Without even a pretense of having something at the top, here’s today’s installment of your faithful reporter’s quest to prognosticate all 1,230 NBA regular-season games this season:

76ers (2-5) at Raptors (4-3), 4:05 p.m.
Pick: Raptors -6
Kevin Garnett? Pfffft. Now, if Jose Calderon can get the ever-placid Elton Brand to wag a finger in his face, that’d be something impressive.

Hawks (6-0) at Celtics (7-1), 4:35 p.m.
Pick: Celtics -10.5
If Atlanta really can be this good for 82 games, I might have to seriously revise my opinion of Mike Bibby.

Pacers (3-3) at Nets (2-4), 4:35 p.m.
Pick: Nets +1.5
I shouldn’t fall into this trap, but I’m going to anyway.

Lakers (6-0) at Hornets (4-2), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Lakers +1
L.A. is 5-1 against the spread this season, and the only loss was by one point (they beat Denver by 7 while laying 8).

Trail Blazers (4-3) at Heat (4-3), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Heat -1.5
Greg Oden comes back, but for how long? Three games? Six?

Spurs (2-4) at Bucks (3-5), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Spurs -2.5
So, was that win over New York an aberration, or a return to form for the Spurs’ shooters?

Magic (4-3) at Thunder (1-6), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Magic -7
Nick Collison should get paid double for the abuse he’s about to take.

Jazz (6-1) at Wizards (0-5), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Jazz -4.5
Has a team gone from splashing out huge wads of cash to fighting to keep from falling into inevitable rebuilding mode faster than the Wizards?

Knicks (4-3) at Grizzlies (3-5), 5:05 p.m.
Pick: Knicks +4.5
I hadn’t realized until right now that the Knicks really don’t have a single legitimate shot-blocker. They’re still in single-digits as a team (9), through seven games. Makes me wonder if Mike D’Antoni told Chris Duhon on the day he signed, “Welcome aboard. Don’t ever, ever, EVER, EVER, EVER let your man get by you.”

Kings (3-5) at Clippers (1-6), 7:35 p.m.
Pick: Clippers -7
The Kings disappointed me last night by kicking away what should have been a sure cover in the final minutes. I’m not sure if this is the right response, but so be it.

Rockets (4-3) at Suns (6-2), 7:35 p.m.
Picks: Rockets +3.5
This is one of about four games I’ve flipped back and forth. I’ll be fascinated to watch Matt Barnes and Ron Artest, two of the league’s more combustible personalities on the floor, going head-to-head.

Yesterday: 6-2
Season record: 50-54-1

– Geoff

…

One of my favorite pieces from any NBA writer last season came from ESPN’s J.A. Adande, sizing up the Suns in the wake of their February acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal, and what it meant for Phoenix.

Under Mike D’Antoni’s theory of basketball, a team should need only 7 seconds to get a shot off. Under Shaq’s theory of basketball, 7 seconds is the bare minimum to creep his way past the half-court line. The two views were patently incompatible, a fact Adande — spinning off the revolution once promised by D’Antoni’s system — wryly noted by saying, “La revolucion esta muerta.”

There’s a little bit of that same “end of an era” vibe to the Warriors’ decision not to pick up the fourth-year option on point guard Marcus Williams.

It’s not that Williams is likely to blossom into an All-Star next season for another team. But ridding themselves of Williams in this fashion, with no regard to salvaging even the slightest hint of value, highlights the fact that the apparent tug-of-war between team president Robert Rowell and executive vice president Chris Mullin for control of the franchise’s direction is threatening to take the team on a road to nowhere.

It’s one thing to have a coach come in and decide that he doesn’t like a certain player. Happens all the time.

To decide that a player whom you’ve just acquired a few months earlier — at the probable cost of a future first-round pick — is not worth a single season at $2.1 million is unusual.

To decide that without seeing the player participate in a single regular-season game on your behalf is just ludicrous.

Even Patrick O’Bryant, whom Nelson had no use for from the jump — and vice-versa — had a full season to prove himself before the team decided to deep-six him by similarly declining their option.

It’s kind of astounding to look back at the volume of players who have failed, in two short years, to live up to Nelson’s standards. One item from Al Harrington’s various pronouncements on Tuesday that I really do believe is something he told Marcus Thompson II:

“We all know how Nellie is. We all know his history. If you’re not one of his dudes, you ain’t never going to be one of his dudes.”

O’Bryant can back that up.

So can Ike Diogu.

And Troy Murphy.

Or Adonal Foyle.

Even Sarunas Jasikevicius.

And Kosta Perovic.

Heck, even some guys who started out as Nelson favorites — hello, Matt Barnes…

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND — If 3-pointers represent the fast food of NBA offenses, then last season’s Warriors were, collectively speaking, a cholesterol-choked, fat-filled heart attack waiting to happen.

Golden State’s gunners jacked up 2,185 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc in 2007-08, establishing a new all-time NBA single-season record in the process. The total would have probably been even higher if they hadn’t made a draft-day deal that sent Jason Richardson to Charlotte — where he launched 599 treys for the Bobcats, tops in the league.

This season, the Warriors’ attack looks like it’s on a double-strength regimen of Lipitor. And it’s Dr. Don Nelson who’s writing that prescription.

