By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

Warriors forward Brandan Wright is 6-foot-10 and endowed with a 7-foot-3 3/4 wingspan that was just a half-inch short of matching that of the No. 1 pick in his draft class, Greg Oden.

So why is it that Wright can’t seem to put those tools to use fixing the Warriors’ recurring problems on the defensive glass?

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the Warriors’ historically bad defensive rebounding rate (they’re on pace to post the league’s worst DRR since the 1999-2000 Mavericks) and Golden State has barely ticked the meter in seven games since then, upping their mark from 67.0 to 67.1 percent.

There has been some interesting individual movement, however, as charted here:

Marco Belinelli’s minus-1.8 drop is fairly staggering, but the most distressing item, if you’re a Warriors fan, a Warriors coach or, say, a second-year Warriors forward out of North Carolina, is the erosion of Wright’s defensive rebounding. He now ranks behind Ronny Turiaf (not a huge problem, given Ronny’s improvement of late) and even Corey Maggette, which is a blazing, 40-by-40-foot red flag, given how badly Maggette fared on the boards on his one healthy leg.

Shockingly, according to data at 82games.com, the Warriors are 4.1 percent worse at defensive rebounding with Wright on the floor (63.1 to 67.2). The only guy on the team with a worse differential than that is Turiaf (62.9 to 67.6).

The problem came back into focus after the Warriors were ripped yet again by opposing rebounders — this time for 14 offensive boards and 25 second-chance points by Oklahoma City a 107-100 victory Wednesday for the NBA’s worst team.

Jeff Green had five offensive boards, and Chris Wilcox had four. Wright, meanwhile, had just three defensive rebounds, and while part of that was due to a disparity in minutes — Green played 43:47, Wilcox 36:01 and Wright 19:58 — that’s not the whole story.

Here’s a collection of observations on the wrongs of Wright’s rebounding against OKC:

1, 11:17: Wright doesn’t get credit for one, but it sure looks like he blocks Green. In any case, the miss ticks off Wright’s right hand, although it’s eventually scooped up by Belinelli.

1, 10:08: Kevin Durant beats Belinelli to the R baseline, requiring Andris Biedrins to rotate over and close off the lane. When Biedrins leaves his man, Robert Swift, Wright is stationed about 10 feet from the hoop, looking over his left shoulder at the unfolding play while reaching…

So, there’s an aside at the end of Mitch Lawrence’s column in the New York Daily News today that says “Earl Watson wants out of Oklahoma City.”

First reaction: Who doesn’t?

But seriously: Earl, your team took Russell Westbrook with the fourth overall pick in this summer’s draft. Now, even though he’s more of a combo guard than a straight point, and even though Darren Collison ran UCLA’s offense instead of Westbrook . . . They took him fourth! Fourth! They’re a young team that is — unlike the Warriors — is choosing to give the kids’ experience, regardless of the outcome. What did you think was going to happen?

If you didn’t want to play behind him, you should have had your agent tell Sam Presti to deal you instead of Luke Ridnour.

End of rant. Beginning of picks:

Warriors (2-4) at Kings (2-4), 6:05 p.m.
Pick: Kings -3.5
The death match for 11th place in the Western Conference is SO on.

Raptors (3-2) at Bobcats (2-3), 10:05 a.m.
Pick: Raptors -3.5
Larry Brown’s not-so-merry band continues to befuddle me when it comes to this exercise.

Jazz (5-0) at Knicks (3-2), 12:05 p.m.
Pick: Knicks +4
This could be a nice milestone in the Knicks’ rebirth under Mike D’Antoni, even if Utah is missing Deron Williams.

Mavericks (2-3) at Clippers (0-6), 12:35 p.m.
Pick: Mavericks -4
I was going to say, “well, at least the Clips have their health going for them.” And then Tim Thomas had to go and screw up even that little slice of good news.

Celtics (5-1) at Pistons (4-1), 3:05 p.m.
Pick: Celtics +1.5
Part of me wants to stay home and watch this game, instead of driving to Sac.

Hawks (4-0) at Thunder (1-4), 4:05 p.m.
Pick: Hawks -4.5
Can Atlanta continue without Josh Smith in the lineup?

Grizzlies (3-3) at Nuggets (2-3), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Denver -8.5
I’m hoping the Warriors’ power as a transitive property — GSW beats Denver, Memphis beats GSW, ergo Memphis beats Denver — has been drained.

Rockets (4-2) at Lakers (4-0), 6:35 p.m.
Pick: Rockets +7.5
Houston’s two losses this season have come by a total of six points. If the oddsmakers are going to cover that whole total, how I can I pass up such hospitality?

Yesterday: 3-2-1
Season record: 39-44-1

– Geoff

Warriors forward Al Harrington is finally telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, apparently.

After claiming early Tuesday afternoon that he “wasn’t at that point” of demanding a trade, Harrington hours later did in fact march into executive vice president Chris Mullin’s office to demand a trade, according to his own testimony in other outlets.

Not much I can add to that. Obviously, my earlier report — while accurate in terms of quoting Harrington — was proven inaccurate because of the underlying deceit. Mea culpa.

One thing I will be asking Al later this morning is why he didn’t go public over the summer to try to force the Warriors’ hand. Doing it the day before the season makes him come off as the bad guy, his team-first claims notwithstanding; a concerted effort in June and July would have allowed him to hold the upper hand in the PR war at this point.

Until then, here are some possible trade partners and targets for the Warriors:

CHICAGO: Kirk Hinrich
He’s a superfluous hybrid guard on a team that also has Larry Hughes, Ben Gordon and No. 1 overall pick Derrick Rose. Of course, he’s also got $36.5 million remaining on a deal that runs through 2011-12, and a defensive pairing with Monta Ellis would be akin in some ways to laying a welcome mat to the hoop.

MEMPHIS: Javaris Crittenton
Long of arm but short on accomplishments, Crittendon is probably the biggest reach in this group, although there are other bonuses to be had: Because the Grizzlies have so much room under the salary cap, the cost-conscious Warriors don’t have to take any other contracts back, although Memphis will presumably try to foist a Marko Jaric or Greg Buckner on them.

CHARLOTTE: Raymond Felton
This might be the best fit of these choices. Not only is Felton available because of the presence of D.J. Augustin, but the Bobcats are desperate for frontcourt help because they chose Augustin over Brook Lopez, and don’t want to play Emeka Okafor out of position at power forward.

OKLAHOMA CITY: Earl Watson
Another situation where a highly touted rookie (Russell Westbrook) has been brought onboard, making Watson more sellable. With the addition of a second player to balance out the salaries, longtime potential Warrior Chris Wilcox could also be discussed.

ATLANTA: Speedy Claxton
When Josh Childress was still in the fold, there wasn’t that much need for Harrington in Atlanta. With Childress plying his trade in…