A Brief History of Mullin

From the always quality writings of Nickel Dime Dubs

My good friend GDub, over at Nickel Dime Dubs, wrote the following quality piece grading Mullin's tenure as Warriors GM. With Mully almost completely out the door (see Jackson's secret contract negotiations with Rowell) it's most certainly time to look back, and fondly.

There's not much I have to argue from GDub's article, so I won't nag too much. Even so, I want to add a couple items to the discussion:

1. Mullin's draft history is better than you think. We all know that the Warriors' selections of Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins were excellent picks. Maybe you could include Randoph in there, too, but it's probably too soon to tell. But Mullin also needs to get due credit in drafting Brandan Wright - ok trading for his rights on draft day - Belinelli, and Diogu as well. It may seem like Belinelli was a bit of a stretch getting picked at #18 overall, but you have to remember the Warriors had just picked up a high-potential PF in Wright, making a reach for Belinelli seem much more reasonable. In addition, Diogu proved to be a valuable draft pick playing more than a small role in the Pacers trade for Harrington and Jackson. Even though he's now moved on to the Blazers, Diogu's youth and potential were an attractive sweetener that helped move the historically poor contracts of the two-headed DunMurphy.

2. The Dunleavey, Murphy, and Foyle contracts may not have been so bad. There's one major reason why I'm concerned about shedding salary to be a player in the upcoming free agency orgies - I'm not sure any superstars want to play for Golden State. Mullin recognized this as a problem - one thing Arenas and Brand proved to us over the summer is money does not a contract make - you have to have an attractive organization as well. Keep that in mind when evaluating the DUNMURFOYLE (oh yeah!) contracts. At least part of those deals (remember this is not an excuse) was an attempt to show players around the league, "hey, we take care of our own, come be a Warrior". Nonetheless, after trading Dunleavy and Murphy, waiving Foyle, losing Baron to the Clips, and fining Ellis $3 million, you have to wonder if Mullin's efforts have more than been erased by now.

And now, without further ado:

May 2004 – Hires Mike Montgomery as Head Coach
Mullin takes a chance on longtime friend and collegiate coach Mike Montgomery who had no prior NBA coaching experience. Monty sticks around for two unremarkable years before getting fired by Mullin. Montgomery suffers from a respect factor that he was never able to obtain from his players. Monty didn’t have the horses to win, but he was also clearly not cut out to be an NBA head coach. This was not a disastrous hiring, but certainly a questionable one.
GRADE: C-

June 2004 – Drafts Andris Biedrins
Mullin gets a lot of credit for this one. He did extensive scouting of Biedrins and was willing to take the risk on a “project” player. Finding a quality big in the late lottery is a tough task as us Warrior fans know (Carlos Rodgers, Clifford Rozier, Adonal Foyle, Todd Fuller, POB – wow this is painful). Mullin gets high marks for diagnosing Biedrins raw athleticism, coordination, and skill and projecting that into the player he has become.
GRADE: A

July 2004 – Re-signs Adonal Foyle to a 6 year $42M contract
Quite simply the worst move of Mullin’s tenure. Everyone knew it almost immediately too. Mullin basically admitted he overpaid Adonal because had been such a good volunteer and locker room presence. Problem: this does not help you win basketball games. Lavishing Foyle with this excessive contract was a huge mistake from the very beginning. At the time Foyle was at best a back-up center. Foyle has since been bought out, but is still counting against our salary cap and is little more than a body at the end of the Magic bench.
GRADE: F

July 2004 – Signs FA guard Derek Fisher to a 6 year $37M contract
This is a signature Warrior deal. Good player, decent contract value, does not work out. Fisher came to the Warriors with a championship pedigree. We may have overpaid slightly, but not by much considering he was our starting point guard. Fisher played decently, but was asked to do more than he was capable of. As we learned in the Utah series, when put in the correct role Fisher can be very valuable. I can’t knock Mully too much for this one as Fisher still remains a solid player.
GRADE: B-

July 2004 - Acquires center Dale Davis and guard Dan Dickau from the Portland Trail Blazers for guard Nick Van Exel.
A classic addition by subtraction trade. Mullin clears out a disgruntled player and receives two expiring contracts that would later become very useful.
GRADE: B

