Q&A: Tim Kawakami (Mercury News) :: 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Preseason (Part 4 of 4)
Before we get to this last installment let's rewind the tape a bit:
- Part 1: Don Nelson, Monta Ellis, and Stephen Jackson Drama plus the Nellie-Monta- Stephen Curry triangle
- Part 2: Brandan Wright, Andris Biedrins, and Chris Mullin
- Part 3: Robert Rowell's incompetence and the shopping on Andris Biedrins who my colleague Adam called The Forgotten Warrior
Jump for some thoughts on all of the expiring contracts the Warriors have amassed and a dysfunction square-off between the Golden State Warriors and Oakland Raiders (see Silver and Black Pride for more on The Black Hole).
Golden State of Mind: This past offseason the Warriors (to their credit) managed to collect a bunch of potentially valuable expiring contracts (Speedy Claxton- $5.2 million, Acie Law- $2.2 million, Devean George- $1.6 million, Mikki Moore- $1.3 million, C.J. Watson- $1 million, and as of writing Brandan Wright- $2.7 million). How much demand is there around the league for this collection of expiring contracts via trade? Will the Warriors actually use them as trade chips to make a big impact trade or will they just let them come off the books to save owner Chris Cohan some money? What's your prediction?
Tim Kawakami: There's some money there. A lot of possibilities. But unless the Warriors can land a Chris Bosh/Stoudemire type, a real difference-maker, I don't see them packaging up all those expiring contracts and upgrading the talent. Instead, I think they'll let most of those deals expire because they're going to want the cap relief in the face of all those long-term deals on the books.
Last I checked, only Orlando and the Lakers--the two NBA finalists last summer--had more long-term money on the books than the Warriors. Who were not in the NBA finals. That's a staggering combination: Bad team, terrible long-term money. As long as Chris Cohan is struggling financially, he's going to want to lose chunks out of the payroll.
Golden State of Mind: There's no one more qualified than you to answer this question and have "a great time out" with it. Which front office on Hegenberger Road is more dysfunctional and clueless- the Oakland Raiders or the Golden State Warriors?
Tim Kawakami: You're not the first one to ask that! It is incredibly coincidental that two popular franchises losing their minds--and losing tons of games--both play home games within the same sports complex, and every time I jump in my car and head over there, it strikes me, too.
I've got to say that the Raiders, because they have so much championship and Hall of Fame history, are the sadder situation because it's just one formerly great sports executive who is angry at the world and ruining his team along the way. It's a simple equation there: Al Davis has run every credible person out of there, and now it's only him there, raging in the dark. Very sad, because he's a hugely important figure in the history of sports.
The Warriors are the more classically dysfunctional because there's more than one ill cause, and all the causes pull against each other, creating random chaos.
They've got five or six separate power sources, all plotting against each other, or trying to join together to plot against somebody else, or misleading each other, or misleading the public, or misleading their players. Don Nelson, Robert Rowell, Chris Cohan, Larry Riley, the players...
That's group immolation. It's sad, too, because they have tremendous fans and have had some very good players run through there. But the power sources can't keep it together because they're too busy playing politics and trying to cover their own butts.
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All of us at the GSoM fam wanted to thank for his continued support. Make sure to bookmark Tim's blog for all the latest on the zany state of Bay Area sports.
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Comments
I remembber when
the majority sentiment about Tim’s "takes: were that they were self serving, narcissistic, and made up from whole cloth. Now, with the continuing circus being in downtown Oakland masquerading as the FO for the Warriors, Tim has gained much more traction. So I salute him for sticking to his guns and calling out Nelson for what he is, along with Rowell and Cohan. The fan base, at least those of us left, have finally caught up with what Tim has seen and been saying for years. i am not nor need to be an apologist for Tim; he is who he is. I just want to give him some props for being a year or more ahead of the curve and now enjoying greater credibility.
That being said, you have to read his latest blog on the 25 reasons that Rowell should be fired. It is amazing to me Rowell could still be around, but since he negotiated himself a healthy extension along with his chum Nellie and ex chum Jax, we know Cohan isn’t going to eat that salary because of the dumb, cheap bastard he is. It took about a year for the chickens to come home to roost with most of Tim’s takes, so hopefully by the end of this season Rowell and Nelson will be gone. Of course all of this misery would end if Cohan sold the team, but then again, I heard some of the potential buyers would move the team to SF. Wow, that would hurt; kind of a Sophia’s Choice to me living in Danville and not being willing to drive to SF or SJ on a regular basis.
Anyway, spot on Tim. Your stock has rebounded and is rising. Keep on these loser;’s asses in your pitpul fashion.
We Believe We Were Deceived
by commish on Oct 15, 2009 8:50 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
+1
I remember during last season and the season before when we won 50+ and missed the playoffs, a lot ofpeople on here (some dedicated fans) really put a beating to his name and his posts. Funny how he predicted a lot of what’s happening now.
- iBall, do you?
by iBallGSW on Oct 15, 2009 10:42 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Repetition
Tim uses the same points over and over again, and although I understand his views of negativity towards the Warriors, its literally pouring salt in the wounds of all true fans who already know what’s going on. At times it even seems like he tries his hardest to push fans over the top and defect to other NBA teams in California. 1 playoff in 15 years is ridiculous, but I still love my Dubz and want them to work hard to beat all the adversity in front of them. Maybe when ONE of the evils Tim likes to talk about finally prevails will we finally have some unity on our team, in which case we might actually be “UNSTOPPABLE BABY!!!”
by Essential on Oct 15, 2009 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
ALso...
Since when was guessing a part of reporting? I guess since it’s technically his “Talking Points Blog” it doesn’t count as reporting, but I’m sure people read more of that than anything else he writes…maybe because they ache for the drama he brings in the first place, who knows, but as a reporter his responsibility should be to deliver facts rather than wild accusations and guess and check mentality…jus my 2 centavos, still like the majority of his stuff.
by Essential on Oct 15, 2009 2:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

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