<div align="center"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"> Golden State: Let The Offseason Begin</span></div> With the 14th pick in the 2008 NBA draft, the Golden State Warriors select Anthony Randolph from LSU. Wait a minute, we have heard this before. The Warriors drafting a long, lanky big man who has loads of potential, a guy named Brandan Wright. Being the lottery for the 14th time in 15 seasons kind of gets boring, and may seem repetitive. Well that’s exactly how the Warriors draft turned out. They drafted a Brandan Wright play-a-like. They have similarities in many aspects like wingspan, weight, height, and even more. Why did you draft duplicate of Wright, Chris Mullin? "He's long, athletic, he's ready to play and has star quality," Mullin said. "We were sitting there kind of amazed he was still there." Well there you have it folks, Mullin has said it once again, ‘star quality.’ He said this about Wright as well, and it seems that he had the same inattentions in this pick. With the 49th pick in the 2008 draft, the Golden State Warriors select Richard Hendrix from Alabama. A powerhouse power forward who crashes boards and is willing to risk his body. Some compare him to Utah’s Paul Millsap. He was supposed to be a lottery pick a few years back, but he took a major fall and was just projected in the second round. "For a second-rounder, we've got him penciled in to make the team," Nelson said. "That doesn't happen very often." Chris Mullin is also known for stealing second round prospects like Gilbert Arenas and Monta Ellis, so maybe Hendrix could be a good solid rotation player for Golden State. The Warriors did well in the draft and many experts gave them a high grade for their picks, but more occurred in this offseason for the Bay Area team, Baron Davis opted out of his contract. The leader of the squad opted out of his contract on June 30th, making him a free agent. Sources say he was not happy with the decision of Coach Don Nelson wanting to play some of the younger players on the team, even if it costs the Warriors some games. Davis was obviously frustrated, causing him to walk away from potentially 17 million dollars or higher from his contract. Quickly after, Mullin talked on the phone trying to negotiate a contract with former Warrior, Gilbert Arenas and offered the max contract. Arenas will most likely sign with the Wizards though, pairing up with friend and teammates Antwan Jamison. Thus far, this offseason has been a roller coaster ride for the Warriors. Without Baron, and possibly having players like Mikael Pietrus, Kelenna Azubuike, and Matt Barnes leaving, the Warriors are in a tough spot right now. Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson will have to carry the load for Golden State, unless the Warriors sign someone that could replace Baron. Anything is possible in the NBA right now, and the Warriors could definitely use some help right now.
Simply because Randolph is similar to Wright does not mean its a bad fit. Think the Blazers would have liked a do over to give it a run with MJ and Drexler? If the Warriors can get the best players on the floor, they will be okay. Think about it, 3 years ago it was Dunleavy, Murphy, Diogu and JRich; now its Monta, Biedrins, Wright, Bellinelli and Randolph with SJax and Harrington. That's a huge improvement. Mully knows what he's doing, let's have patience.
