It's been no secret that Don Nelson has wanted Warriors' guard Jamal Crawford off the team for quite some time. It's been tough for Nelson to keep his trade schemes for Crawford secret, especially after he went and told the Chronicle, "I did tell (Crawford) he probably would either opt out or we would move him next year."
Well, Crawford had til this Tuesday to opt out of his contract and hasn't done so. Hence today's report from Marc Stein at ESPN.com that the Warriors are about to trade Crawford to the Atlanta Hawks for Acie Law and Speedy Claxton.
Kudos if you still have your old #10 Speedy Claxton Warriors jersey from 2003-05!
This deal could also be described as trading Jamal Crawford for two bench guys and $7.4 million in expiring contracts for the vaunted summer of 2010.
The deal has not been officially announced, and can't be until July 1 arrives with Crawford still having not opted out of his contract. It's unlikely he'd want to do so, considering he's due roughly $10 million a year both this year and next. Opting out would make him a free agent in a summer when even NBA franchise owners are eating Top Ramen and cancelling their HBO.
Acie Law is pretty much a prospect, a second-year shooting and point guard who's averaged 3.6 points and 12.6 minutes per game in his NBA career. Tim Kawakami points out in his Mercury News blog today that that Nellie's coveted Acie Law for awhile, and perhaps even wanted to trade Monta Ellis for him in the 2007 Draft. With this franchise, that's just baffling and insane enough to be true.
Speedy Claxton, who is too old an injured to live up to his nickname anymore, is returning for a second stint in Golden State. He was a Dub for two seasons and eventually traded as part of the deal that brought in Baron Davis.
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The Warriors haven't confirmed the deal, but they're not swatting it down, either. And with the NBA Draft taking place Thursday night, they may not be finished maneuvering.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer whom everybody knows Don Nelson has wanted to get rid of all season.
