(PROGRAMMING NOTE: Due to a prior engagement, there won’t be a live blog from the Mavericks-Warriors game this evening.)

The NBA unveiled the 18 players scheduled to participate in the Rookie Challenge, and despite the fact that nearly half of the Warriors’ roster was eligible to partake, no Golden State representative will take the floor on Feb. 13.

The omission of Anthony Morrow is ultimately unsurprising, as he simply hasn’t played enough (he’s 20th on the list of total minutes for rookies, sandwiched between San Antonio’s George Hill and New Jersey’s Ryan Anderson).

C.J. Watson’s failure to earn a berth on the Sophomore team is a little more head-scratching, however, given who made it. Watson compares favorably in pretty much every category with Sophomore team member Aaron Brooks of Houston, especially in terms of his efficiency – Watson is shooting 46.0 percent to Brooks’ 39.7 from the floor (44.3 to Brooks’ 34.6 on 3-pointers) and has a better assist/turnover ratio, better PER score and more Win Shares.

But Brooks plays on a team that’s 28-18 instead of 14-31, and that’s why he’s going to Phoenix. I get that.

Yet there are only two true guards on the team – Brooks and Detroit’s Rodney Stuckey. The league’s assistant coaches filled out the other seven spots with forwards and/or centers. (Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant has played some 2 but is still primarily a 3, and though Wilson Chandler has filled in as an emergency guard for the Knicks, according to 82games.com, he’s had less than 100 minutes there all season).

Now, I’m a Jeff Green fan, but if you’re going to vote using team record as a criteria, you can’t reward the 10-35 Thunder by putting him out there instead of a third legitimate guard. That’s just ridiculous.

– Geoff

[EDIT at 3:30 p.m.: I looked up and then forgot to list the team offensive efficiency stats from John Hollinger. The Warriors are 21st so far this season, averaging 85.0 points per 100 possessions. A year ago, they were third, at 96.6. Just another sign they need another facilitator to move the ball in the short term.]

It’s been a week now since Al Harrington put on his impassioned Elvis impersonation, and the Warriors seem no closer to moving their forward to happier climes.

In fact, I’m beginning to get convinced that Harrington and the Warriors might be stuck with each at least until Monta Ellis returns from his ankle surgery.

That fact was put into stark relief Monday when Joe Dumars struck almost without warning, collecting Allen Iverson from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for three players, most notably point guard Chauncey Billups.

Pulling the trigger on that deal was almost comically easy for Dumars, since it represents a victory in both the short and long views — the immediate effect is an upgrade from Billups to Iverson and a desired shakeup in the team’s culture, while the two-year plan is the opening of a slot for rising guard Rodney Stuckey.

For the Warriors, however, there do not appear to be any such no-brainer trades lurking out there by which Harrington can be set free.

That’s because Golden State’s short- and long-term goals cannot be easily resolved by any one player.

In the short term, it’s indisputable that the Warriors need help at the point guard position. DeMarcus Nelson, while a find as an undrafted rookie, is a raw, unfinished combo guard who’s not yet ready to be the primary playmaker on an NBA team. C.J. Watson is a score-first guy with flashes of occasional passing creativity, but not enough consistent ability to get past his man on the dribble. Stephen Jackson is too turnover-prone to be a full-time initiator. Marcus Williams has, for better or worse, been banished to irrelevancy.

But the whole point of signing Ellis to a six-year, $66 million deal was to make him the Warriors point guard of the future. (Admittedly, the timetable had to be moved up on that transformation once Baron Davis opted out, but Don Nelson has said consistently and pretty much from the moment he got here that Ellis would need to be a point guard to attain greatness in the NBA.)

So while someone such as Kirk Hinrich…