ESPN Predicts Warriors will finish next to last in WC.

[jason bourne]

Well, I'm not as optimistic as two weeks ago before Lagoober talked about test drives of Don Nelson and Larry Riley and AB coming out with that interview. The positives have been adding David Lee and Dorel Wright and watching Stephen Curry in his second year, but it does not appear to be enough. Suddenly, there is the woeful lack of depth on the bench. Then there is the big question mark about Andris Biedrins. I think Monta Ellis will be professional until he gets traded. The writing seems to be on the wall for him and AB. I think the Kings can beat the Clippers and are poised to become the next Grizzlies.

Golden State Warriors 29 53 .354 26 56 .317
Warriors fans got their wish when Chris Cohan agreed to sell the team after 15 long years. Now comes the hard part for Golden State: Taking the raw materials on hand and making the team competitive in a tough conference. With Don Nelson's future and the roster in flux, our panel sees incremental steps, not a giant leap forward.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/s...-WestStandings

[AlleyOop]

I don't see it. Honestly, I think GS will be better than 2 out of 3 of either Phoenix, Clippers and Kings. I think they'll be behind the Lakers and 1 other team, finishing 3rd with a 42 win season.

Curry is poised to be an All-Star's All Star next year. I really think he's going to blossom as a top level PG next year. Along with David Lee, Dorrell Wright, and what GS already has, I actually think they'll be a lot better than people are saying.

Also, even though he is not a good solution long term, I honestly feel Nellie will give GS a good chance to win next year. I'm not a big fan of his, especially the way he uses his big men. But given the circumstances, I think he offers a good chance because if GS switches coaches right now that's a lot of change very soon. Nellie's system is in place and he knows how to get a lot out of the players. Also, GS will probably be auditioning more guys from the DLeague, and Nellie is good at that. He's probably one of few coaches who will actually give Jeremy Lin minutes.

The other thing is that Steph Curry is like the perfect PG for Nellie's system, and Nellie finally has that, and you know he's stoked. A future Nash prototype. I want to see a change by next year, but I think this year, the current roster under Nellie, especially with the re-energized fan-base and staff with the ownership change, and having nothing to lose, really, I think the team is going to come out firing and the Curry/Lee combo will carry this team through a lot of wins. 3rd in division, 42 wins, probably not enough for 8th seed but who knows...

[Clif10]

AlleyOop, I like your crystal ball. I don't know if I agree with it. But I like it.

I think it is going to be fun to see this team grow here on out, now that the clown Chris Cohan is out.

42 wins? That's high, but there is very little difference between a lot of teams in the West. I'll join the optimism and say that this team may have an all-star back-court with Curry(I'm taking your word on it AO)-Ellis(his stats at least were comparable to the elite in the conference) and an all-star front court with the new addition of David Lee. With such in addition to Wright and Biedrins, this team may not be too far away.

[HiRez]

42 is too high for me, but it will certainly be more than 29. I think 34-36 is likely. Obviously injuries could derail things and the Warriors bench is thinner this year, but I just can't see how the injuries could possibly be as bad as last year.

[CohanHater]

If the roster stays pat, I'll go with 31 wins. The Clips will def be better and the Kings could be as well. I don't think it's that far off. That being said, 1 more move can propel this team to 40 win team very easily.

[jason bourne]

I thought the ESPN group did a good job and 29 wins was pretty good prediction for the Warriors, but they have to stay healthy. An injury to one of their starters could be devastating with the lack of depth on the bench.

I predict Riley will make a deal. At this point, I see AB being the odd man out. If he can get Kevin Love, then that would be a good trade. We give up defense in the middle, but would have a potent offensive front line. The deal doesn't make sense, but not playing AB and David Lee together for a lot of minutes doesn't either (assuming they mesh). Nelson will likely go with Lee at C and AB will be out.

[HiRez]

Nelson will likely go with Lee at C and AB will be out.

Another reason why Nelson needs to go NOW. If he plays Lee at C, then they WILL win 29 games. I'm not thrilled with Andris at this point, and would be up for trading him if there's an upgrade out there, but he's more of a C than Lee is.

[CohanHater]

Nelson will likely go with Lee at C and AB will be out.

Likely go with Lee at C? I know you hate Nellie, but come-on...that's a little over-the-top...even for you. Even if the Warriors get a valid 5 in Beans place, or have Beidrins back to his old form, this team isn't a 40+ win team. There's no bench and no tried 3 and an undersized 2. I don't care who's coaching.

It'll be entertaining to see how both Wrights progress, and to watch Curry develop. My hope is to go for a new coach this year, but if Nellie sticks around for this season, it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen.

[Run BJM]

The west is pretty brutal but 29 is low for this team. We don't have great depth but our starting unit isn't bad IMO. We'll continue to have a great home court advantage and the improved rebounding should help on the road. I'll go with 37 wins for the season. Wouldn't be too surprised if is 5 less or 5 more wins but I'd be happily surprised if we were over .500.

This is all barring injuries.

[jason bourne]

Likely go with Lee at C? I know you hate Nellie, but come-on...that's a little over-the-top...even for you. Even if the Warriors get a valid 5 in Beans place, or have Beidrins back to his old form, this team isn't a 40+ win team. There's no bench and no tried 3 and an undersized 2. I don't care who's coaching.

It'll be entertaining to see how both Wrights progress, and to watch Curry develop. My hope is to go for a new coach this year, but if Nellie sticks around for this season, it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen.

It's the Beans situation and not so much the Nelson hate. AB wasn't getting a lot of minutes even as a starter from Nelson. I'd want him to get at least 30 mins per game, so I know Lee won't have to play much C. I think Nelson will use him like he did Randolph. I have no idea how much Gads will play. It would be nice to get Chris Hunter back as a third center if Gads can't play. It's also the Udoh injury and Brandan Wright situations. If the W's get Amundson, then I'm sure he'll play a lot of C and we can protect our all-star David Lee.

[Custodianrules2]

C's are hard to find. I don't think I could part with Andris Biedrins yet. Look how long the supersonics/thunder were looking for one. Bust after bust after bust.

I don't think we have enough depth to get over .500. We need to be super healthy and playing focused. I don't know if the team can do it. We might have a meltdown.

[Run BJM]

Good call CR2. Remember all those years we pined for a decent starting C and how excited we were when Beans broke out? Dudes not a world beater but hes not bad either. If we're moving him we better have a damn good plan to fill that 5 hole soon after.

[Custodianrules2]

Look at team usa in the fiba world championship. They look horrible when coach K takes a play out of Nellie's small ball lineup and does his K Love / Odom at center spiel. Meanwhile, Tyson Chandler is rotting on the bench and the few minutes he got he was effective. That game against Brazil, coach K almost lost it because he did not understand that Chandler's size was bothering Splitter at the basket. Then don't get me started about his choice of guards and keeping Eric Gordon out of that lineup that night... We need Beans, we need good small guards, we can't afford to play our power forwards as centers or it doesn't matter how many stars we have on our team. Without a center, we can't rebound or protect the rim or keep the biggest guy on the other team from having his way with us. We need a good small guy because he's our quarterback and coordinates the offense and handles the ball most of the time. That's why the 1 and 5 spot are the most important positions on the team. 2 is probably 3rd most important, followed by a strong 4.