November 2004 – Signs Jason Richardson to a 6 year $70M contract extension
Mullin commits to J-Rich as the franchise player, locking him up long term for big money. Richardson was a highlight reel and had made consistent progress, but he was not an all-star caliber player. While I like the idea of bringing some stability and continuity to the franchise, it’s hard to justify such a commitment to a player that cannot carry you to the next level. Don’t get me wrong, J-Rich is a very good player, but Mullin paid him great player money. Try as he might, Richardson could never become a true difference maker and thus could not justify his contract.
GRADE: C+

November 2004 – Signs Troy Murphy to a 6 year $58M contract extension
Another horrible contract from Mully. Instead of recognizing his team’s shortcomings and starting over, Mullin commits heavier to the same roster that had just gone 37-45 and lost its best player (Arenas) due to a lack of financial flexibility. While Murphy looks like a serviceable player he clearly isn’t getting us over the hump, so there is little logic in committing to him and Richardson for the long term. As it turns out, Murphy regresses, becoming softer and all too willing to launch shots from the perimeter.
GRADE: D-

March 2005 – Acquires guard Baron Davis from the New Orleans Hornets for guard Speedy Claxton and forward Dale Davis
The first sign from Mully that he has the wits for the job. Mullin pulls off an absolute steal by grabbing Davis and his contract for cap fodder. Davis breathes new life into this stagnant franchise. His swagger and star power are something the bay area had not seen since the Run TMC days. When motivated and healthy Baron is a true difference maker on the court. For the next 3+ years he is the face of the franchise and our one legitimate star.
GRADE: A

June 2005 – Drafts Ike Diogu, Monta Ellis and Chris Taft
Another spectacular draft by Mullin. He absolutely steals Ellis in the 2nd round as questions about the high schooler’s knee and position drop him. Ellis rates behind only CP3, Deron Williams, and possibly Bynum and Granger among 2005 draftees. Diogu was a bit of a reach, but he filled a big time need as a low post scorer. Taft was an ineffective pick, largely due to injury and motivation issues. He had the talent though and at that point in the draft you can’t ask for much more.
GRADE: A-

November 2005 – Signs Mike Dunleavy to a 5 year $45M contract extension
Mullin again fails to recognize what is not working and instead commits more money. Dunleavy was a spectacular failure in Golden State. Taken with the third overall pick Dunleavy was compared to Bird coming out of college. However, his weak frame, tentative nature, inconsistent shooting, and general look of disinterest made him a target of fans’ ire. Dunleavy had enough potential to consider keeping around as a role player. The contract handed out by Mullin was much too hefty for a player as limited as Dun Dun.
GRADE: D+

June 2006 – Drafts Patrick O’Bryant and Kosta Perovic
Not a spectacular failure, but a failure nonetheless. O’Bryant and Perovic leave the Warriors after two years and zero production. In fairness to Mullin and both players, Don Nelson never gave them a chance to prove they could play. The fact that management chose not to pick up O’Bryant’s very affordable option tells you how they felt about him as well. Two wasted draft picks. At least we still have our POB jokes.
GRADE: D

July 2006 – Acquires guards Devin Brown, Keith McLeod and Andre Owens from the Utah Jazz for guard Derek Fisher
This trade was all about dumping salary. With the arrival of Davis and the extensions of Richardson, Murphy, and Dunleavy, Mullin unloads Fisher to shave down the payroll. A seemingly minor move, this comes back to haunt us over the next two years as we futilely search for a back-up point guard for Davis. Fisher also is a big contributor as the Jazz eliminate the Warriors from the second round of the playoffs. This trade would not have been necessitated if not for the large extensions handed out in prior months.
GRADE: C-

August 2006 – Hires Don Nelson as head coach
Mullin uses his strong relationship with Nelson to bring the mad genius back to the Bay. Nelson immediately changes the Warriors style, importing his up-tempo/fast break offense from Dallas. Nelson’s system makes a lot of Mullin’s moves look good (Ellis, Biedrins) and a lot of Mullin’s moves look bad (Murphy, Dunleavy, POB). Without a doubt, bringing Nelson in to coach this mismatch bunch was a great move and one that only Mully could have pulled off. He deserves all the credit here.
GRADE: A+

