Tim Kawakami reports
Two NBA sources, both close to the Warriors veteran forward, told me that Al Harrington recently informed the Warriors that he does not want to play for Don Nelson any more and is requesting to be traded as soon as possible.
(There is no suggestion, however, that Harrington will walk out from the team if he isn’t traded before the start of the season tomorrow.)
In fact, one league source with knowledge of the situation said that Harrington’s agent, Dan Fegan, is “actively working to get (Harrington) out of there” and that a few teams already have proposed tentative deals.
The problem: President Robert Rowell has final say on the money terms (do the Warriors take back long-term money?) and total veto power in all regards, Nelson has talent veto (who do the Warriors accept back as a fair deal?) and Chris Mullin is the one taking the trade calls (what’s the actual deal?).
Some more on the timing
The timing of this may seem odd, since Nelson just named Harrington the third and final team tri-captain, alongside Stephen Jackson and Andris Biedrins.
But one of the sources indicated that the captaincy came very soon after Harrington told Nelson that he wanted out–sort of a cause-and-effect situation.
The Harrington camp did not consider the captain announcement as anything more than a public-relations gesture, either to make Harrington look bad when he made his demand public or as a last-minute effort to get Harrington on board for the start of the regular season
No surprises here, Harrington has voiced his frustration several times in the past over his one dimensional role offensively (stand still three point shooter) under Don Nelson. The loss of key player Baron Davis and the unlikelihood of the Warriors being a playoff team probably pushed him over the edge.
The problem is he’s a fairly average player who makes a ton of money (10mil per season) and thinks he’s better than he is. His contract ruins any trade value he would have. No team in the league is going to give up quality players for Harrington in return, and no team is going to give up quality young talent or high draft picks. What Golden State are likely looking at is an expiring contract, the chance to cut their payroll and create some financial flexibility for 12 months time. My guess is that Harrington will likely be a last ditch option for several teams in the league (Cleveland?) and nobodies first option, so he might be sitting on that trade demand for some time. Harrington is a pro so I doubt he kicks up a major fuss or causes disharmony/distraction within the Warriors camp.
Losing Harrington would put the Warriors big man rotation, and overall flexibility, under some strain. They’d be left with only two established big men in Biedrins and Turiaf. It would also take their only big men who can shoot from the perimeter so spacing the floor will be become more difficult. On the bright side their rebounding might improve, and it offers a golden opportunity to Wright and Randolph.
Update (later retracted and updated): Pingback at the bottom of Kawakami’s aricle to a piece on 48minutes.net, claims that the report is erroneous and that Harrington has not asked for a trade.
“I haven’t said that to anybody,” Harrington said. “I’m being honest with you.”
“Not that I know of,” Nelson said. “I had a meeting with him yesterday, and it didn’t come up.”
I’m going to treat it as a strong rumour rather than the gospel truth for now. We’ll wait and see if the story gets more pull over the next few days.
Update: Now Al Harrington is confirming the trade demand
The Warriors forward confirmed late Tuesday that he and his agent, Dan Fegan, met earlier with vice president Chris Mullin to reiterate Harrington’s unhappiness with coach Don Nelson and his desire to be moved.
“If you ask me if I want to be traded, I’ve been wanting to be traded since the end of last season,” Harrington said. “With everything that happened in the summer and coming into training camp, I was hoping things were going to work out between me and Nellie, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
“It is what it is. That’s being all the way honest. That’s putting it out there. Do I think that Al might have to be traded? Do I think it’s going to work with me and Nellie? I don’t think so. That’s how I feel.”
Why did he mislead the press?
An emotional Harrington explained Tuesday that he did not want to be a distraction to the team and had hoped his rocky relationship with Nelson would be different this year. But some preseason maneuvering by Nelson — who is about to re-sign for another two seasons — has Harrington doubting the outcome.
