for a long time. I think the worst moves seem to be when Nelson is around. I still remember them trading away Mitch Richmond for Billy Owens. Owens never became the players Mitch did and Mitch suffered in purgatory (well, Sacramento) for most of his career, wasting what could have been a much better career. Had he been on a playoff team, I think he would be mentioned more among the best players at the SG position. It’s too bad.

Nelson is certainly a character. I think you can put him in the same category as Larry Brown, not for coaching talent, but for immature, temperamental behaviour. You get on the wrong side of this guy and you’re screwed. We’ll see if Anthony Randolph gets time this season.

1) the G.S. front office has a long and well respected tradition in making dumb moves;
2) generations of good (or even wonderful) players has been drafted in Oakland and then traded away;
3) many of these guys actually sought a way of escaping (and this is another case);
4) Don Nelson has really become an old crazy maniac, and you don’t want to deal with him if he doesn’t love you. Marco didn’t have such a bad season at first, he just couldn’t play a lick being in jail, and never fitted with Nelson any more;
5) people in the Bay Area know all of this for sure, but probably I see them shared in two lines now: those who look at the bright future of guys like M. Ellis, S. Curry, A. Morrow, A. Randolph, and think they dont’t need Marco or B. Wright any more; others, who regret this trade as the newest example of their team going, again, in the wrong direction;
6) the case of Bellinelli (and note the double double “L”: that’s his real name) it’s not to be paired with the Pops’s case in TO. Marco B. was a fan favourite for two essential reasons: he was the only team-player in the back court, and he was a white boy. When your attendance is made by 80-90% of whites, don’t be surprised if thing like that happens: you know, people tend to identify theirselves in guys that look a bit like them (in italian soccer, for instance, the much loved players are the ones born in town);
6) anyway, in a team full of primadonnas, bad boys and shot-first, Bellinelli was a rare glimpse of well-mannered, team-oriented guy, one ot few just willing to play some defence (as people noted). And surely all this (not surprisingly) didn’t make him popular in a locker room made of talented playground players;
7, and last) Marco is not going to be a world-beater, maybe will try to over-do initially, but he knows the environment has changed now, and Toronto is his last chance to be a NBA player, as he wish to consider himself.

I think this was only a win-win for Golden State owners. I agree that someone had to go, and Belinelli was the most likely candidate, but to not even turn him into a useful player or draft pick is a little surprising. They couldn’t even package a few players together? There were just far too many Golden State wing players for everyone to get enough minutes, and Belinelli needed minutes to develop. Now he’ll get them. Not that I think he’s a future All-Star, or anything, but I think he’s going to develop into a player the Warrior fans will regret them trading away for basically nothing.

Oh, and just a note, I think George’s salary for this year would have been closer to $50k more than Belinelli’s, not a couple hundred thousand like you stated, but your point is noted. I think you have to conclude from the trade that Golden State was *not* going to pick up the team option by the Oct 31st deadline, thus making it a trade of two expiring contracts, with Toronto throwing in cash considerations to make the deal worth their while. The deal is also a vote of confidence for Anthony Morrow and perhaps also C.J. Watson, who I believe they’re trying to re-sign.

Overall, a deal that works for both teams, though Golden State’s benefit is a lot more subtle than Toronto getting another workable piece for a non-factor. While George was the only other true SF behind Turkoglu, he was also most likely slated for the inactive list along with Banks and one of Douby, Ukic and O’Bryant.