FINAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE OFFSEASON?

The Golden State Warriors are on the verge of signing Maurice Evans, Kelenna Azubuike, or another player prior to finalize the contracts of their coveted future core players, Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins. If Biedrins signs for what Tim Kawakami thinks he will get (6 yrs / $55 mil) as stated in his 'Talking Points' blog entry, they'll have roughly $5 mil. in cap space even after the Marcus Williams signing.

They may use just use the cap space on a lackluster acquisition like Maurice Evans, or Mullin could come out of left field with a creative move that uses the cap space to facilitate a trade netting the Warriors an upgrade at PF. Mullin continues to surprise everyone with his stealthy transactions, so I wouldn't put it past him.

Some players I would consider trying to trade for utilizing the remaining $5 mil. in cap space in a package:

1. Josh Smith (RFA)
2. Lamar Odom
3. Travis Outlaw
4. Dorell Wright (RFA)
5. Ben Gordon
6. Charlie Villanueva
7. Ryan Gomes (RFA)
8. Walter Herrmann (RFA)
9. Wilson Chandler
10. Channing Frye

Currently, an offer is out there for Evans to accept, but he reportedly is holding out for more money. If Evans does not agree to the Warriors' terms, the Warriors have the option to match Azubuike's offer sheet from the Clippers by Friday. If Evans is demanding a salary close to Azubuike's 3 yr / $9.3 mil, I hope Mullin goes with the player with more youth and upside, Azubuike.

It sounds like Mullin is leaning towards keeping C.J. Watson as a 3rd PG. He's cheap, has good offensive talent, and can bring the ball up the court, so why not? Watson is an NBA player who could do a good job as a backup PG on any team. The fact that he'll be making only $770 k is a huge plus as well.

If they decide to match Azubuike and retain Watson, they have room to sign one more guy. I'm hoping that guy is Anthony Morrow from Georgia Tech. He's been lighting it up in Summer League and could work well as a specialist in an offense that requires accurate 3 point shooting to space the floor and keep the offense flowing at a fast pace.



Potential Roster for 2008-2009

PG: Ellis / Williams / Watson
SG: Jackson / Azubuike / Belinelli
SF: Maggette / Randolph / Morrow
PF: Harrington / Wright / Hendrix
C: Biedrins / Turiaf / Perovic

We got an army of wingers and bigs that can get up and down the floor (with the exception of Perovic) and bigs that can bang a bit.

This team will have the capacity to play the reckless defense that confounded so many teams during the 2007 playoff run. The depth at the wing positions will allow players to go all out and not worry about saving energy for a 4th quarter push to squeak out a win. Biedrins finally gets help from the complimentary bigs (Turiaf and Hendrix) that could bang, defend, and rebound with the bigger PF/C of the NBA.