Cohan Ready to Sell!

Hopefully the new owners will not mess everything up.

 

Our attendance the past few years has been between #5 and #10, but the estimated population in the area is actually around #11-13* or so. It's a really conservative estimate, though. There's a few really big cities (NY, LA, Chicago), about 13 teams between 3 and 6 million (we're in the middle of those), and then 12 teams at 2 million in estimated population or below. Among teams rumored to be for sale, the Warriors are just behind the Pistons - and in terms of history, again we're only behind the Pistons.

*Edit: In light of more market research I did because I was bored, other population estimates put us at #6 behind or tied with Detroit. That ranking counts the Nets and Clippers, though. So maybe we're a bit higher than I originally researched, definitely higher than 11.

As far as front office moves, I think a fresh start is best. Personally I'd like some sabermetrics nerds in the front office at least to be used as reference.

 

Did I just read that right? Name one thing he did right? Credit him with Curry...Who fell in our laps when we're in need of a 1, or a replacement for Ellis after the moped drama was a no-brainer. Had he traded up to get him, that'd be a different story, but Curry fell in his lap.

And not pulling a Stoudamire deal was a good move. He had CJ (who is an expiring deal) to move at the trade deadline alongside Magettte (who was playing well) Ellis, Speedy's contract and Biedrins to play with (not including the young injuired talent). And he failed to make a move.

His answer was, I'm getting terrible deals, so I threw out some terrible ones back and hoped I'd get lucky. Which is a ridiculous statement to make for a GM.

I want to see the entire front office canned. The only people that should come back should be the PA announcer and Abdenour (provided that he gets some real trainers to help him).

 

Sorry...this is a happy day...no need to rant

 

Jerry West as GM?


Warriors sale could lead to big changes
By Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports Mar 22, 10:45 pm EDT

OAKLAND, Calif. – With Monday’s announcement that the Golden State Warriors are officially for sale, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison remains at “the top of the list” of suitors for the franchise, NBA sources said.

The Warriors announced Monday they have hired Galatioto Sports Partners to spearhead the sale of the struggling franchise. Sources said as many as six potential buyers have made inquiries and a sale could be completed within three months, but Ellison is the only suitor who has so far publicly acknowledged his interest.

“He’s at the top of the list,” one league source said. “Everyone else is two, three, four and five. If he wants to buy it, he’s going to buy it.”

Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Magic Johnson also could have some interest in becoming involved in an ownership group, a source said, provided he sells his minority stake in the Lakers. George Postolos, who had hoped to buy the Charlotte Bobcats, also could surface as a potential buyer.

Ellison is ranked by Forbes magazine as the sixth-richest person in the world with a total wealth of $28 billion. If Ellison were to purchase the Warriors, league sources say former Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies general manager Jerry West could emerge as a leading candidate to head basketball operations for the franchise.

Warriors owner Chris Cohan has considered selling the franchise for several months. Sources say Cohan believes he can make more money if he sells now than next year when an expected capital-gains tax increase could trim his sale profit.

Michael Jordan recently purchased the Charlotte Bobcats for a reported $275 million. In 2004, Robert Sarver led an ownership group that bought the Phoenix Suns for an NBA record $401 million. One source projected the price of the Warriors would exceed that of the Suns largely because of the attractiveness of the Bay Area market.

Cohan has owned the Warriors for 17 seasons, and the franchise’s lack of success during his tenure has angered Bay Area fans. Golden State again ranks near the bottom of the Western Conference standings this season. An ownership change could lead to an overhaul of the team’s front-office and coaching staffs.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AhvfOFk_LnEmJypls3HvqAG8vLYF?slug=mc-warriorssale032210&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

The web is certainly abuzz about West. There was even some random quote regarding him turning down the Clippers job, and someone asked West or some associate if West would consider the GS job, and he said he might. I would love West, but only for two reasons: 1. he undoubtedly has tons of basketball connections, 2. he helps bring credibility back to the front office. Compared to the hype though, he is overrated a bit. I really liked this article which pointed out arguments on both sides: Is Jerry West Overrated as a GM?

West is now over 70, and as he's shown with his gig in Memphis, he's not as good at rebuilding as he is at building around a current star. (He had Pau Gasol then and couldn't lure players to Memphis on that alone, plus one of the sidebars on that article shows his poor drafting history - Conley was the last choice - but still, managing to get 50 wins by luring Hubie Brown in 2004 was impressive, but not sustained). Unless we get 1 or 2 in the draft, we're only at the rebuilding stage. No GM is excellent at rebuilding, though, because there's a massive amount of luck involved. Ainge was about to be fired before he landed Garnett, for example. Dumars turned Detroit around early in the decade, but failed in recent years by giving up Billups, and then signing Gordon and Villanueva to bad contracts. Kiki Vandeweghe did a great job for the Nuggets, only to have the Nets turn out horrible. On the other hand, Kupchak was doing a horrible job with the Lakers until he lucked into Gasol. Aside from Gasol, most of his moves have truly been either horrible or luck - but the strength of the Lakers name and location give him enough credibility to be considered a great GM. What I'm trying to say is that a GM can be considered a savior due to his smarts, but there's alot of good fortune involved really.

I respect the front offices of San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Oklahoma, or Denver, but every single one of those teams inherited a star (Duncan, Yao, Nowitzki, Durant, Anthony) that came before the current GM was installed. (Houston might be the exception because Yao hasn't actually played this season and yet Houston managed to make some pretty wicked deals). So the reality check is that no matter who the GM is, we're at a stage where getting lucky in the draft order still is more important than what happens in the front office.

