Inhistoric.com: The Sports History Blog

That 2007 Warriors team was too talented for its own good. When they beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, Golden State had a starting lineup with five players capable of scoring 20 a game. But a team that talented is too hard to sustain. And a year later, J-Rich and Baron Davis are gone, and the Warriors appear to be near rebuilding.

The Warriors have offered Elton Brand a $100 million contract, about $30 million more than the Clippers are willing to give him. If Golden State wants to stay in the playoff hunt, they absolutely need to acquire Brand. Otherwise they're going to be dwarfed by ten or twelve other Western teams looking to make the postseason.

But even if the Warriors land Brand, which may even be an upgrade since Golden State is in desperate need of a bigman, the old run-and-gun Warriors are dead. This team was incredibly unique in how small they were at their peak. Point guard Monta Ellis was playing shooting guard, shooting guard Stephen Jackson was playing small forward, small forward Jason Richardson was playing power forward, and small forward Al Harrington was playing center.

With Davis gone, the balance of the Warriors' fast lineup falls apart. Ellis' game makes him better suited to be a shooting guard, but he's so small that without a big point guard like Davis in the rotation, Monta will almost certainly be the point guard. And with Monta at the point, and potentially (and hopefully for Warriors fans) Brand as the power forward, this team will become a slower, plotting team that isn't anywhere near as quick. Even if they stay competitive, the most exciting team in the NBA just got a lot less fun to watch. And that's if they land Brand -- if they don't, they might not be watchable at all.