Warriors rob Pacers blind???

Here is the big trade: The Golden State Warriors have agreed to trade Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Ike Diogu and Keith McLeod to the Indiana Pacers for Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Josh Powell, NBA front-office sources tell ESPN.com's Marc Stein.

Oaktown Funk did a quick check on contracts:

Harrington - this season plus 3 more (tops out at 10 mil)
Jax - this season plus 3 more (tops out at 7.5 mil)
Jasik - this season plus 1 more (makes 4 mil next year)
Powell - expiring this season

Murph - this season plus 4 more years (tops out at 12 mil)
Dun - this season plus 4 more years (tops out at 10.5 mil)
Ike - this season plus 2 more years (tops out at 4 mil)
Mc - expiring this season

(Here is the Trade Machine version)

So there is no doubt Golden State has won the salary cap portion of the trade. But how about talent-wise? Let's look at the players in pairs:

Josh Powell for Keith McLeod. - Both contracts expire at season's end. Powell has done little to distinguish himself up to now and should be a bench weight unless Donnyball works miracles with his game. McLeod is an ordinary guard who, considering what Golden State got in the deal, will not be missed. He might get some PT with the Pacers unless and until they make another trade for a starting "2" guard.

Sarunas Jasikevicius for Ike Diogu. - Diogu was in the Nelson doghouse and has a much better chance at minutes with the Pacers someday. A lot depends on any subsequent trades Indy has in mind. For the Warriors, this is a big win. Sarunas makes his free throws, hits the three and takes care of the ball. In short, he is a great backup for Baron Davis despite his lack of athleticism. He does have the basketball IQ to work well in the Nelly system and as a better than 90% free throw shooter he will look good on the floor in the last minute or two of games in which the Warriors have the lead.

Baron Davis has been averaging better than 41 minutes per game in January and it has hurt his shooting percentages and turnovers. Monta Ellis is fine young talent but he is a scoring guard, not a distributor. Sarunas allows Baron to go back to the 35-38 minute level, helping to keep him strong and healthy.

Diogu is a young talent who may someday be a solid starter but he will have difficulty getting minutes in Indianapolis considering the makeup of the roster presently. He is a future consideration, basically, as things now stand.

Stephen Jackson for Mike Dunleavy. - Perhaps Larry Bird thinks he can help Dun be more like himself, who knows? Dunleavy has been unfairly villified in the Bay Area and getting a new start with a new team may help him play even better...or, he may be a piece in a subsequent trade to bring another guard to Indianapolis?

Jackson will function in the Warrior system as a poor man's JRich. Again, he will be useful in endgame situations as a guy who makes his free throws. Who needs Pietrus and his 60% on the court in those situations when SJax makes over 80%? Oh, and there is no lack of strip clubs in the Bay Area.

Al Harrington for Troy Murphy. - There is no question that "The Horse" didn't fit in with the new system in Golden State. If he gets burn in Indianapolis, he will go back to being the double-double machine he once was. No doubt he is going to look better as an Eastern Conference PF than he did as a Western Conference C! But will he remain in Indy?

"Baby Al" should be celebrating big time! This is his chance to really shine alongside BoomDizzle and rack up bucketloads of points and boards. He is a tweener PF/SF but can play all three frontcourt positions and should thrive in the uptempo style of play of the Warriors.

Which team wins?

Golden State wins the money portion of this deal and as far as this year, the talent portion as well. Ike Diogu may well bloom and become a top player someday but he wasn't going to get an opportunity on the Warriors. The trade unbalances the Indiana roster - way too many bigs, not enough guards. Who starts at the "2" now? McLeod? Daniels? Dunleavy???

Which players lose?

Golden State - Davis drops some playing time, which is a good thing. Monta Ellis may give up a bit of PT but likely not much. It is players like Matt Barnes and Mikael Pietrus and Kelenna Azubuike whose fantasy relevance should drop because of Harrington and SJax. If all goes well, then they won't lose much as Donny tightens up his rotation to include these players:

Davis
Ellis
Harrington
Jackson
Biedrins
Barnes
Pietrus
Jasikevicius

plus

Azubuike?
whoever (Foyle/O'Bryant) gets a few extra post minutes

Once Jason Richardson returns, at least one of these guys is going to become fantasy irrelevant. Both Barnes and Pietrus are likely going to have reduced playing time. I am afraid Mr. Azubuike may already be irrelevant as soon as Jackson steps into the Warrior colors.

As for Indiana, one expects a trade for a shooting guard will happen soon. Right now their roster looks very top-heavy. Bigs like JON and Foster now have Diogu and Murphy alongside. Danny Granger finds Mike Dunleavy looking for SF burn. Meanwhile, Jackson is gone and who will play at SG? Imagine what Indy will do if Tinsley gets hurt (uhm, you mean he isn't hurt already?) and they have to start Armstrong at the point, backed up by whom? They have guards like McLeod and Marquis Daniels and Orien Greene. Even Boston's available guard array would look better than that!

Anyway, both Jeff Foster and Danny Granger look to lose PT while the roster is like it is.

Is that all there is?

The Birdman must have another idea to follow-up on this trade. Is there a trade involving Dunleavy and Maggette in the works? Really, how many forwards does one team need? It could be argued that David Harrison is the only true center on the Indiana roster, although Foster starts there and does a pretty good job and O'Neal moves over to the center positon at times. Now both Diogu and Murphy could play there against some teams but both are really PF types, as are both Foster and JON.

Meanwhile, you have both Dunleavy and Granger at SF and both can play some PF when you are running a small lineup. You wonder if Rick Carlisle might try a one guard - four forward lineup at times? Wow.

Conclusion: Big win for the Warriors, puzzling trade for the Pacers. They dump PR disaster SJax in the process but at a huge cost. If another trade to adjust the roster doesn't come soon, the top-heavy Pacers will be tilting over and falling in the standings.