By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

Things have gotten so ridiculous in the Jamal Crawford-Don Nelson power struggle that it’s prompted a first in the (admittedly short) history of this site: The retraction of an earlier entry.

Back in November, when the Warriors swapped unhappy forward Al Harrington to the Knicks for Crawford, I wrote that it was the best deal Golden State could have made at that time.

My position was that since the Warriors had already cashed in their future salary-cap space by giving a maximum-allowed contract extension to Stephen Jackson, throwing away Harrington’s expiring deal wasn’t a horrible move it would have been for some teams.

[Sidebar on the Jackson deal: It still boggles the mind that the Warriors agreed to that extension some 18 months before a decision needed to be reached. There still has not been any adequate explanation (check that, no explanation AT ALL) by anyone at 1011 Broadway (including, most notably, team president Bobby Rowell, who hashed out the contract details with Jackson) about why Golden State abandoned two years’ worth of tough-as-nails negotiating stances with every member of its roster, then threw a pile of cash in Jackson’s lap.]

And exchanging someone who had no intention of playing here again for a guy in Crawford who can create off the dribble and shoot from distance could only help in the short term.

But after four months of watching the Jamal Crawford Era in Oakland, I can say this with certainty:

The Warriors should have eaten Harrington’s contract rather than pull the trigger on that deal.

Read the rest of this entry…

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…

“the last roster spot? this hardly even matters… barring injury, whoever makes it is going to be inactive for the season” – howl

Well, I hate to be the guy who quotes from his own Web site, but howl’s got a point. And given that Don Nelson has gone on record as saying that tonight’s final exhibition contest against Lietuvos Rytas — the first professional home of former Warriors guard Sarunas Jasikevicius (just wanted to make sure I still had the spelling memorized; sadly, yes) — is a dress rehearsal for what we’re going to see in the regular season, here’s one man’s guess at how Golden State’s rotation will eventually shake out.

CENTER
Andris Biedrins 33 minutes per game
Ronny Turiaf 15 mpg

Foul problems have limited Biedrins to a career-high of only 29 mpg, but the team would like to keep him on the floor more often. With Turiaf, the Warriors finally have a

POWER FORWARD
Al Harrington 28 mpg
Brandan Wright/Anthony Randolph 20 mpg

I know Don Nelson keeps saying that Al is going to be free to do just about anything he wants and play huge minutes, but the spring-loaded legs of Randolph and the long arms of Wright are beckoning. I think we’ll see one or the other of the youngsters on a given night, depending on the matchups, but probably not both in the same game.

SMALL FORWARD
Corey Maggette 36 mpg
Kelenna Azubuike 12 mpg

The Warriors know exactly what they’re going to get with Maggette at the offensive end. The only surprise will be what quality of defense he can provide. Quietly, Kelenna Azubuike has put together a solid camp and would probably be poised for a potential breakout year if he wasn’t playing behind two of the team’s most critical contributors.

SHOOTING GUARD
Stephen Jackson 37 mpg
Kelenna Azubuike 11 mpg

Jackson clearly tired towards the end of last season. But until Monta Ellis gets back, there’s little chance he’s going to get much of a break in that department. After Ellis returns, you could see DeMarcus Nelson get more time here. He’s already playing some 2 in practices and games alongside C.J. Watson.

POINT GUARD
DeMarcus Nelson 24 mpg
C.J. Watson 15 mpg
Marcus Williams 9 mpg

This spot has the potential to be a merry-go-round all year long, because each of the three bring different strengths to the floor. How much productivity Don Nelson can get from this trio by tilting matchups in his favor will go a long way…