 

Didn't West help facilitate or promote this deal in his beloved Lakers' favor?

I agree, a lot of luck is involved...like David Stern rigging the lottery balls so GSW gets the #1 pick.

 

i dont like that this is getting my hopes up...because if it doesn't gonna go through, i'm going to be crushed

 

Apparently the Blazers' Kevin Pritchard is on the outs with his team. That would be an awesome coup for the "new" Warriors.

 

I've read Magic Johnson wants to be a part of the ownership.

 

That was the rumor, supported mostly by the fact that the trade was originally considered so lopsided and done so much earlier than the trade deadline. West was said to have suggested to Memphis to "clean house" by giving up Gasol and starting fresh. Honestly because of Marc Gasol, the trade turned out alright - and it did accomplish the goal of clearing out the books - but it's still on the fishy side to my observer senses.

Pritchard built a good team in Portland, but some of the shenanigans (some listed in the article) and hearsay from around the league don't give him much respect. That's kind of an eerie thing to consider for someone who'll have the control of the team. Portland owes a lot of credit to Paul Allen too, more than Pritchard.

 

It may not be much consolation coming from me, but I'm almost 100% certain it will happen. I work with some brokers and Cohan will be on the hook if it doesn't sell for quite a bit. That and his situation requires that he gets some assets before year's end to pay debts.

As far as how fast it goes, though, that's another story. It should happen by next season, but Kawakami's sources think that the sale will take more than 3 months (I thought 3-4 months was right on target in my last post, but it's not like I'm experienced in anything in the range of hundred-million dollar purchases). As he notes, any sale past July 1 goes through both the draft and the free agency period. Although, it wasn't like we were able to make much of a splash, though it would have been nice to see a new GM make some awesome trade right as he got into the gig.

 

Holy crap! If this is true, the Warriors might actually have a chance at being relevant.

Get rid of Cohan and take Rowell with him.

 

In related news that might affect the Warriors valuation, the Wizards valued their team plus the Verizon Center at $550 million. This was several hundred million less than Pollin's estate asked for: the Verizon Center was built in 1997 for $260 million, with $60 million from DC and $200 million private backing. Taking the value of the arena at steady (don't really have appraisal info handy), that means the Wizards were valued at approximately $300 million.

The Wizards are considered to be extremely close in value to the Warriors. Number-wise, there are some similarities: local population numbers are similar (around 5 million, though depending on how far you go, the Warriors might be up to 8 million), and the arenas were both opened in '97 (though for the Warriors, it was only an extensive remodeling). Both teams changed their logos in '97 (of course, the Bullets also became the Wizards which caused the change, where we just decided to go with that weird thunderbolt thing.) History-wise, the Warriors have 20 years on the Wizards but all of those years were in Philadelphia, with the Warriors moving to SF in '62 and the then-Baltimore Bullets debut in '63, both teams own one championship from the 70's, with similar numbers of Hall of Famers and retired jerseys. Moving to the current situation, both teams have had limited to poor playoff success, with both very recent "scandals" although the Wizards' one caused them to blow up their team. Even our current cap holds are similar. Washington has $30 million tied up in veterans Arenas and Howard, and prospects [I use the term loosely for some of these guys] in Foye, Thornton, Blatche, and McGee. As you all know, the Warriors have $30 million tied up in Ellis, Biedrins, and Maggette, with prospects Curry, Wright, and Randolph.

Of course, in the sale, Leonsis was a 44% owner with the right to purchase the team. For the Warriors, it's an open sale. So that's a huge difference in terms of strategy since there was no bidding war, but still, there were stakes as the Pollin estate had no reason to give Leonsis a "friend" discount - they could have raised the price and found an outside buyer - so it's not an unrealistic valuation at all, but a very fair one. So, although in the end it may not have a real bearing on the value of the team because Cohan is a greedy bastard, this can only really be seen as a good thing for buyers who have at least a point of contention against overpaying.

 

Just for the resord, the Wojo article is crap. The source for his "dirt" is Mark Warkentien of Denver.

Warkentien was a highly valuable member of the Blazer front office, but he got frustrated and quit. A year later, John Nash got fired as GM...and Pritchard just sorta fell into the job. Seeing his former subordinate get the job Warkentien wanted (and deserved) has created a lot of bitterness.

Landing KP would be great for the Warriors. If he leaves Portland, it won't be because of his job performance.

 

What does everyone think of the prospect of moving the team to SF?

I think it would be a great business move. I'm taking some flak from some dude on Lowell Cohn's blog about it, but to me it just seems like a no brainer if you're a new owner with money to spend. It would maximize your investment by placing in a more attractive location. The dividends would probably be a lot more than keeping it in Oakland. There's nothing to do before or after the game. Not that it's THAT important, but looking at what AT&T Park did for the Giants, I just don't see how this would be a bad thing other than the commute being less convenient.

 

SF is farther from me, so I'd keep in Oakland.

 

SF is farther for me too, but i think it would be awesome. i heard that the potential spot would be right next to the giants stadium...but yeah, that whole area south of market has so many bars, restaurants and clubs...like kajita said, there would be tons of stuff to do before/after the games. and what can you do now after a game?? drive up 73rd to church's chicken??? i'm good off that.

if you were a new owner of a basketball franchise, would you want your team playing in one of the trendiest, most-thriving areas of one of the most popular cities in the world??? or would you want them in the heart of east oakland, murder capital of california?? it seems like a no brainer to me