Don Nelson acknowledged that the Warriors’ front-office is working the phones in an attempt to trade away the clearly unhappy Al Harrington, and in the meantime, the head coach is going to focus on developing Harrington’s replacement.
It’s your time to shine, Brandan Wright. From Inside the Warriors:
“I made a deal with him that I was going to play him as many minutes as he would want and I would have kept that word. But when he surprised me with going public with wanting to be traded, it’s made it pretty difficult for me and everybody else.”
“Now I’m only going to bring the guys along that are ready to play in an NBA game, so don’t get me wrong. And as I said before the game, Brandan is ready. I’ve held him back a few games where he probably should have played, but I think it’s to the point now where he needs to grow into his position and he’s going to be a member of our team and Al isn’t. So we have to face reality and go from there.”
Ouch. The only thing Nellie didn’t add was for the door not to hit Al on his way out of town.
Exactly how benching Harrington in favor of a second-year player will help his trade value, though, is anyone’s guess. But hey, no need to fret, as that philosophy seems to be working out alright for the Knicks with their unwanted players.