January 2007 – Acquires forward Al Harrington, guard Stephen Jackson, guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, and forward Josh Powell from Indiana for forwards Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, and Ike Diogu
Mullin atones for many of his past mistakes and gets great value in return. This is the ultimate trade. We unload our bloated contracts and ineffective players and take back reasonable contracts and impact players. It would have been a major coup to find another team willing to take on Dunleavy or Murphy in return for an expiring contract. Instead we get Jackson, who is now the star and playmaker of our team, and Harrington, who has been a very useful role player and tough match-up for opponents. This trade reshaped the roster completely moving from a traditional, half court team to a dynamic small-ball run-and-gun team. The trade finally gave Nelson the players he so desperately needed to run his schemes. As a direct result of this trade, the Warriors made an epic late season run to the playoffs and the rest is history. This move also gave the Warriors much more long term financial freedom. Did I mention this was a good trade?
GRADE: A+

January 2007 – Signs guard Kelenna Azubuike from the D-League
A great find from Mullin as he mines a true D-League gem. Azubuike produced in college and the D-League, but couldn’t catch on with an NBA team. It took a trade and rash of injuries for the Warriors to give him a chance, but he took full advantage of it. Given Kelenna’s strength, explosiveness, defense, and tenacity it seems crazy that he was not a roster. Props to Mullin for identifying his abundant talent.
GRADE: A

June 2007 – Drafts Marco Belinelli, Jermareo Davidson, and Stephane Lasme
This draft is starting to resemble the 2006 draft. So far Belinelli has only been a Summer League sensation. I am not a big believer in Marco. He has an inconsistent shot (supposedly his strength) and is an atrocious defender. He has not had a chance to prove me wrong, but I see him heading the way of POB.
GRADE: C-

June 2007 – Acquires the draft rights to Brandan Wright and a $9.9M trade exception for guard Jason Richardson and the draft rights to Jermareo Davidson
I was a huge proponent of this trade, but pretty soon I’m going to have to start re-evaluating it. I think the Warriors overpaid for J-Rich and clearing his contract was necessary for the future signings of Beans and Ellis. It’s hard to argue that we didn’t sorely missed Richardson last year when one more solid rotation player could have easily put us over the hump and into the playoffs. This move was all about the long term though. Instead of a one year playoff run, we get to enjoy Beans, Ellis, and Wright over the next several years. It looks like having the flexibility to sign Beans and Ellis will pay dividends. The other half of the trade is hard to tell. I liked Wright out of UNC, but right now he does not bring a whole lot to the table. He can kinda rebound and kinda score garbage buckets, but there’s a lot of guys that do those things. I’m still waiting for him to fill out, become a defensive presence and develop some offensive game. Maybe it’s not going to happen. Nelson does not seem to like B-Wright, while Mully loves him. This part of the trade is still too early to call. The $10M trade exception was also an interesting asset. Until we didn’t use it. Don’t think I can blame Mully here; I’ll put that one on ownership.
GRADE: B-

September 2007 – Signs forward Austin Croshere and guard Troy Hudson to one year contracts
Good intentions, but didn’t really work out. Hudson was signed to be the backup to Davis, but he got injured in the preseason and that was it for him. Croshere provided some spark off the bench, but injuries also restrained him. I think these were shrewd, low-risk moves by Mullin. Without the injuries both could have provided depth and been key role players.
GRADE: B-

January 2008 – Signs FA forward Chris Webber to a one year contract
I won’t give Mully too much of the blame for this one, but it’s a pretty bad one. This move was Nellie’s brain child from start to finish. While DN is a brilliant basketball mind I don’t know how he didn’t see this disaster coming. The doomed marriage seemed obvious from the day CWebb became a rumor. I was there for Webb’s first game back against the Bulls and the opening possession told the whole story. Warriors get a steal on defense and Webber leaks out for a one on one break. He moves in slow motion to the hoop, gets flustered and misses an easy lay-up right at the rim. The vintage CWebb is showboating and dunking on that play. We have the lumbering, creaky version. Needless to say Webber is no help to us and possibly costs us some games that we desperately needed (including the Bulls game). Mullin mercifully pulls the plug on the experiment 9 games in.
GRADE: D

