Addressing The Golden State Rumor

Many of you may have heard of the latest “Zbo” rumor going around, that Portland and Golden State are talking about a Zbo and #2 pick for Richardson, Patrick O’Bryant and Golden State’s #1 pick deal.

It’s nice in theory because J-Rich is a wing player who scores a ton and runs the floor, but there are several problems with this deal you should be aware of.  

1. J-Rich is a "2" not a "3".  And he's not one of those wing players who really could be either one (like Stephen Jackson), he's a pure 2.  

2. Who is Patrick O'Bryant?  He was that big stiff center from Bradley who led them to the sweet 16 in the tourney two years ago that Lochi and I were making fun of during last year’s NBA Draft Live Blog.  He spent almost all of last year in the NBDL and is a project.  I'd be surprised, though, if Golden State threw him in; they actually value him quite a bit and would probably want a pick in return, let alone including their #1.

3. Al Harrington is a "4" who played out of position at the "5" all season and struggled, and this was exacerbated in the playoffs.  So in theory they already have their starting PF who fits into Golden State’s style of play much better than Zbo would.

4. ...Which as you can guess, means that Zbo would be horrible for Golden State's style of play.  In theory a low-post scorer would be perfect for them, but he's a plodder, and they're a running team.  it would be like Zbo on the Suns, just wouldn't make sense.  And if Golden State was trying to convert to more of a half-court team, then they’d need Jason Richardson even further to complement Zbo.  I'd actually believe this deal more if it were Stephen Jackson than Richardson; but Portland would never acquire a guy like Jackson after all the off-court goodwill the team has been trying to earn back these last few years.

Anyhow, just more information to use at your disposal.

-Moderator