Warriors Miss Out on PF J.J. Hickson, Who Portland Claimed Off Waivers
By Marcus Thompson
Wednesday, March 21st, 2012 at 6:46 pm in Uncategorized.
Warriors missed out on J.J. Hickson, who was awarded toPortlandon Wednesday.
Hickson – a 6-foot-9, 242-pound power forward in his fourth season — was waived last week by Sacramento. Golden State wanted to sign him, but didn’t have the $2.35 million under the cap needed to claim him off waivers. Even before the Stephen Jackson trade, in which they took back Richard Jefferson and T.J. Ford from the Spurs, Golden State didn’t have enough cap space.
The Warriors only hope was that Hickson cleared waivers and the Warriors signed him as a free agent. Rules allow teams to sign players to the minimum despite being over the cap. According to a multiple sources, Hickson was interested in joining the Warriors.
But Portland, which put in the claim, was awarded Hickson. If the Warriors were able to bid for Hickson off waivers, they probably would have gotten him since the bidder with the worst record gets the player.
Golden State, after trading big man Ekpe Udoh toMilwaukee, is in need of front line help. But Hickson was more than just a body. Before flaming out inSacramento, Hickson built a reputation as a promising young big man inCleveland. In 80 games with the Cavaliers last season, he averaged 13.8 points and 8.7 rebounds in 28.2 minutes.
This season, with the Kings, he averaged 4.7 points on 37 percent shooting with 5.1 rebounds in 18.4 minutes before getting waived. But the Warriors wanted to chance to see if Hickson’s decline was situational. If they could get him to return to form, he would have been an ideal piece for the Warriors now-depleted bench.
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March 21st, 2012 at 6:47 pm
The Warriors have a $3.2M trade exception from the Bogut trade. They could have claimed him off waivers, but they blew it.
March 21st, 2012 at 7:01 pm
believe me, as a kings fan i can say, the warriors want nothing to do with this guy. He didn’t make it hear because we’re a running team and his brick hands couldn’t catch the ball. A similar situation in Oakland wouldn’t have suited him well.
March 21st, 2012 at 7:24 pm
You would think that after all that has happened and Monday night’s fan reaction Dubs management would have learned to stop building up expectations by talking about things that haven’t happened yet. Don’t say anything about Hickson until it’s a done deal and spare themselves the criticism for not being able to close the deal.
March 21st, 2012 at 7:24 pm
if you guys haven’t read the bill simmons piece about the W’s yet, READ IT:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7714701/how-annoy-fan-base-60-easy-steps
let’s get Tropical.
March 21st, 2012 at 9:05 pm
It appears we have every opportunity to tank it, but not in the way of losing, but with a sense of competitiveness with the little available resources that we have…
Next year, with 3 to four draft picks, we finally should have a complete roster.
March 21st, 2012 at 9:13 pm
Also worth reading this piece from a writer who follows the Milwaukee Bucks (Bogut trade).
http://www.journaltimes.com/sports/bucks-beat-as-the-bucks-turn—-soap/article_d5893c1e-7246-11e1-b593-001871e3ce6c.html
March 21st, 2012 at 10:08 pm
Dear God, this Bill Simmons piece is too painful to finish. And I’m only at #26
This franchise has 2 left feet…
March 21st, 2012 at 10:48 pm
Freaking Larry TRiley pisses me off, missing out and gambling on not acquiring JJ Hickson should be the last straw that broke the camel’s back for Larry Riley. Every single Warrior fan that has some real common sense to boo the right person, (Not Lacob) should boo Larry Riley out of Warrior Land. Larry Riley gambled again the same way he gambled on Jeremy Lin. He could’ve claimed JJ Hickson off waivers, but he didn’t want to pay, he took the chance the he got snatched off of our hands. He was waiting for nobody to claim him off waivers so we can acquired him cheaper as a free agent and it blew on his face, now, to safe face, we are getting a nobody just like he also gambled on Barron (the center let go this year). Larry Riley, we are shipping you out right behind Andris Biedrins and Dorrell Wright.