June 2008 – Drafts Anthony Randolph and Richard Hendrix
Definitely too early to tell on this one, but that’s never stopped me before. Randolph just looks like a player. He has all the tools to be a star in this league and seems to be a prototypical Nellie player as he creates mismatches at every position. I liked the Hendrix pick initially, but now he is duplicated by Turiaf, so I don’t see where he gets minutes. At least Hendrix made the team despite a training camp injury which is all you can ask for a 2nd round pick.
GRADE: B+

July 2008 – Baron Davis opts out of contract and signs 5 year $65M contract with L.A. Clippers
This one is hard to judge because there are various reports that Mullin had a deal in place with Baron that was shot down by Rowell. I’ll just evaluate it on the surface. Davis was a great player for the Warriors and a fantastic acquisition. However, he is a flawed player with questions about his durability, age and motivation. Given these concerns the Warriors could not afford to commit huge money to him long term. Baron may have caught the Warriors by surprise when he opted out of his $17M option, but they did the smart thing by not over-paying him like the Clippers. His departure freed up salary cap space to use this summer and into the future. Baron had a great run as a Warrior and one more year would have been perfect. But as the great Bill Walsh used to say, I’d rather get rid of a player one year too early than one year too late.
GRADE: B



July 2008 – Signs FA forward Corey Maggette to a 5 year $50M contract
Maggette is a solid player, but Mullin overpaid him. A lot of that has to do with Golden State being a second tier market, we have to pay a premium to lure free agents here. I would have preferred to save our cap space for a more dynamic player. Maggette is efficient and will help us win. He is just not a star player as his contract would indicate. Mullin will get all the credit or blame for this one as he was out front and center on Maggette’s signing.
GRADE: C-

July 2008 – Signs FA forward Ronny Turiaf to a 4 year $17M contract
Mullin finally lands the role player we have been lacking. For years we have been getting abused by the tough, brawny Turiaf’s of the league. Now we finally have one of our own to combat against. Mullin was able to lure Turiaf away from the Lakers by cleverly front loading his contract to maximize L.A.’s luxury tax hit. A smart and valuable pick-up for Mullin and the Dubs.
GRADE: A-

July 2008 – Acquires guard Marcus Williams from the Nets for a protected 1st round draft choice.
Like the BWright trade, initially I liked this move. However, after a full training camp to learn the offense Williams is beat out by an undrafted rookie and a former D-Leaguer for point guard duties. It’s hard for me to evaluate Williams because I’ve rarely seen him play. Nelson sure has not had a problem determining Williams does not deserve any court time. I would like to say it’s still early, but now Williams is taking a back seat to another undrafted rookie (Kurz) and is not even dressing for games. It looks like this experiment is over before it ever began. At least he didn’t cost us too much.
GRADE: D+

July 2008 – Signs guard Monta Ellis to a 6 year $67M contract
Mullin can only be graded by his move at the time it was made. When Ellis signed the contract the value seemed about right. Any contract signed by Ellis was going to be a risk because of his age and because he had never been counted on to be the franchise player. The moped accident just led to more risk and uncertainty. Mullin could not have foreseen this and did well to hang on to Ellis without going overboard. Mullin also negotiated a “flat” deal, so Monta makes the same $11M per season with no escalation, saving us future salary cap room.
GRADE: B

July 2008 – Signs center Andris Biedrins to a 6 year $54M contract
Although, officially reported at $62M, the unlikely performance bonuses essentially make this contract a tidy $54M deal. Like Ellis, Mullin signs Biedrins to a contract roughly equal to his value. Again the contract is risky due to Andris’ continuing development. However, these are the players you want to hang on to; guys you have won with and who are still improving. With Biedrins recent run of stellar play this contract may turn out to be a downright steal. Beans’ deal is also a smart “flat” contract.
GRADE: A-

Note: Jackson signing is omitted because Jackson acknowledges he worked exclusively with Rowell on his 3 year $28M contract extension.


OVERALL REPORT CARD:

DRAFT: B+
Mullin hit home runs with his first two drafts landing franchise players Biedrins and Ellis in the late-lottery and 2nd round. He also drafted Diogu, who was a mistake, but was wisely able to trade him while he still had value.

