Steve, to quote, you don't think that Warren commits to defense often enough and he needs to decide to work on it. He does not rebound well enough. You say he seems unwilling to pass. You cited his bad interactions with teammates.
I think you're misinterpreting some of my comments BC. In response to the claim that he can't defend, I pointed out that he has in fact defended fairly well at times, he just doesn't do it often enough (on a really bad team, who does?). Yes, he doesn't rebound well enough and that is a concern. He isn't a willing passer but given that he's an efficient scorer, I'm not overly concerned by that. And I didn't say he interacted poorly with his teammates, I was talking about an apparent lack of interaction. If Kawhi Leonard was on this team I'd be saying the same thing.
You cited his injuries. And said that he is an ISO player. And just because a player is disgruntled doesn't mean he is necessarily a locker room problem. And he has shown he won't play coming off the bench. That's a problem.
Yes, he's had some unexplained injury absences and again, that's a concern. He is primarily an ISO player but that's not a bad word in the basketball world even though some fans act like it is. I don't know for sure about coming off the bench but it's quite possible he does have a problem with it. So did Grant Hill (for different reasons) and again, that's not the end of the world. If you were a better player than half the starters would you be content with coming off the bench?
If you received a letter of 'commendation' like that, would you hire him over any of the other candidates? Why?
If he wasn't already on my team I probably would not pursue him. But I think the complaints about him pale in comparison to what he can do. You and others write him off as a limited player with just one skill buts that's like dismissing a sniper for only being good at hitting his target. The game is about putting the ball in the basket and he is pretty good at that.
Warren would be better off getting a fresh start somewhere else and the Suns would be better off with him not tying up a roster spot. Not at the Small Forward position. And certainly not at the Power Forward position that he was forced to play last season. The Suns were just as much at fault. But it doesn't justify keeping a "disgruntled" player, especially on a team as young and impressionable as ours.
We have 15 roster spots in a game where rarely more than 9 players matter, the last thing I'd worry about is saving a roster spot. And with his absences and our horrible record he is likely to be overlooked or at least undervalued in trade conversations. If he's a locker room problem, get rid of him. And if we have a good offer for him, fine, make the deal. I'm just against giving away a player who clearly has been no worse than our 2nd best player.
