By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

Well, give Don Nelson credit for one thing: He said that benching Al Harrington wasn’t going to hurt his trade value, and he was right on the money.

Given what the Warriors’ options were, getting Jamal Crawford from the Knicks is probably the best available option.

In the short term, dealing Harrington for any useful player is an unquestioned win for the Warriors. Once Harrington left town, it was clear he wasn’t ever coming back. The situation had deteriorated beyond repair, as evidenced by Nelson and Harrington’s agent, Dan Fegan, trading barbs through the media.

Getting a player of Crawford’s caliber back for a nonentity is pretty much a no-lose situation.

In the long term, it’s a totally different matter, of course.

The Warriors are now locked into a core of Crawford, Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins — imagine that, a perfect small ball starting five! — beyond the summer of 2010, when a historic crop of free agents is due to hit the market. And because each of those players (unless Crawford crazily opts out after this season) is due $8.5 million or more in 2010-11, it’s highly doubtful that any of them can be traded until after the ‘10 feeding frenzy is over.

This deal makes a whole lot of sense in the wake of the extension Jackson signed earlier this week. That contract had already pretty much knocked Golden State out of any significant change-making ability in 2010. So using the salary-cap space that remained ($7.5 million is my rough estimate, if the league can maintain its recent revenue growth) to add a quality player for basically no cost was a no-brainer.

(As for the luxury tax in 2010-11, unless the league’s revenues well and truly crater, the Warriors should be able to get under that threshold fairly easily, even if they keep a core of Crawford, Jackson, Ellis, Biedrins, Maggette, Ronny Turiaf, Brandan Wright and Anthony Randolph.)

And hey, on the plus side, Warrior fans can go ahead and buy that $230 authentic jersey and know it won’t become outdated anytime soon.

Other thoughts after a day of contemplation and research:

** Crawford gives the Warriors a couple of things they’ve been missing this season: A guard who can drive and kick, and another jump shooter that must be accounted for.

According to NBA.com’s Hotspots, Crawford shot 40.4 percent last season from outside 15 feet; the Warriors as a whole, even…