“Hopefully, (the 3-pointer) won’t be as big a weapon,” Nelson said. “I thought we fell in love too much with the 3 last year occasionally. The guys that can shoot it, when they’re open, they have a green light when they have a rhythm shot, but we’re not going to set up plays for it.”

Golden State – which has led the NBA for two years running in 3-point attempts — ranked eighth among NBA teams in terms of 3-point shots taken during this year’s preseason, more than 50 percent behind the league-leading Knicks of Mike D’Antoni.

Where the ‘07-08 team counted six legitimate 3-point threats among its eight regular rotation players, this year’s edition has only five in the top nine. And that math is misleadingly close, because this year’s crop of shooters includes Al Harrington (who detested his niche as a 3-point-shooting big man last season), Corey Maggette (who said Monday that he would rather drive than hoist from distance), and C.J. Watson (who’s taken all of 26 treys in his NBA career).

That leaves just Stephen Jackson and Kelenna Azubuike to uphold the traditions of the NBA’s most prolific long-range squad, which lost Baron Davis (525 3-point attempts last season), Matt Barnes (181) and Mickael Pietrus (182) this summer.

“I’m not really thinking about it like, ‘We lost a bunch of (guys who shot) 3s, so I’ve got to get some more 3s up,’” Azubuike said. “I feel like we can score in different ways. I feel like I can score in different ways. I don’t have to shoot 3s all the time. . . . Make the right play, take the right shot. Don’t force a 3 because you feel we need to get some up.”

Having taken a big jump to a career high…

Sorry for the delay, the news of Don Nelson’s impending extension got in the way. Please note that this Q&A came before news of Nelson’s deal broke, so they “do you want to be here without Nellie” line of questioning made more sense.

– Geoff

48minutes.net: Are you concerned about hitching your wagon to a team where the executive vice president (Chris Mullin) and the coach (Don Nelson) may not be here beyond this season?

Stephen Jackson: Well, that’s things I can’t control. I can control…

48minutes.net: But you could control it by saying, “You know what? I’m going to play out my deal and see what’s out there and see what situation two years from now best fits me.”

SJ: I’m one of those guys that focus on the situation at hand. I’m here now, so I’m going to plan on being here. I can speak on the coach situation: I would love to play for Nellie until I retire. That’s no question. I would love for him to be here as long as I am here. That’s a given. He’s the best coach and my favorite coach I’ve played for since I’ve been in the league.

I really don’t know the other situation. I respect Chris as being a player, because he laid the concrete for a lot of guys like me to be in this league, so I have respect for him, but I really don’t know the situation. But with coach, I definitely hope his stuff goes well because he deserves it, he has some of the most wins ever and is one of the best coaches in the league and I want to be here with him. So I definitely don’t mind speaking on coach’s situation.

48minutes.net: That’s what I mean – if Nellie doesn’t come back and the coach ends up being someone you clash with, why tie yourself down when you don’t know who that guy might be?

SJ: Well, being 30 years old, at this point it’s not about worrying where I’m going to be, it’s worrying about security. I’ve had a great contract and I’m fine. If I stopped playing right now, I’d be living great for the rest of my life. But at the same time, knowing that I have at least five or six more years, whatever the Lord blesses me with, however many more years I can play, I’m kind of at the point where I can deal with anything. I’m at…

ANALYSIS

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND — It’s no secret that Stephen Jackson, the Warrior with the greatest responsibilities on the court but only the fifth-largest paycheck, is seeking an extension to his current deal. Acting as his own agent, Jackson has been in negotiations directly with team president Robert Rowell on a pact that could keep him in Oakland until age 35. Since Jackson is already under contract for two more seasons, at a total of $14.8 million, the most he can hope to get tacked on is three seasons worth $27.8 million.

Talks have been steadily progressing, and though this is just as an educated guess, I’d say it’s a better than 50-50 proposition that something gets done before the Warriors’ season opens Wednesday.

Does Jackson deserve to be paid an average of $9 million per year?

Absolutely. This is a guy who can score 20 points a game, can defend the opponent’s best player, almost regardless of position, and rarely misses time due to injury.

Does it fit into the team’s philosophy, as it’s been practiced over the last three years?

Absolutely not.

With Monta Ellis out, there is no question that Jackson is the Warriors’ most important player, and if they do make a return to the playoffs, it will undoubtedly be in large part because of Jackson dragging them there with a combination of scoring, playmaking and defending similar to what Baron Davis gave them down the stretch in 2006-07.

But if the Warriors choose to give Jackson an extension in the next week, then there will be some serious explaining for Rowell to do — because such a move would represent the antithesis of every salary-related choice the Warriors have made since Oct. 31, 2005.

That was the day the Warriors handed a five-year, $45 million extension to Mike Dunleavy, a forward with three middling seasons under his belt, to cap a spending and trading spree of more than $300 million in which Golden State netted long-term rights to the services of Dunleavy, Davis, Derek Fisher, Troy Murphy, Adonal Foyle and Jason Richardson.

However, after that well-compensated group led the franchise to another 38-44 season in 2005-06, Rowell ushered in a new era of fiscal responsibility. Underperforming players with oversized contracts — Fisher, Foyle, Murphy and Dunleavy — were traded or bought out. Richardson was dumped for draft pick Brandan Wright in part to help free up cash.

The idea was not just to stay under the…