[babaoriley]

Is absolutely phenomenal... That dunk over AK-47 was just sick.

[LargeMouthBass]

I love Baron Davis!!!!!

[onlooker]

That was a great dunk.

[FightForCalifornia]

He was pretty sick in the Dallas series even when he WASN'T 100% healthy...

[cohbull]

This will sound absolutely crazy but Baron Davis' trade value will never be as high as it is right now with his extraordinary performance in the playoffs. With Baron being particularly injury-prone over the past few years his playing time has gone down (he's averaged 40 games over the past four seasons), do the Warriors trade him in the offseason, give him a contract extension, or let him play out the rest of his contract and hope for the best? If you were the Warriors GM what would you do??

[tevari]

he is an incredible talent, no doubt about it. if i were the warrior GM, i'd try to resign him- he's a local product that the fans adore, and plays with a lot of heart, if he dedicates himself to try to stay as healthy as possible with little or no off-court distractions, he's a keeper for sure.

[TheProphet]

I say he is still a keeper as he only has 7 seasons on his belt and there isn't really any other young PG that you could trade with his atheltic ability. He is only 28 years old and has another good 5 years left if he remains healthy and out of injury. Who could you get for him that would even be at the level he will be 5 years from now? Maybe Deron Williams in Utah, but he isn't as explosive going to the rim. Plus I think Sloan is in love with the kid as his new PG of the future. Possibly Devin Harris, but I don't know how liked he would be in Dallas after he destroyed them this year in the playoffs. I can see the value with trading him if there was a PG that could bring you better numbers than he would over the next 5 years and I just don't see it. If they where to trade for another position the only one that would be of value to their team would be an athletic Center which they truly don't need as much as good point man with the way they play offense.

[LargeMouthBass]

he is an incredible talent, no doubt about it. if i were the warrior GM, i'd try to resign him- he's a local product that the fans adore, and plays with a lot of heart, if he dedicates himself to try to stay as healthy as possible with little or no off-court distractions, he's a keeper for sure.

No buddy, he's from So Cal, not Nor Cal...

[gridironguy]

The poblem is that Davis is rarely 100%, which is why he got shipped out of Charlotte or New Orleans, whereever the Hornets were when he got traded.

[isetcap]

This will sound absolutely crazy but Baron Davis' trade value will never be as high as it is right now with his extraordinary performance in the playoffs. With Baron being particularly injury-prone over the past few years his playing time has gone down (he's averaged 40 games over the past four seasons), do the Warriors trade him in the offseason, give him a contract extension, or let him play out the rest of his contract and hope for the best? If you were the Warriors GM what would you do??

HAHAHAHA.

It would probably be a good idea to trade Davis if you want to see all of your SPECTACULAR fans assemble in front of your house and behead your children while you watch. If I'm the Warriors GM, I do everything in my power to make sure Davis stays with Golden State because when he is healthy there is NOBODY more valuable to his team in the NBA. That's right, I said NOBODY. Not Nash, not Bryant, not James, not Duncan, and certainly not Nowitzski.

[isetcap]

No buddy, he's from So Cal, not Nor Cal...

That's like being from two different planets, and if you're from CA you know I'm not kidding.

[TheProphet]

HAHAHAHA.

It would probably be a good idea to trade Davis if you want to see all of your SPECTACULAR fans assemble in front of your house and behead your children while you watch. If I'm the Warriors GM, I do everything in my power to make sure Davis stays with Golden State because when he is healthy there is NOBODY more valuable to his team in the NBA. That's right, I said NOBODY. Not Nash, not Bryant, not James, not Duncan, and certainly not Nowitzski.

WOW are you serious I mean without Davis the Warriors are still not a half bad team. They have plenty of scorers that can shoot, but without Bryant the Lakers are a bottom 5 team. What about Gilbert Arenas in Washington without him what have they done? I agree Davis is huge to his team, but there are a few players who are more important to their respective teams

[babaoriley]

Without Bryant, the Lakers are an NBDL team. I'm not even remotely kidding.

[LargeMouthBass]

With the return of Baron Davis in the last 20 games or so of the regular season, they played like champions. If he played the whole season, GS would definitely not be in the 8th seed. Since we are talking about Baron Davis being completely healthy, I'd say Davis is up there with many super stars of being the MVP. He just makes the team better... No doubt.

Baron Davis is a leader, Kobe's not...

[TheProphet]

I still can't say Kobe is not a leader he has never had a team to lead I would like to see what he would do with just DECENT players around him not even good ones just decent for a whole season. I feel that with Odom, Bryant, and Walton they have a good core with Bynum maturing a little bit maybe Brown improving some and a new point guard or improvement by Farmer then we will get to see if Kobe can be a leader. He hasn't really been put in a position to lead yet for me to rate it.

[isetcap]

Let me make it clear how I feel:

Taking into account the skill sets of all the players in the NBA when they are healthy, who is the one player I would choose to build my team around?

Baron Davis

He has the physical skills, athleticism, IQ, and leadership to excel in any system you place him in and his primary concern is simply winning. It is not requisite that he play in a certain style or with a certain coach or surrounded by certain teammates. He is simply the embodiment of a great basketball player...when healthy.

[babaoriley]

Baron Davis also has a surrounding cast, while Kobe is surrounded by guys who couldn't break the Milwaukee Bucks starting lineup (with the exception of Odom). Kobe certainly isn't a leader, but he single-handedly got a crappy team into the playoffs. Anytime Smush Parker, Brian Cook, Jordan Farmar, Kwame Brown, Andrew Bynum, Luke Walton (severe regression this year) and Vujocic (again, severe regression this year) are prominently involved, you've got issues. All that was asked of the Laker "supporting core" was to hit open shots and play good defense. They did neither.