Mullin’s past three draft classes have been largely inconspicuous. O’Bryant never got any run in Golden State and the ultimate insult was not picking up his ultra cheap 3rd year option. Wright, Belinelli, and Randolph all came to the Warriors with much anticipation. Unfortunately, that’s still all they are as players: hype and excitement. None of these players have gotten a consistent chance to show their stuff on the court. This is expected for Randolph, a rookie who looks to have all the tools necessary to succeed in a Nellie system. It is disconcerning that Wright and Belinelli still can’t get regular minute in Nelson’s rotation in their second years. At least their options have been picked up, so it appears they are at least in the team’s future plans unlike POB.

Mullin has done a fine job of identifying talent in the draft. Nelson has done a mixed job of utilizing it; developing Ellis and Biedrins, but thus far ignoring Wright, Belinelli, and Randolph. The jury is still out on several of Mullin’s draft picks, but at least each looks like they have the talent to succeed in the league.

FREE AGENCY: C-
Mullin’s biggest weakness. He is a player’s GM and as such is reluctant to show the financial discipline necessary when negotiating contracts. Mullin doled out huge money to company man Adonal Foyle. The contract seemed more like a reward for being a nice guy than a sound basketball investment. Similarly, Mullin had a hard time saying “no” to Murphy, Dunleavy and Richardson. Mullin ignored the team’s abysmal record and lack of promise by locking these players into long-term deals that seemed destined to produce years of mediocrity. Mullin’s desire to take care of his players led to excessive contracts for mediocre players, which can be crippling to a franchise.

To his credit, he has improved in this area with his recent deals for Ellis, Biedrins, and Turiaf. However, with money man Rowell taking a more prominent role in the organization, it’s hard to tell how much Mullin was involved in these contracts.

TRADES: A
This is the area Mullin really has shone. His excellence in the trade market almost allows us to give him a pass on his disastrous signings. He managed to ship the bloated contracts of Dunleavy, Murphy and Richardson to unsuspecting teams. Remarkably, none of the moves were pure salary dumps as he was able to get quality in return as well. Due to his crafty maneuvering, Foyle became the only truly “bad” contract that we were not able to unload.

In addition to shedding unwanted players for quality players, Mullin also landed us a franchise player via the trade market. Rare is the trade that brings in a face of the franchise in return for some old gym socks and an athletic supporter, but that is exactly what Mully accomplished with the BD trade. Boom Dizzle gave the Warriors an identity and swagger that had not been seen around the Arena since the Run TMC days.

Mullin’s two largest team transformations have come via the trade. He added a franchise player and discarded two rejects with bad contracts for two contributors with good contracts. Mullin has been a master of the trade both in improving the Warrior’s roster and payroll.

IDENTITY: A-
Mullin commands respect as a Hall of Fame player. He gave the franchise instant credibility when he signed on as Executive VP and after a rocky start has built on his reputation.

You hate to think back to before Mullin came onboard, back when the Warriors were constantly searching for a player, coach, or executive that could lead them in a direction. Any direction. Well the Warriors have a direction now and Mullin deserves some of the credit for the entertaining, scrappy, oddball team he has assembled. I give the majority of the credit to Nelson for bringing his dynamic system back to the Bay, but you cannot forget that Mullin was the man who convinced Nellie to come back for one more run. While Nellie and Baron are the figures most responsible for creating the team’s identity, it was Mullin who was responsible for luring them to Oakland.

Unbelievably for Warriors fans, our team has gained league wide respect. Following our “We Believe” run of 2007, the Warriors were the hottest team in the league. We even had Snoop Dogg hopping from the Lakers bandwagon onto ours. We were the electrifying, unpredictable, undersized, lovable underdogs and the toast of the league. Things have definitely cooled down since then, but the team is still well respected throughout the league.


OVERALL GRADE: B+
The bottom line:

Roster before Mullin:
PG – Van Exel, Claxton, Johnson
SG – Richardson, Cheaney
SF – Dunleavy, Pietrus, Cardinal
PF –Robinson, Murphy
C – Dampier, Foyle

Today’s current roster:
PG – Ellis, Watson, Williams
SG – Jackson, Azubuike, Belinelli
SF – Maggette, Randolph, Morrow
PF – Wright, Turiaf, Harrington
C – Biedrins, Turiaf

Mullin has added tons of talent, most of it young and still developing. The difference between what Mullin started with and what he has created is night and day. For cleaning up the wreckage, bringing in promising talent, creating an identity and giving fans hope for a brighter future, Mullin deserves tons of credit.