March 21st, 2012 at 11:11 pm
#4 interesting piece. i think that’s the first one by a bucks blogger who sounded sad to see bogut go. most of what i’ve read has been, yeah, he’s really great — WHEN HE’S HEALTHY, which isn’t very often.
i think we can all agree he could be special. but, it’s far from guaranteed. we’ll just have to wait and see. (sounds like W’s FO management spin, i know, sorry)
March 21st, 2012 at 11:13 pm
Warriors – Disappointed but not surprised!
March 22nd, 2012 at 12:01 am
@Niners in 2012 – pretty sure you can only use the trade exception in a trade. it’s not applicable in this situation.
March 22nd, 2012 at 6:10 am
Steve, thanks for that link to the Bogut article from a Bucks perspective. Good piece and shows that W’s are far from alone in making mistakes in trying to build a winner.
March 22nd, 2012 at 6:14 am
how is possible that the Warriors need cap room to claim Hickson, and that the Blazers can claim him while they don’t have any cap room (they have $8 millions more salaries than us) ?
March 22nd, 2012 at 6:25 am
Was it T.J. Ford’s contract that took up the cap space? That’s what it looks like.
March 22nd, 2012 at 7:15 am
Naw I think Dorell is okay but shouldnt be a starter!
March 22nd, 2012 at 7:15 am
But all that stuff about wanting to leave, if thats the case he can go quickly!
March 22nd, 2012 at 7:16 am
His game is very ugly, thought it was better but all he does is hoot 3′s, but doesnt drive at al, and when he does he looks so bad as if he doesnt know what he is doing?
March 22nd, 2012 at 11:42 am
It’s just as well we didn’t get him…his YouTube highlight vids did not include 1 single instance of him making a back-to-the-basket post move. It was all blocked shots, dunks & put-backs. Definitely not a replacement for Ekpe.
March 22nd, 2012 at 11:44 am
@ wil To my mind, Riley was hired because he was Nelson’s buddy and would do exactly what he was told. I don’t think anyone in the FO will admit it but it’s hard for me to imagine that anything has changed or they wouldn’t have built a decision-making committee around him.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they keep him as “GM” until they are back in the lottery and then cut him loose and send the blame with him. Then Bob Myers – or worse, Kirk Lacob – gets to become the conquering hero by making a no-brainer pick at #3. We won’t ever pick #1 in a decent draft as long David “Bent Lottery Card Corner” Stern sits atop his throne.
March 22nd, 2012 at 1:10 pm
“Next Season”, you’re wrong. No offense dude, but you need to brush up on Larry Coons FAQ.
March 22nd, 2012 at 1:16 pm
A PF shooting 37% is our missing piece and a valuable commodity for the great tank! Sit Lee and evaluate JJ Hickson! Really though – $2 million to claim JJ off waivers is a lot of money! Portland’s gain!
March 22nd, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Petey you seem to know ziltch about basketball. The Warriors have a totally unbalance team. No size or muscle (which Hickson has both) no team speed, and tons of non-contributors. The Warriors need all the adequate bigman help they can find.
Riley Blows !!
March 22nd, 2012 at 2:47 pm
much ado about very little of substance. Hickson was waived by a very bad team for a reason. Sure it would have been nice to get him, to see if he could do something different with a new team but if you are going to whine about Hickson while still beotching about landing a true big man, then you are just a….typical Warriors fan. I am almost ashamed to count myself among you.
March 22nd, 2012 at 6:45 pm
There’s only 20 games left, Hickson was due only about $600K according to Sactown Royalty. The front office went CHEAP on us, they were hoping to sign him to a 10-day deal to save a couple 100K.
March 23rd, 2012 at 10:29 am
@Niners in 2012 – might want to read point 20 of your boy larry coon’s guide. exceptions put the team OVER the cap. https://webfiles.uci.edu/lcoon/cbafaq/salarycap.htm#Q20