Portfolio Review: The ownership and coaching staff has changed, but so much has remained the same for the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are in the basketball equivalent of hell, which is ninth seed purgatory. They are not quite good enough to be in the playoffs, and not bad enough to get top level talent through the draft.
The backcourt is the team's strength between Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson, but they also represent the best trade assets the team has going forward. Word is the Warriors are interested in Dwight Howard still. While it's doubtful they land him, it shows they are willing to blow things up for the right price. They need to. Even if it means taking a step or two back to start pushing forward again.
Prime Assets: The easy answer is Ellis, though the answer is not as easy as it was at the beginning of the season. Curry's ankle woes are a little concerning, and help obscure the Ellis vs. Curry debate a little.
Ellis is the Warriors' best player. Still, there are legitimate questions to how far a team can go with an undersized, high usage shooting guard not named Allen Iverson. If Ellis is your team's best player, what is the ceiling for your team? Ellis for draft picks or a frontcourt piece could work (the Utah Jazz, for example, have a plethora of big men and lack a dynamic perimeter threat). If the trade picks up an asset and drops the Warriors out of the middle of the first round and into a top ten pick over the next couple of years, it might even prove to benefit the team.
Worthless Stock: Andris Biedrins. Big, mobile big men are always going to have some value. But one on a big contract whose career is currently stalled by a phobia of free throw attempts?
The Rest: Curry should only be available for a near elite talent or top ten pick in this draft. For the former, given that Curry is on his rookie contract, he would probably have to be packaged with David Lee. Thompson could be a solid third guard on a good team eventually and merits holding onto. Dorell Wright might fetch a good first round pick for a potential playoff team, but is young, cheap, and understands his role well enough to be part of the answer going forward.