Previous supposed saviors for the Golden State Warriors included Donyell Marshall, Joe Smith, Antawn Jamison, Larry Hughes, Jason Richardson, Troy Murphy, Nick Van Exel, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Baron Davis. All have tried and failed to be that new Warrior who vaulted the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 1994.
Now, welcome, forward Al Harrington, the latest Warriors newcomer burdened with that old playoff pressure.
“I know they haven’t been there in 13 years,” Harrington said recently. “It’s a challenge – a challenge that I think we can handle to find a way to get us into the playoffs.
“(Fans say things) all the time. When I first got there, everywhere I went people were like, ‘We’re going to the playoffs now, baby!”‘
On Jan. 17, Harrington, guard Stephen Jackson, guard Sarunas Jasikevicius and forward-center Josh Powell were dealt from Indiana to Golden State for Dunleavy, Murphy, forward-center Ike Diogu and guard Keith McLeod. The Warriors finally completed a long quest to land Harrington that originally began last offseason when they attempted to get him in a sign-and-trade deal with Atlanta.
According to Harrington, that potential sign-and-trade deal also included the Nuggets. Harrington said the key pieces included him going to Golden State, Dunleavy coming to Denver and Smith (now with Philadelphia) going to Atlanta, before the Hawks backed out. Nuggets coach George Karl acknowledged that the proposed deal was “probably true.”
“It would have worked. I’m just upset that it didn’t,” said Harrington, who averaged 18.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists with Atlanta last season.
Desperate to leave struggling Atlanta, Harrington eventually signed a six-year, $60 million contract to return to his original team in Indiana. While the deal was lucrative and Indiana is a perennial winner, the versatile 6-foot-9, 257-pounder wasn’t excited about playing in Rick Carlisle’s half-court offense. Harrington’s dream of playing up-tempo was realized by the Warriors after his former Pacers teammate Chris Mullin, Golden State’s executive vice president, acquired him last month.
“We’re just really good friends,” Harrington said. “It’s funny being around him, and it’s like we never left the Indiana days. He’s already saying the same jokes. It’s good having a boss like that, someone you can talk to. No matter what is bothering me, I feel like I can go and tell him anything.”
Golden State coach Don Nelson has asked Harrington to get his weight down in the 240s and to rebound stronger. While it may take some time for Harrington to drop the weight, he has played well, averaging 19.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals while shooting 46.5 percent from 3-point range in 11 games with Golden State.
“(Nelson) loves the small (power forward) who can make shots,” Karl said.
Golden State has a talented and deep roster including veterans Davis, Richardson, Jackson and Mickael Pietrus and budding young talent in Monta Ellis and center Andris Biedrins. But the Warriors (24-27) are only 5-6 since the Indiana trade and Harrington acknowledged it would be tough to get back into the playoffs this season in “the mighty West.”
“Hopefully, we make it this year,” he said. “But if we don’t, we have to have great summers and everybody has to come back better than they were this (season) and then we’ll definitely get in.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-954-1098 or mspears@denverpost.com.
