What's better than signing an undersized power forward, or not terribly mobile small forward to a long term high dollar contract?  Not doing it.

Al Harrington was not going to be the franchise savior, so unless it is a salary dumping exercise, entirely possible, he wasn't going to be the missing piece of the Warriors puzzle in 06-07.   His added toughness would have been nice to see,  there has to be something to him leading the league in flagrant and personal fouls last year, the only 2 stats he made the top 10 in.  As we covered before, Troy was in the top 10 in offensive and total rebounds.  Doesn't mean I like him as a player...  That toughness doesn't translate into good defense.  We would give up a poor defensive power forward in return for a tough, but slow and not terribly adept Small Forward.  Thus moving all of our offensive firepower to the 1,2,3 spots.  The Warriors would certainly run the floor and score better, but would probably continue to be among the league leaders in points against.

Harrington certainly has some talent, and he is a playmaker.   He also attempted less 3 pointes than Murphy which is a real head scratcher.  As a small forward he spent more time around the basket than Troy did.  Al is also not a great free throw shooter at under 70%, and his rebounding stats are about the same as Troy's with Al averaging around 2 offensive rebounds per game.  His assist to turnover ratio is close t 1-1 and he doesn't block many shots. 

Using the dreaded +/- that is so controversial. Harrington is far worse than Troy Murphy.  This is a bit of a misleading comparison since  the Hawks were so much worse.  On the other hand, they played similar minutes, were starters, and if you take into account the difference in records, they are probably very close in what they offer on offense/defense differential.

 In one of his playoff appearances with  Indiana he faded averaging only 3 points and under 4 rebounds in 17 minutes after going nearly 14 and 7 during the regular season. Coming off the ACL injury he suffered the fate of many players after their first serious injury. More jump shots, less defense.  Factor in the Warriors track record of taking inside players and softening them to the point where they never step into the paint, expect more transition baskets, and more jump shots n the half court game.

Harrington sounds good compared to what we have today, but he would not be that much of difference maker on the Warriors.  The Warriors need a strong athletic inside post player, with good hands, who can pass out of the double team, and score on the block.  There was a point in time where Harrington was, or could have been that player, but the time isn't now, and the team isn't the Warriors. 

Harrington From 82games                                    Murphy From 82games  

Data from  Dougstats.com and 82games.com were used in this piece.