2008 Offseason Plan 1.0

The Golden State Warriors will have a lot of roster spots to fill out this off-season with only 6 players currently under contract (assuming Baron doesn't opt-out). Top on Mullin's list is bringing back Ellis and Biedrins, but what next? At MINIMUM, I would like to have the following transactions take place starting with #1 on draft day, June 26.

1. Draft Marreese Speights (Love if he falls to us, Arthur if Speights is gone)
2. Draft Pat Calathes
3. Re-sign Monta Ellis (5 yr/$45m : $7m, $8m, $9m, $10m, $11m)
4. Re-sign Andris Beidrins (5 yr/$42.5m : $6.5m, $7.5m, $8.5m, $9.5m, $10.5m)
5. Re-sign Mickael Pietrus (4 yr/$17m : $3.5m, $4m, $4.5m, $5m) 4th yr P.O.
6. Re-sign Kelenna Azubuike (3 yr/$9m : $2.5m, $3m, $3.5 mil) 3rd yr. P.O.
7. Re-sign C.J. Watson (2 yr/$2.5m : $1m, $1.5m) 3rd yr T.O. @ $2m
8. Renegotiate and Extend Baron (2 yr/$32m : $16m, $15 m) 3rd yr T.O. @ $14m
9. Use MLE to sign Chris Duhon (3 yr/$11.25m : $3.5m, $3.75m, $4m) 4th yr T.O. @ $4.25m
10. Sign Julius Hodge (1 yr/$0.75 mil)

T.O. = Team Option, P.O. = Player Option

Approximate Salaries:

Baron Davis - $16,000,000
Al Harrington - $9,226,250
Stephen Jackson - $7,140,000
Monta Ellis - $7,000,000
Andris Biedrins - $6,500,000
Adonal Foyle - $6,400,000
Chris Duhon - $3,500,000
Mickael Pietrus - $3,500,000
Kellena Azubuike - $2,500,000
Brandan Wright -$2,497,320
Kosta Perovic - $1,800,000
Marco Belinelli - $1,445,720
Marreese Speights - $1,424,400
CJ Watson - $1,000,000
Julius Hodge - $750,000
Pat Calathes - $700,000

Total Team Salary - $71,419,690

2008/2009 Warriors Lineup:

PG: Davis/Duhon/Watson
SG: Ellis/Azubuike/Belinelli
SF: Jackson/Pietrus/Hodge
PF: Harrington/Wright/Calathes
C: Biedrins/Speights/Perovic

Again, this would be the bare minimum I would do to make this team better going into another tough season in the stacked Western Conference. Things will probably change from now leading up to the draft, but if we are able to land Marreese Speights at #14 and Pat Calathes at #44, we will have improved our front line considerably. In Speights, we get a strong rebounder and defender that we have been missing for so long. He has range out to 15 feet and is mobile enough to fit in Nellie-ball alongside Biedrins or Wright. In Calathes, we would be getting a versatile SF/PF that could do many things well including scoring, rebounding, distributing the ball, defending, shooting 3's, hitting free throws, and playing with a high awareness and intelligence. Some have compared his ball-handling abilities to Dunleavy, so that is a huge plus when evaluating whether a player would fit in the Warriors' system.

http://mindofmullin.blogspot.com/2008/04/prospect-profile-marreese-speights.html

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=22355

Chris Duhon, or someone of equal skill and talent, will be vital to a successful off-season. Baron MUST have a reliable back-up that Nelson will trust and play. This will allow Baron to play as hard as he can every second he is on the floor and not worry about saving enough energy for the 4th quarter. If Baron's minutes get down to the 34 min. range and a few games off, we will not see a repeat collapse down the stretch like we saw this year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/gamelog?playerId=2377

At the swing positions, we have a load of options, but in Nellie-ball, you cannot have enough scoring options to go to sitting on your bench. If we are going to bring back Pietrus and Azubuike for their defense, the team could use another versatile player that could do it all - even initiate the offense. The Warriors have had good success finding talen in the D-League, so why not tap 6'-7" Julius Hodge to round out the roster. He is dominating the D-League averaging: 23.7 pts, 8.3 reb, 6.0 ast, 1.2 stl, and shooting .599 fg%. Hodge is also leading the league in EFF and has a career .412 3pt% so we know he has range. Hodge is a fiery competitor with a determination to battle back from a near fatal shooting incident that left his career in question. It looks like he is ready to come back home to the NBA.

http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/index.jsp?player=julius_hodge

In the weeks leading up to the draft, I'll continue to tweak the Offseason Plan by looking at other scenerios using the MLE and T.E. along with trades, but for now, this is looking pretty solid. We're bringing back key Warriors, adding a reliable backup PG, a true big man, depth at the 2/3, and a versatile SF/PF that could help replace the Barnes we knew in the 2007 Playoffs. Total team salary stays below the Luxury Tax level and we won't be locked in to long deals that will prohibit us from possibly pursuing a big time FA when many of the contracts come of the books in the summer of 2010. This roster will might not be Championship caliber, but if Wright, Ellis, Beidrins, Belinelli, and Speights contribute and continue to develop, and Baron and Jackson sustain a high level of play, you never know what could happen.