Warriors, Knicks agree on Crawford-Harrington deal

[DynastYWarrioR6]

The Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks have completed a deal that sends disgruntled Warriors forward Al Harrington to New York for guard Jamal Crawford.

ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher reported early Friday that the teams were nearing completion on a deal featuring Harrington and Crawford.

Neither team has yet commented on the deal.

Harrington went public with a trade demand just before the start of the season after privately urging Golden State to move him for months. New York had immediate interest, seeing the versatile and mobile Harrington as an ideal frontcourt fit in new coach Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo system.


Deal Or No Deal?
See how the proposed Jamal Crawford-Al Harrington deal looks in the ESPN.com NBA Trade Machine.

Knicks president Donnie Walsh, furthermore, might be Harrington's biggest fan in the league; he drafted the 28-year-old in 1998 and brought him back to Indiana in a deal with Atlanta in the summer of 2006. But Harrington's second stint with the Pacers lasted only a half-season before he was dealt to Golden State in January 2007, along with Stephen Jackson.

Reuniting with Harrington will come at a cost for Walsh: It will require the Knicks to part with Crawford, their leading scorer and another player they had pegged to flourish under D'Antoni. The Warriors, according to NBA front-office sources, see Crawford as a versatile guard who, although not a pure floor leader, can function well in coach Don Nelson's system while Monta Ellis recovers from ankle surgery -- and in tandem with Ellis once he returns.

Yet it's believed that Walsh has multiple motivations for re-acquiring one of his favorites. Another sizable lure is Harrington's contract, which pays him $9.2 million this season, $10 million next season and expires after the 2009-10 campaign. That meshes with New York's intent to slice payroll and get as far under the salary cap as possible for the highly anticipated free-agent summer of 2010 to join the bidding for Cleveland's LeBron James.

Crawford is scoring 19.6 points per game this season after averaging a career-best 20.6 points per game and 5.0 assists last season. Assuming Crawford declines a player option to become a free agent in July 2009, his deal would run through the 2010-11 season, paying $8.6 million this season, $9.4 million in 2009-10 and $10 million in 2010-11.

Harrington has played only five games this season, averaging 12.4 points and 5.6 rebounds before missing Golden State's past six games with a back injury. Nelson told ESPN.com on the first weekend of the season that the Warriors would "try to accommodate" Harrington, but not when the Knicks were looking to part with center Eddy Curry as opposed to Crawford.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. ESPN The Magazine senior writer Ric Bucher contributed to this report.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3717209

Why trade away Jamal?!

 

[NJNetz]

There go the Knicks playoff chances.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

More shots for Z-Bo!

 

[NJNetz]

More shots for Z-Bo!

He's getting traded, too.

 

[JE]

 

[Moo2K4]

I think the main reason for this is the salary implications. Crawford wasn't coming off the books until after 2010, as opposed to Harrington, who expires either this year or next year (not sure).

Plus, Harrington could be a pretty good fit with D'Antoni. He's an athletic forward who can shoot well and runs the floor pretty well too. I think he'll be just fine in D'Antoni's style of offense.

 

[Run BJM]

I think the main reason for this is the salary implications. Crawford wasn't coming off the books until after 2010, as opposed to Harrington, who expires either this year or next year (not sure).

His contract expires in 2010, right in time for the Knicks to try to lure a big name FA. He does, however, have an opt out clause after this season if he chooses to use it.

 

[jason bourne]

I think the main reason for this is the salary implications. Crawford wasn't coming off the books until after 2010, as opposed to Harrington, who expires either this year or next year (not sure).

Plus, Harrington could be a pretty good fit with D'Antoni. He's an athletic forward who can shoot well and runs the floor pretty well too. I think he'll be just fine in D'Antoni's style of offense.

Good luck or I should say better luck with Harrington. Warriors fans thought the same thing when we got him and AL produced, but he ended up as cancer on the team. For whatever reason, he didn't hit it off with Nelson and eventually it came back to bite us. His production became more erratic and you could see it was affecting his play and it was going downhill.

I heard it said that AL has to be one of the main cogs on the team to be happy, i.e. be selfish and get his stats. I am not sure if this was the case with him at Golden State, but I don't have a good reason why AL's production started going downhill and he ended up being a cancer. He should fit in and do better in New York because Donnie Walsh knows him, was high on him and wanted him. Also, he's closer to home now. So AL may be able to turn it around in New York and realize his max potential.

 

[Moo2K4]

His contract expires in 2010, right in time for the Knicks to try to lure a big name FA. He does, however, have an opt out clause after this season if he chooses to use it.

I doubt he opts out. There's no way he's going to make that $9ish mil on his next contract, so he's going to eat that up, because that's as good as it'll get for him.

 

[Moo2K4]

Good luck or I should say better luck with Harrington. Warriors fans thought the same thing when we got him and AL produced, but he ended up as cancer on the team. For whatever reason, he didn't hit it off with Nelson and eventually it came back to bite us. His production became more erratic and you could see it was affecting his play and it was going downhill.

I heard it said that AL has to be one of the main cogs on the team to be happy, i.e. be selfish and get his stats. I am not sure if this was the case with him at Golden State, but I don't have a good reason why AL's production started going downhill and he ended up being a cancer. He should fit in and do better in New York because Donnie Walsh knows him, was high on him and wanted him. Also, he's closer to home now. So AL may be able to turn it around in New York and realize his max potential.

Wasn't part of the problem the coach? I could have sworn that I heard he and Nellie never got along too well, but I could be going crazy with that too

But I do think he'll fit in with the Knicks. Donnie Walsh is high on him, and having confidence from your teams owner is a good start.

Plus, a change of scenery has a tendency to give someone new life. I think that alone will help him out. He's finally out of GS, where he had clearly worn out his welcome, and now he's going somewhere new and getting a fresh start in the process. Plus, he's going to a system that will help him showcase his abilities more than any he's ever been in.

Beyond that...he needs to do well. I just picked him up in one of my fantasy leagues, banking on him breaking out now that he's out GS.

On a sidenote - this is 7,700th post. Wow.