<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><span class="georgia md" id="bodytext"> It's a bit too early to start talking about feathery half-court shots or punishing slam dunks over Andrei Kirilenko, but Baron Davis made a huge statement Monday without leaving his Media Day chair.</p> Asked if he still planned to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract with the Warriors next summer, Davis said, quite simply, "No."</p> It's the sensible way to go - really, the only way Davis realistically could assess his status with the organization - but it wasn't what we were hearing last week. In an interview with the Boston Globe, Davis said he'd be disappointed if the Warriors didn't work out an extension before the start of training camp, and that he'd already be on next year's free-agent market, in his mind, if they failed to do so.</p> "We just have to see how much they trust me and want me," he said at that time.</p> As the Warriors very quietly informed Davis that there will be no contract talks at all until next summer, perhaps he took some time to look beyond the numbers. The NBA's salary-cap system is a travesty in many ways. Trades are extremely difficult to execute. Teams can be perfectly happy with their rosters, only to be forced into awkward personnel changes when they sort out luxury taxes, mid-level exceptions, sign-and-trades and other complex parts of the puzzle.</p> The Warriors' hard-line stance on Davis has nothing to do with love or respect. They think he's an MVP candidate, one of the league's most exciting players and maybe its No. 2 point guard behind Steve Nash. Hell, their whole life revolves around Davis. If he were to disappear tomorrow, the franchise would descend into utter chaos. They simply don't see any point in tearing up an existing contract when they hold all the cards. They know it's downright crazy to make a long-term investment in a 28-year-old player who still needs to establish his durability (Davis has missed 130 games over the past five years), and maybe Davis came to realize that.</p> It was a typically hang-loose day around the team that so thoroughly captured the nation's attention during last season's playoffs. New addition Troy Hudson deemed Golden State "the freedom team," because coach Don Nelson is a dream coach for players with legitimate NBA skills. Forever whimsical, Nelson was a looming figure behind the Al Harrington interview session when Nelson suddenly said, "Nobody's asking why you don't rebound better. How come you don't rebound your position?"</div></p> Source: SF Gate</p> </span></p>
Glad to hear he's got his eyes on the prize. I was worried players would turn on management after the Richardson trade, but it looks like people are buying in to the Warriors plans.</p>
This is good news. He basically addresses all the complaints that I had about him. You can't win with guys that are so focussed on getting paid when they're already making so much of the team salary. It would have been a complete team distraction if he still said he was going to opt out.</p>