The Mullin drafts have all been pretty much excellent. Plus, guys aren't getting spoonfed their roles like Dunleavy Jr, they're having to earn it. Not to blame it solely on Dunleavy because it wasn't entirely his fault that we had a SG that couldn't dribble through traffic, a point guard that couldn't run the break or set up plays or penetrate, and a power forward devoid of any interior offense or defense, and a center that couldn't catch or make layups. The latter's eventual replacement at the time was way too foul prone to keep the game fluid and Jrich's backup got worse over time rather than better. We're getting more players that can actually create their own offense with smarts/fundamentals as opposed to just relying on athleticism. My only complaint is we're drafting boys instead of man-children. Everyone is so light-weight and weak looking, plus they have problems with their free throws... But I still like our prospects as opposed to Gary St. Jean's picks. Our defense has to get better, but I think we have the potential to really move the ball and sync up well. Monta Ellis can drive and attack and he's good at finding Biedrins. Wright can deliver alley oops and he's got great footwork and rebounding and length. Marco is a Brent Barry type guy who can do a lot things, except maybe rebound or play defense. Sjax and Al are solid veterans and maybe we can use those two at smaller positions and have them operate in the mid-post. Getting a better bench will be important. Some say re-sign Azu or get another Pietrus or Barnes. I think we need a proven 17 or 16ppg scorer at least. Somebody that can take the pressure off either Sjax, Al, or Monta by being very reliable. I still say we should grab Ricky Davis. He's still better than Pietrus and he's got a lot of skills that would work starting or in the sixth man role. He might even solve our shooting guard problem.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (philsmith75 @ Jul 1 2008, 08:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Simply because Randolph is similar to Wright does not mean its a bad fit. Think the Blazers would have liked a do over to give it a run with MJ and Drexler? If the Warriors can get the best players on the floor, they will be okay. Think about it, 3 years ago it was Dunleavy, Murphy, Diogu and JRich; now its Monta, Biedrins, Wright, Bellinelli and Randolph with SJax and Harrington. That's a huge improvement. Mully knows what he's doing, let's have patience.</div> I couldn't agree more. Plus, Randolph's game is totally different from Wright -- he can play on the perimeter, take defenders off teh dribble and hit a pull-up jumper. Wright is an interior player who gets putbacks, tip ins and dunks. Randolph is a SF, like Lamar Odom, while Wright is a PF.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Custodianrules2 @ Jul 2 2008, 10:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The Mullin drafts have all been pretty much excellent. Plus, guys aren't getting spoonfed their roles like Dunleavy Jr, they're having to earn it. Not to blame it solely on Dunleavy because it wasn't entirely his fault that we had a SG that couldn't dribble through traffic, a point guard that couldn't run the break or set up plays or penetrate, and a power forward devoid of any interior offense or defense, and a center that couldn't catch or make layups. The latter's eventual replacement at the time was way too foul prone to keep the game fluid and Jrich's backup got worse over time rather than better. We're getting more players that can actually create their own offense with smarts/fundamentals as opposed to just relying on athleticism. My only complaint is we're drafting boys instead of man-children. Everyone is so light-weight and weak looking, plus they have problems with their free throws... But I still like our prospects as opposed to Gary St. Jean's picks. Our defense has to get better, but I think we have the potential to really move the ball and sync up well. Monta Ellis can drive and attack and he's good at finding Biedrins. Wright can deliver alley oops and he's got great footwork and rebounding and length. Marco is a Brent Barry type guy who can do a lot things, except maybe rebound or play defense. Sjax and Al are solid veterans and maybe we can use those two at smaller positions and have them operate in the mid-post. Getting a better bench will be important. Some say re-sign Azu or get another Pietrus or Barnes. I think we need a proven 17 or 16ppg scorer at least. Somebody that can take the pressure off either Sjax, Al, or Monta by being very reliable. I still say we should grab Ricky Davis. He's still better than Pietrus and he's got a lot of skills that would work starting or in the sixth man role. He might even solve our shooting guard problem.</div> Even I, as a draft junkie, have to admit Mullin's drafts were pretty good for what was available. Probably his biggest mistake was Diogu (man, Rerem loved that guy so much, and he's still got potential because of misuse/injuries setting him back, but I really wished we had picked Granger who I felt was a no-brainer) and he parlayed that as the attractive bait that lured SJax/Harrington. You'd think 2006 was a bad year with PO'B and Kosta, but if you take a look at the rest of the draft, you see that basically 90% of the draftees sucked. We got the 9th pick in what was a draft of 8 good players (and even players picked ahead of us, Morrison and Williams, were drafted too early. In the first round, we missed out on few shooting guards (Sefolosha, Brewer) and a bunch of the point guards (Rondo, Farmar, Gibson) and a few nice role players in the 2nd round (Millsap, Powe). Although, we didn't need a guard and there's still a small glimmer of hope that Kosta pans out somehow. I can't blame Mullin a lack of selection. Along with the defensive concerns, my biggest concern is the coaching situation for these young guys. What's going to happen after Nellie leaves? I think that'll make a big difference in the development of our numerous young guys.
