So it ends, looks as if Webb will sign tomorrow. Talk about all the unlikely places for him to land, not exactly the best fit for the up tempo game they play out there in Oakland. Good luck Chris. (finder’s fee to Nation member Nick)
Chris Webber’s unlikely but fast-moving return to the Golden State Warriors is on course to be completed by Tuesday, according to sources close to the negotiations.Barring an unexpected change of heart, sources said, Webber will accept the invitation from former coach Don Nelson and former teammate Chris Mullin to come back to the team with whom he won NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 1994, only for Webber to force a trade to Washington some six months later when his prickly relationship with Nelson collapsed.
I think if he comes, it can benefit our team, it can benefit his and my relationship, it can benefit players on this team. I think he has a chance to make some of our players better and make our team better.
–Don Nelson
“I hope that it happens to be quite honest with you,” Nelson told Bay Area reporters Sunday before the Warriors hosted the New York Knicks. “I think our team needs it.”
Nelson made his own surprising and triumphant return to Oakland last season, guiding the Warriors to their first playoff berth since they went 50-32 in Webber’s rookie season in 1993-94. Sources say Nelson and Mullin, now the Warriors’ vice president of basketball operations, are confident that the 67-year-old coach and Webber are ready for this seemingly hard-to-fathom reunion after multiple conversations in recent days.
For his part, Nelson has maintained that he and Webber reconciled years ago, when he chose Webber to replace the injured Shaquille O’Neal — over Dirk Nowitzki from Nelson’s Dallas Mavericks — as the West’s starting center for the 2002 All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
Webber could not be immediately reached for comment Sunday, but sources insist that he would be Golden State-bound now even if the Detroit Pistons made an 11th-hour bid to re-sign him. The Warriors have offered to sign him for the rest of the season for a pro-rated share of the league’s $1.2 million veteran minimum.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Yeah, I’m not sure why he would want to go with GS. I know he and Nelson clashed when he was a rookie. I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about how GS play. They play a lot like PHX, fast full-court up-tempo basketball. Can Webber handle it? I think it can help GS in the frontcourt but they are going to have to get him some Gatorade every few minutes as he’ll get exhausted quickly.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:49 am
He fits from the stand point he don’t play defense but other than that??
His biggest strength is being able to facilitate offense from the post…the Warriors don’t go into the post?
January 28th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Yeah, I forgot, Warriors play no defense. How do they expect to beat SA or Dallas? The Suns don’t play great defense but they’ve improved on it. It’s the single reason why I don’t think they are better than the Spurs or Mavs, definitely not the Spurs. The Mavs proved themselves to me when they beat the Spurs in a grueling 7 game series back in the 2nd rd of ‘06.
Warriors are a fun team to watch. Baron Davis reminds me a lot of Chauncey, both aren’t afraid to take big shots, both are built similiar. Warriors gotta play defense to become elite.
Webber will probably help GS, but I’m curious on how he’ll do conditioning wise. Will he be fatigued after 10 minutes of playing their style of ball? In my opinion the two toughest teams to play for would be GS and PHX. Both run a LOT.