|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
Tickets at Ticket Master
If you're tuned in to the rumor mill, you know it has been a summer of tumult in Golden State. The team blew it with free agent Gilbert Arenas, ceded defeat by trading top scorer Antawn Jamison, broke up a promising team and is left with a front office seeped in tension and disarray. General manager Garry St. Jean, according to the ol' mill, has been marginalized, upstaged by his special assistant, former Warriors star Chris Mullin. That's drama worthy of Shakespeare.
Unfortunately, reality is far removed from the titillation of the rumor mill. "I've heard and read things," says Mullin, who has kept a low profile this summer. "My response is that my position here has not changed. I come in, I work with the guys, I have some input on moves. But ticketmaster I'm just a small part of the decisions. That's by design, because it's what is comfortable for me."
St. Jean echoes that sentiment. "People forget that I was the one who courted Chris Mullin to come back," St. Jean says. "He is one of the greats, so of course we are going to get his opinion on everything we do. But Mully is a team guy, and the way we do things here, we do them as a team. Where all that conjecture comes from, about him and me, I don't know."
ADVERTISEMENT
So, despite reports to the contrary, all is well inside the corridors of the
Warriors' front office. But, for Warriors fans, congeniality among staff members
is not nearly as important as the makeup of the roster, which has been drastically
changed this summer. The Warriors have 10 new players, an unexpected overhaul,
considering the team was the most improved in the league, going from 21 wins
to 38. But, if you talk with St. Jean and Mullin, the Golden State offseason
makes more sense.
Once it became apparent that the Warriors could not keep Arenas because of salary-cap reasons (Golden State was a victim of a contract loophole), the organization came to three conclusions: It needed a big-time point guard to replace Arenas; it had to refocus on youth, and it had to make sure it wouldn't be strangled by financial considerations again. "We've got young guys, but what's the point in having them if you can't ticketmaster keep them down the road?" Mullin says.
When the opportunity to trade Jamison and Danny Fortson to Dallas came up, the Warriors jumped. It would help fulfill all three goals. It would bring in Nick Van Exel to replace Arenas. Van Exel is 10 years older than Arenas but is a more polished playmaker and scorer. It would send away Jamison, who, despite his scoring, is one-dimensional and not a great fit at small forward. That frees playing time for Mike Dunleavy, a player Mullin says is "going to make everybody on this team a much better player." In the process, the Warriors got out of their commitment through 2008 for $69 million to Jamison, and through 2007 for $25 million to Fortson.
Now, the Warriors are built around Jason Richardson, Troy Murphy and Dunleavy, each 23 or younger. They'll be looking for contract extensions in the next two years, and with Van Exel's contract coming off the books in the summer of 2005, the Warriors will be in good shape to sign them. "We don't make that deal, and it is highly unlikely we keep everybody in the next few years," St. Jean says.
"When you're a player, there are a lot of things you don't have to worry about," Mullin says. "I'm just trying to learn. And ticketmaster I'm learning it's a lot harder when you have to deal with reality."
A lot harder and
a lot more dramatic.