The recent rumor in the past few days is that Stephen Jackson wants out of Golden State. Jackson recently signed a four year deal with them but is apparently sick and tired of losing. Jackson is to have reportedly given the Warriors a list of teams that he would like to be traded to, they include Cleveland, and Dallas. The Cavs have no interest in Jackson and will likely stand pat. The Mavs however have plenty of interest but not a lot of assests to trade.
One likely scenario is a trade of Jackson, and Kelenna Azubuike to the Mavs for Josh Howard. I personally do not see this happen. The Warriors like Azubuike and would like to keep him, Don Nelson also feels that Josh Howard is soft and the trade does not address much for the Warriors. Another possibility is for the Warriors to try and unload Jackson’s contract in a pure salary dump. A likely deal for that would be Jackson and Acie Law for Kris Humphries, Shawne Williams, and Matt Carroll. The deal would have to be completed after September ninth because Humphries was just acquired by the Mavs from Toronto in the Shawn Marion deal. Williams’s deal would come off te books after this year, and Humphries next year. Carroll has a longer deal but he would fit nicely in Nelly’s system.
If the Mavs truely want to get Jackson I think they need a third team. One team that I think they could get to play along is the Utah Jazz. One deal could send Carlos Boozer to Golden State, Josh Howard and Speedy Claxton to Utah, and Stephen Jackson and CJ Miles to Dallas. The Warriors get a true big man in this deal, one which they could just let walk if they don’t like. The Jazz get cap relief, and expiring contract and a solid player in return for Boozer. and the Mavericks get Jackson.
Of course Utah could also offer Boozer for Jackson and Claxton. Utah has shown interest in Jackson before and they could use a player like him. Utah could also try something such as Andrei Kirilenko for Jackson, Claxton and Ronny Turiaf. The Warriors have expressed interest in Kirilenko before, and tried trading for him before the draft before they traded Jamal Crawford to Atlanta. The Jazz would still take a cap hit this year, but next year they’d lose Claxton’s contract.
Miami is another posibility for Jackson. Like Dallas Miami does not have a lot of pieces to offer the Warriors, but unlike Dallas Miami could offer first round draft picks. Something along the lines of Udonis Haslem, Jamaal Maglore and a first round pick for Jackson could get the deal done. This would be almost a pure salary dump for the Warriors but they would get all 30 million dollars off their books in time for the 2010 free agent frenzy.
The last deal I am going to bring up is to the Houston Rockets. Shane Battier and James White for Jackson, the Rockets could probably include a protected first rounder to sweeten the deal. The Rockets get someone to pick up the scoring load this year while T-Mac and Yao are out, plus they get a perfect sidekick for Yao when he returns. They do lose something on the defensive end, but Jackson is still an above average defender. The Warriors do this because they save money and they get a very good player in return. Though I am not sure Battier would work well in the defenseless Nellyball system.
