I think Mullin should get extended. Aside from his rough start, he's done everything I think he should have done. I can comment more on this in regards to how he somewhat reversed a crucial mistake in the Dunleavy, Fisher, Murphy, Foyle signings and how he acquired a psuedo-superstar in Baron Davis and got us a ton of young talent in every single draft. Had we gotten a top 5 pick in at least one draft since he was here, I'm sure Mullin wouldn't have blown it. He's done the best in drafting. Then again, maybe there's something in the organization I don't know about like is Mullin taking credit for somebody else? It is a team effort in the war room.
Hell nah. We got to get someone else. He is too selfish and doesn't offer players like Baron anything, but overpays Maggs, Foyle, etc. But who could replace him?
I'd extend Mullin, but not long term, unless we can get someone better. If we extend Mullin, there is no way Don Nelson gets to become GM again .
Mullin's been great. Lock him up. There are a lot of other teams that would want him. After a terrible rookie performance, he "fixed" his mistakes of Murph/Dun/Foyle/Fisher and got this team a ton of young talent, plus he engineered the Baron deal and the SJax deal, two FANTASTIC trades that many other GMs might not have been able to pull off. Mullin's really come into his own in this short new career, and he actually seems like one of the tighter, sharper and more calculated GMs in the league. If I were a GM in this league, I'd know I was in for a hard bargain dealing with Mully. Can't say that for Gary St. Jean. Sign Mullin long-term -- this team's been a whole lot better since he got here.
Unless you have a deal with some superstar GM, then absolutely I would extend Mullin. I think overall he has done a fantastic job the last few seasons. He's learning from his mistakes and learning that you have to separate your personal and business relations when it comes down to decision time. I have no idea what kind of money he's asking for but I doubt it's much compared to player/coaching salaries and I seriously doubt there is anyone better they're going to find to come to Oakland at this time. Sign him right now and don't even think twice about it. EDIT: I also want to add that I think another thing he has learned, perhaps with Nellie's help, is that the primary winning trait you want in a player in today's NBA is athleticism. Not "basketball I.Q." or PR-friendliness. Not that those things aren't desirable, but the NBA is full of freak athletes and you can't compete with lead-footed, stone-handed, muffin-soft boat anchors out there. I'm looking at you Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, Adonal Foyle, and most of the other Warriors for the past decade.
I think everyone believes Foyle was overpaid, but for Mags, he might be underpaid. Essentially he's like a Jrich player that scores at the foul line like a superstar player, but he's not a superstar player. I'd treat Mags like a borderline all-star. A 1 timer like Nick Van Exel, Clif Robinson, Wally Sczerbiak, or AK47.
They have to extend Mullin at this point. He's matured as a GM and has great repoire with his players and other GMs in the league. He hasn't been perfect, but his overall body of work has been successful and he's created a winning atmosphere in Golden State. Considering the rash of injuries this team endures every season, a tight wad owner, and not having a new multi-billion dollar state of the art arena to lure free agents, Mullin has done just fine as GM. He finally has a system to build around and he's acquiring the right mix of players to excel in Nellie's offense. If the Warriors go in a different direction now, who exactly are they going to replace Mullin and Nellie (I think he's gone if Mullin isn't extended)?
My thoughts exactly, Shape. Mullin really did mature as a GM and I thought there was no hope after that 2003-2004 debacle.
A lot of people coming into the organization love talking about how Mullin brought them here. Two examples come to mind being Don Nelson and Maggette. Maggette, I believe, was really impressed by Mullin and his commitment for the team and organization. Unfortunately I don't get the same message coming from the ownership. This has been the thing that has really hurt this franchise. The ownership sucks. We have something new here. Let Mullin stay for at least another year or two. He actually has passion for this organization and basketball team. I mean if you can go out and bring Nelson out of retirement, you deserve to be around for a while longer.
I agree, the ownership doesn't seem to be of the hardcore fan variety. I wish we had Mark Cuban or the Maloofs. Somebody that gives a crap. I don't know if Larry Ellison likes the Warriors, but if we had him, I'd think he'd help this franchise a lot. He'd hire the best experts that know basketball and what it takes to build a championship team.
I think you guys are overvaluing Mullin. I agree that Mullin fixed his mistakes, but he also lost our best chance to get back to the playoffs next season in Baron Davis. I think most good GMs would have extended Baron to a reasonable contract like three years at $36 M (in addition to the $17 M he had). However, he fumbled and lost Davis which he never expected. Davis would've been money better spent than Corey Maggette. Mullin never had a backup plan. His throwing crazy money at Gilbert Arenas and then Elton Brand was all spur of the moment and he never did have a real shot at getting them. I'm not sure who's out there who can replace Mullin and Nelson next season with the run and gun approach, but it would be worth a search. Maybe run and gun would not be the way to go if this upcoming season is a disaster. See for yourself, he's not that great. http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/chris_mullin.htm
But that's just the thing, Baron didn't want 3 years, he wanted 5 or more, and more money as well. I don't think there's any way Baron was going to sign for 3@$36M. Plus, he wants to be home in L.A. to work on his movie making, rapping, partying, surfing, whatever. Finally, the honeymoon was clearly over between he and Nelson. Not that they wanted to kill each other or anything, but I think that incident in Phoenix put an end to the love fest. I think Mullin would have given him a 3 year contract for $36 million, and he may well have offered it. I can see the reasons Baron made the move, I just don't like how he did it. I agree the Brand and Arenas offers were panic overreaction moves, although I certainly wouldn't mind having Brand on the team even for crazy money.
The Warriors lost Baron Davis and the playoffs when the Warriors traded Jason Richardson for Brandan Wright. I really don't know if that was a strictly Mullin decision as it was an ownership decision that wanted to clear up room for the future.
I thought the Warriors had a legit shot at Elton Brand and Mullin took a calculated gamble. It wouldn't have made sense to re-sign Davis for the money and years he wanted and then re-sign Monta to a $10M plus salary. The Warriors also took a shot at luring Josh Smith away from Atlanta this summer. Baron Davis might have brought short-term success, but I don't think his price tag justified barely making the playoffs and getting eliminated in Round 1.
There is a point that I'm going to agree with you and say Baron wouldn't be worth it. Like, he's not worth 5 yrs/$65 M with his injury history and attitude. If Mullin was on the stick, then he would have tried to re-sign Davis for somewhere in-between that amount. If Davis wanted more money, then he could have offered the three year extension, i.e. more money, shorter years. Mullin counted on Davis not opting out and that lead to where we are today. Clearly, he wasn't ready to do a deal when push came to shove. It's stupid to be left with panic overreaction moves. A good GM doesn't let himself get painted in a corner like that. With having Nelson to coach for one more year (likely), it wasn't time to give up and start re-building again.
In hindsight, we know that's true but a lot had to do with the emergence of Monta Ellis, the play of Azubuike and the drafting of Marco Bellinelli. In that regard, it's a good argument for keeping Mullin.
Yeah, they put up the bucks but it was a reaction and nothing that was planned. It just goes to show Mullin had no plans to counter what Baron did. I put Josh Smith in that category as well. It was more pie-in-the-sky type wishful thinking. I think Baron at somewhere between $53M to $65M for five years would have been okay. Then we would have had a nice balance of veterans and youth and Mullin would have gotten his extension.