Why the Warriors should take a really close look at the 2010 Nuggets

While reading through Golden State of Mind's seemingly endless discussion about the pro's and con's of Monta Eliis, I came across a very interesting comment. It read "Your claim kinda sounds like the ones about the Nuggets post-Melo. Their offense actually got better. Monta’s offense is like Melo’s, but worse." So, I decided to look at the pre-Melo and post-Melo Nuggets (and luckily, Round Ball Mining Company had already done a wonderful post with the numbers handy in a chart!!)

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Statistic

Pre-Trade Post-Trade

Scoring Margin: + 2.4 / + 12.3 *
Pythagorean Record:47.5 – 34.5 / 69.4 – 12.6 *
Pace Factor: 97.5 / 96.9
Offensive Efficiency: 110.1 / 110.5 *
Defensive Efficiency: 107.8 / 97.8
Field Goal Percentage 47.5% / 47.9%
Opponents Field Goal Percentage 46.0% / 44.2%
Effective Field Goal Percentage 52.5% / 53.0% *
Opponents Effective Field Goal Percentage 50.2% / 47.9%
True Shooting Percentage: 57.5% / 57.0% *
Opponents True Shooting Percentage: 54.3% / 51.9%
Defensive Rebound Rate 75.7% / 80.8% *
Offensive Rebound Rate 23.6% / 25.2%
Overall Rebound Rate 50.4% / 54.2%

The numbers indicate that the Nuggets became a better team once Carmelo left. Their offensive numbers improved slightly, but the fact that the numbers remained steady or even slightly improved show that it is not necessary to have a "proven offensive threat" or "25ppg scorer" to win ballgames. These types of players can be nice to have, but only if they do other things on the court (like play defense or rebound. In the Nuggets case, their defensive efficiency improved greatly after losing Carmelo, which propelled them to an 18-7 record after his departure. The Nuggets also were rebounding the ball at the most effective rate in the NBA...

...Which brings me to the Warriors. The Warriors have a similar player in Monta Ellis. A flashy scorer who provides little else on the basketball court (this is a disservice to Carmelo, who actually plays defense at only a slightly-below average Defensive Rating). The Nuggets case-study shows that the Warriors can easily become a better team by trading Monta Ellis. If you can replace his scoring with players that convert possessions into points at a higher efficiency and have at least a little commitment to defense the Warriors can be a playoff contender in the upcoming season.