Eduardo Najera joined the Warriors as part of an eight player trade on August 24, 2004. Vice President, Basketball Operations Chris Mullin and Najera participated in a conference call with Bay Area reporters following the trade. The following is a partial transcript:
On what he brings to the Warriors:
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AUDIO |
Chris Mullin and Eduardo Najera met the media
and sat down for an exlusive interview with Tim Roye.
Mullin Audio
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Najera Audio |
Eduardo Najera: I don’t know what the coaches are going to ask me to do, but I am going to play the same kind of game I played with the Mavericks, which was to play aggressive, a tough defensive player and try to help the team win doing that stuff. I don’t know if I will be asked to do something different, but I am going to have to adjust to everybody. Just like any other NBA player I am going to have to adjust to a different team. I am very excited to come to the Bay Area and I am ready to start working.
On leaving Dallas and a large fan base:
Eduardo Najera: Obviously I am going to hate leaving Dallas because I had great support from the fans there. At the same time I am very excited to be going to a new team.
On the Warriors:
Eduardo Najera: It is a very underrated team. A lot of people don’t know how good we are, how much talent we have on the team. I am very excited, obviously it is going to be different for me, but I am looking forward to the adjustment. I think we will be better than people actually think.
On Eduardo Najera:
Chris Mullin: I feel like he is a good fit with our existing roster and I think he is a player that is going to play multiple positions. He will bring energy and is a really good defender. He is going to help us win games.
On the centers currently on the roster:
Chris Mullin: With Adonal (Foyle) and Dale Davis we are in good hands at the center position. We also have forwards that can slip in at the five from the four as well.
On the sign and trade of Erick Dampier:
Chris Mullin: All along I had certain criteria that I felt was going to help the team. I was always open to doing a deal that met our criteria. About the only thing I didn’t have was a time frame. I was kind of hoping to do anything as long as it met my criteria. When this deal came down the pike I was more than willing to do it. There were a lot of other talks and different scenarios, but again I felt like this met my criteria and this helps our team now and in the future.
On Luis Flores:
Chris Mullin: We intend on giving him a real good look. I scouted him myself a few times during the year and actually did a pre-draft workout. We are going to give him a real strong look. I like his talent, his upside. I like his toughness. He is going to have to learn the NBA game like any young player. He definitely can score the ball, his learning curve will be learning to distribute and becoming a decision-maker.
On Adonal Foyle taking over the starting center position:
Chris Mullin: Adonal is working hard to get fit and healthy. When he has had minutes he has been very productive. With he and Dale we are in good shape there.
On the direction of the franchise:
Chris Mullin: What we are doing now is putting together a deep talented team that compliments each other, one that is going to go out and play together and win. We have also set ourselves up to retain young players that we feel are going to be a part of our future and we also can go out and entertain free agents and do whatever we can to make this team better as we go on.
On the Warriors nucleus:
Chris Mullin: We have a solid point guard rotation with Speedy and Derek. With Jason and Mickael Pietrus, I feel really good about that. With Mike Dunleavy and Najera, with Calbert Cheaney swinging back and forth, we feel really good about that. With Troy and Cliff we have depth and talent that compliment each other there. With Adonal and Dale we have flexibility there, and I think with Andris Biedrins he will be able to learn and play behind these guys initially and we can see how his development goes. We feel we have a good deep talented team, probably more importantly talent that compliments each other.
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