NBA mailbag: Amnesty of Charlie Bell still hurts

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Mailtime Does theCharlie Bell amnesty hurt the chances of Brandon Roy coming to Golden State?Chris, Parts Unknown.Steinmetz:There is little debate that using the amnesty provision on CharlieBell last year was a strategic mistake for the Warriors. It was short-sightedin that it didnt do the Warriors any good last season in terms of anacquisition and it didnt do them any good in terms of long-term flexibility. Bellscontract was set to expire at the end of the 2011-12 season, so by waiving him beforelast season began, the Warriors got rid of an expiring contract, which couldhave been used to their advantage at last seasons trading deadline.REWIND: Warriors amnesty Charlie Bell
Instead, theWarriors waived Belland cleared out more than 10 million in cap spacetomake a run at DeAndre Jordan. But Jordan wound up returning to theClippers.Now, depending onyour perspective that could be a good thing. In fact, you could make a casethat had the Warriors chosen to amnesty Andris Biedrins instead of Bell, thatthe Warriors could have then made a bigger offer for Jordanone the Clipperswould not have matched on.But under thatscenario, the Warriors would have Jordan under contractat more than 10-12million a seasonand probably wouldnt have Andrew Bogut. Jordan had a verydisappointing season for the Clippers in 2011-12.The reality is theWarriors should have abstained from using the amnesty clause lastyear.Had they not used ita season ago, they would have still have the ability to use it one time thisyear or beyondand Biedrins would have been a legitimate amnesty possibilitythis season.Being able toamnesty Biedrins this summer would haveand could havedramaticallyaffected the Warriors approach in free agency.The freeagents on your list dont seem impactful. A trade might be the only way. IfDallas was looking at Hasheem Thabeet before Oklahoma city signed him, wouldthey consider making a move for Biedrins. Scott, Modesto.Steinmetz:If weve learned anything over the years its that no contract isuntradeable. Corey Maggette, said to have one of the NBAs worst contracts, hasbeen moved a couple of times since he signed a 50-plus million deal yearsago.Biedrins wont beeasy to trade, but its not outside the realm of possibility. First off, if theWarriors move Biedrins dont expect them to get much, if anything, inreturn.What team out therewould acquire Biedrins, who has been ineffectual for the past three years, andgive up something worthwhile? It seems like a longshot. Now, there could beseveral contending teams that would want Biedrins as insurancemaybe in athird-center-off-the-bench role.Miami is always inneed of size, and they would seem to be a possibility. I could also see theDenver Nuggets being interested.But even if theWarriors make a deal for Biedrins, and its hard to envision at this point,its unlikely they will get much tangible from such a deal. Best they could dowould likely be trading Biedrins for a player or players whose contracts expireat the end of this seasongetting the Warriors out from under that deal ayear early.Do youthink Brandon Roy and the Warriors are a good fit? Scott, Fremont,Calif.Steinmetz:That all depends on Roys health. If hes the player he was two orthree years agoor a semblance of the player he was two or three years ago then hes a perfect fit: Someone with size who can play both guardpositions.The real question iswhether Roy is a fit with where hes at at his career. Roy, 27, may not havemany years left considering hes already retired because of chronic kneepain.So, will he reallycome to the Warriorswho dont have a boatload of cash to offer? On thesurface, it would seem like Roy would be more interested in playing for acontending team.But if the betterteams are leery of Roy, then the door may be open for the Warriors to pluckRoy.Who do youthink will be the starting small forward next season -- Harrison Barnes, DorellWright or Richard Jefferson? Maggie, Davis, Calif.Steinmetz:I would say that Jefferson will start early in the season, but thatBarnes will eventually supplant him. Im taking Dorell Wright out of theequation because I just cant seem him the opening night starter.And I see that fortwo reasons. One, its no secret the Warriors have a glut at small forwardright now. Theyve got Wright, Jefferson, Barnes, Draymond Green and we haventeven got into Brandon Rush, whom the team hopes to re-sign. There are just toomany players for that position.So, I see theWarriors looking to move Wright, who has just one more year remaining on hisdeal. Also, even if Wright doesnt get traded, I dont see himstarting.The reason beingthat coach Mark Jackson is not a big fan of Wright. That became apparent overthe course of the season, with Wright seldom playing when games were on theline.

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