Admit the Mistake

Thanks to spreeforfree for hooking up the link to John Hollinger's article Who Would You Rather Have? from The New York Sun. Hollinger is a well-respected contributer to ESPN.com. Check out what he had to say about everyone's favorite Warrior.

Is Isiah Thomas secretly running the Warriors? If that seems preposterous, consider these numbers: five years, $44 million. Now look at these: three games, two points, four rebounds.

The first set of numbers is the generous contract extension the Warriors bestowed on small forward Mike Dunleavy a week ago. The second is his production against the Knicks on Sunday. After three games, the newly enriched Dunleavy is shooting 25.8% from the field while averaging a measly 8.7 points per game. Apparently, he's using the money on postage stamps, judging by how he mailed it in at the Garden on Sunday. Considering those three contests came against the Hawks, Jazz, and Knicks - none of whom are defensive juggernauts - things could get even worse.

Worse? Let's hope not.

In the case of Dunleavy, emotion trumped logic. This was a classic case of general manager hubris - Mullin was so unwilling to admit a first mistake (taking Dunleavy with the third overall pick in 2002), that he made a second one. Young Mike went six picks ahead of Amare Stoudemire, but he's produced modest career numbers of 10.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 43.8% shooting in his three seasons by the Bay.

St. Jean was actually the GM when Dunleavy was selected, but rumors persist that Mullin was the backseat driver on that one. It's funny how no one in the Warriors organization seems willing to admit that drafting Dunleavy was a mistake. Except for Muss that is, but look what happened to him.

Here's a shocker: we tend to agree with Hollinger's overall stance.

Make sure to check out our ongoing 44 Reasons why giving Mike Dunleavy 44million wasn't the brightest idea (Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV coming soon!)