[isetcap]

Without Bryant, the Lakers are an NBDL team. I'm not even remotely kidding.

You are without a doubt, correct. In fact, without Davis the Warriors would probably be better than the Lakers without Kobe. Kobe is a wonderfully spectacular player.

The difference is that WITH Kobe, the Lakers are simply first round playoff fodder, whereas the Warriors with Davis at 100% are capable of annihilating the best teams in the NBA.

[TheProphet]

I don't want to turn this into an only Bryant discussion so I wan to touch on the subject where you said if you had ANY player to build an NBA franchise around it would be Baron. I will list my players below in a top 5 list with age and a brief summary why.

1) Dwayne Wade - AGE AND PROVEN WINNER what more could you want then a guy who hits the big shots down the stretch can play point or 2 spot and has won a championship without much help from a depleated Shaq.

2) Kobe Bryant - 28 YEARS OLD the best scorer in the game and still a good defender ANOTHER all defensive team. He has become less selfish and only takes over games now, because he HAS to. I believe he doesn't care about stats anymore and just wants more championships he knows scoring is the only option now with a supporting cast who knows.

3) Lebron James - 22 YEARS old he is young he can pass the ball and get the rebounds. One of the best at attacking the basket and getting to the line he still needs to work on his defense and his shooting, but with so much potential can't pass on this.

4) Gilbert Arenas - 25 YEARS old young athletic PG who can TAKE OVER a game. He can dish out the assist to and has hit big shots. He has all the right tools to be a leader and take a team places he made the Cavs vs. Wizards series an awesome event last year to bad he was hurt this year for that rematch. He loves to win games and not just in the postseason in the regular season watch how intense he is at the end of games. If defense can pick up he will end up taking the Wizards far in the next couple of years.

5) Carmelo Anthony - 23 Years old and just gets better each season he is learning more and more how to be a leader. The brawl was a learning experience that he has recovered from and there is nothing but brightness in his future. He should have been ROY and always plays with a chip on his shoulder as the number 3 selection. He wants to win and if he had the pleasure of being in the EAST as does Lebron he would have advanced to the second round by now.

Baron Davis can not crack the top 5 as a player for me to build around.

[babaoriley]

Let me make it clear how I feel:

Taking into account the skill sets of all the players in the NBA when they are healthy, who is the one player I would choose to build my team around?

Baron Davis

He has the physical skills, athleticism, IQ, and leadership to excel in any system you place him in and his primary concern is simply winning. It is not requisite that he play in a certain style or with a certain coach or surrounded by certain teammates. He is simply the embodiment of a great basketball player...when healthy.

The same could be said about Ken Griffey Jr. in baseball, but given the choice of taking Griffey or Vlad Guerrero over the past 10 years, I'd lean with Vlad. 50,67,18,28,54,63... That's the games played stats for Davis over the past 6 seasons. That's a lot of games missed and a lot of rehab in that knee. If I'm GS, I certainly try to resign him and keep him a Warrior for the remainder of his career, but I also throw a clause in there that ties a large portion of his salary to games played.

I absolutely agree that Davis is a phenomenal talent, but for a guy with a career average of 16-4-7, I find it crazy to compare him with Kobe Bryant in terms of relative value to a team. I like Davis more than Kobe and prefer his unselfish demeanor to the Kobe-centric personality of Bryant, but I have a tough time calling Davis more valuable than Kobe.

[babaoriley]

And with all that said: Baron Davis has made Monta Ellis, Matt Barnes, Biedrins, Pietrus all into good role players. So, isetcap, I certainly see your point. And hell, I started this thread about how terrific Baron is. I'm just extremely concerned that he's going to get hurt every time I see him go to the lane. I'm not sure Kobe will ever fully grasp the concept of "I can make my teammates more confident, which will then allow them to take their games to levels they previously thought was impossible". He's just too damn intimidating, and every Laker player (besides Odom) has the fear of God in him every time they take a shot. They are legitimately afraid of the wrath of Kobe. Baron's good-natured encouragement is the one element that Kobe is sorely lacking. Being competitive is one thing, but it almost looks like Kobe just doesn't even have fun out there.

[gridironguy]

double post, sorry!

[gridironguy]

Baron Davis also has a surrounding cast, while Kobe is surrounded by guys who couldn't break the Milwaukee Bucks starting lineup (with the exception of Odom). Kobe certainly isn't a leader, but he single-handedly got a crappy team into the playoffs. Anytime Smush Parker, Brian Cook, Jordan Farmar, Kwame Brown, Andrew Bynum, Luke Walton (severe regression this year) and Vujocic (again, severe regression this year) are prominently involved, you've got issues. All that was asked of the Laker "supporting core" was to hit open shots and play good defense. They did neither.

This is a very good point.

[cohbull]

HAHAHAHA.

It would probably be a good idea to trade Davis if you want to see all of your SPECTACULAR fans assemble in front of your house and behead your children while you watch. If I'm the Warriors GM, I do everything in my power to make sure Davis stays with Golden State because when he is healthy there is NOBODY more valuable to his team in the NBA. That's right, I said NOBODY. Not Nash, not Bryant, not James, not Duncan, and certainly not Nowitzski.

You said it, if he's healthy. That's the key, and obviously there's no guarantee he can play an entire season going forward. Hey, I love BD's game but let's face it, the Warriors will be Ellis' team to run in the next two or three years. I know it wouldn't be a popular choice in the eyes of the fans, but over the long run it might be in the teams interest to get something for him while they can.