It's officially unofficially the Lacob and Guber era folks! GETTING INSIDE The Warriors have a new owner, but it seems as if they’re haunted by the same old bad luck. Just five days after the excitement of the ownership change from Chris Cohan to a group headed by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber electrified San Francisco Bay Area sports fans, the Warriors received their third piece of bad news already this summer with the determination that David Lee(notes) would have to have his dislocated right middle finger placed in a splint for six weeks. Lee, who suffered the injury during tryouts for the FIBA World Championship team, did not require surgery. But the new Warriors star, acquired in a sign-and-trade deal with the Knicks earlier in the month, had to give up his hopes of playing on the American team. The injury was the third suffered by a Warriors big man in July. First-round draft pick Ekpe Udoh(notes) underwent surgery on his left wrist on July 14 after getting hurt during an informal workout at the Warriors’ practice facility while preparing for the Las Vegas Summer League. He is expected to miss training camp and probably at least the first month of the NBA regular season. The summer got off to a rough start when Brandan Wright(notes) took a blow to his surgically repaired left shoulder in his second game of the Las Vegas Summer League on July 10. While the injury was not considered serious, Wright was held out of the final three games of the league. NOTES, QUOTES • Chris Cohan got his price and Warriors fans got what they wanted, even if it wasn’t who they wanted. Cohan, who paid $119 million to purchase the remaining 75 percent of the franchise he didn’t already own in 1995, agreed on July 15 to sell the Warriors for a record-breaking $450 million to a group headed by Celtics part-owner Joe Lacob and Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber. The deal is expected to be approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors by mid-September. According to multiple reports, the bid wasn’t the highest Cohan received. However, it was the highest before his July 4 “deadline”—which he eventually extended by two days because of the holiday. About a week later, Cohan received a higher offer from Larry Ellison, the Oracle boss whose company owns the naming rights at the Warriors’ arena. But Cohan said he had already committed to selling to the Lacob-Guber group, thus ending the bid of the man most Warriors fans had dreamed of taking over ownership. •Even though the sale probably won’t be approved until close to the start of training camp, clearly the wheels already are spinning in regard to the new ownership’s interest (or lack thereof) in retaining current coach Don Nelson and general manager Larry Riley. The new owners almost immediately became linked to Mike Dunleavy, father of the former Warriors flop by the same name. Some Warriors fans had hoped the change in ownership would lead to the hiring of two highly successful former San Francisco Bay Area high school standouts, Spurs assistant general manager Dell Demps and Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw. But Demps became general manager of the Hornets on July 21, ending that speculation. Nelson, who has one year remaining on his contract worth $6 million, has indicated he’d like to finish out his deal on the Warriors’ bench. “I’d love to coach another year, but I understand that it’s a possibility (that he won’t be retained),” he told ESPN.com. “I want to do what’s best for the organization. If I have to be a part of the change, I will understand.” Riley has continued going about reshaping the Warriors’ roster in the interim, dealing for David Lee in a sign-and-trade with the Knicks and signing former Heat forward Dorell Wright(notes) while the ownership change was in flux and then adding summer-league star Jeremy Lin(notes) within a week after the sale of the club had been announced. • Despite losing Anthony Randolph(notes) (to trade) and Ekpe Udoh (to injury) before playing any games and then watching Brandan Wright get hurt in their second outing, the Warriors went 3-2 in the Las Vegas Summer League. Reggie Williams(notes), a late season sensation after being plucked from the NBA Developmental League, finished second to rookie star John Wall(notes) in scoring at 22.6 points per game. The Warriors had wins over the Hornets, Heat and Suns and lost to the Pistons and Walls’ Wizards. • Two players who got extensive playing time during the Warriors’ injury-plagued last two seasons have moved on via sign-and-trade agreements. The Warriors lost point guard C.J. Watson(notes) to the Bulls and 3-point shooting specialist Anthony Morrow(notes) to the Nets. Golden State received a 2011 second-round pick and a $3 million trade exception in the deal for Watson, who averaged 9.5 and 10.3 points the last two seasons, starting a total of 32 games. The club got almost the same return—a 2011 second-round pick and a $4 million trade exception—for allowing Morrow to leave. The undrafted swingman from Georgia Tech led the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage in 2008-09, connecting 46.7 percent of the time. His percentage dipped only slightly (to 45.6) last season. Quote To Note: “I think we’ve made a couple good deals to improve the roster. I really love (David) Lee, and I think our locker room is getting cleaned up. We’re really moving in a good direction.”—Warriors coach Don Nelson ROSTER REPORT Arrivals: • F Dorell Wright (free agent from Heat) • F David Lee (trade with Knicks) • C Dan Gadzuric(notes) (trade with Bucks) • G Charlie Bell(notes) (trade with Bucks) • G Jannero Pargo(notes) (free agent from Bulls) Departures: • G C.J. Watson (traded to Bulls) • G Anthony Morrow (traded to Nets) • F Corey Maggette(notes) (traded to Bucks) • F Kelenna Azubuike(notes) (traded to Knicks) • F Anthony Randolph (traded to Knicks) • C Ronny Turiaf(notes) (traded to Knicks) Player Notes: • G Jannero Pargo signed a two-year, $2.4 milllion contract with the Warriors. Pargo averaged 5.5 points and 1.4 assists with the Bulls last season. • G Jeremy Lin was so impressive in the Las Vegas Summer League, shooting 54.5 percent and making two-thirds of his 3-point tries, he had multiple teams interested in signing him as an undrafted free agent. But the Harvard product, who grew up a Warriors fan in the San Francisco Bay Area, chose the hometown offer of a guaranteed contract for 2010-11 with a club option for 2011-12. Lin could shoot his way into significant playing time in training camp considering that the Warriors currently employ only four guards, one of whom (Charlie Bell) likewise is a newcomer seeking to create a role for himself. • F Dorell Wright is the type of small forward the Warriors have lacked over the years. In other words, he specializes in playing defense. Wright is the polar opposite of the guy he will be battling for playing time—high-scoring summer league star Reggie Williams. If nothing else, Wright would give a new coach (presuming Don Nelson isn’t retained) some options in terms of style of play moving forward. • F Reggie Williams had already earned a guaranteed contract for the 2010-11 season before going to Las Vegas as part of the Warriors’ summer league team. What he did in Vegas was prove the Warriors were wise to lock him up for at least one more year. Williams almost single-handedly powered the club to three wins in five games, leading a fourth-quarter rally in a one-point win over the Hornets, pouring in 23 points in a three-point triumph over the Heat and breaking through for 18 points in 19 minutes in the first half of a 10-point victory over the Suns. Draft Pick: • Ekpe Udoh, F, 6-10, Baylor (first round, No. 6)—The Warriors had hoped the third time is the charm with slender power forwards, but now Udoh is out 4-6 months after undergoing wrist surgery. When he comes back, they hope Udoh will be an upgrade over returnees Brandan Wright and Anthony Randolph in terms of toughness and defensive presence. Wright is coming off a shoulder injury, and Randolph was traded to New York. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AhE1jUWYuFbFh1VOVgAFrnmkvLYF?slug=teamreports-2010-nba-gsw
