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Damn... so the new jerseys, logo, etc are for 2010/2011 season? I heard NBA is helping us pay for it too because of the whole OKC Thunder situation
 
[h2]Hope[/h2]
Posted by Adam Lauridsen on July 9th, 2009 at 9:42 pm http://blogs.mercurynews.com/warriors/tag/robert-rowell/

The Warriors were my team before they were Chris Cohan's. They will be my team long after Cohan is gone. Mercifully, that day looks like it might be closer than ever before.

If recent reports by Tim Kawakami and Marcus Thompson II are to be believed, Chris Cohan has been in talks with multiple parties to sell the team. Although the stories are still anonymously sourced and contradicted by at least one other report (from Ric Bucher), the absolute silence from the team on the matter actually bolsters the sale stories' credibility, since these types of rumors are typically met with swift denials or at least a "no comment." After a season of events and decisions that have fractured the Warriors' fanbase, this is one move likely to unite us all. Chris Cohan's days of treating Warriors fans like junk bonds are hopefully coming to a close. But like all aspects of his seemingly cursed tenure, there's a downside to even this apparently good news.

Between the decision to sell and the actual sale, there's the maneuvering. Cohan understandably will want to extract every cent out of the franchise he possibly can before making his exit. Given the rough economy and the even rougher competition in the Western conference, the easiest way for him to increase his return on the team is to cut costs. A franchise weighed down by fewer long-term multi-million dollar commitments has a better chance of turning a profit in the near future, even facing poor performance and sagging attendance. A greater potential return will allow Cohan to ramp up his asking price, even if the current team is lousy.

There are some long-term contracts I'd gladly shed in a change-of-ownership fire sale. Corey Maggette and Stephen Jackson signed their extensions just as the economy was beginning to hit a rough patch in the river, but before it went over the falls. There's no way those deals would get done in the current economic climate of the NBA - and erasing them from the Warriors' books would certainly give them a more attractive balance sheet to potential suitors. The only problem is that no one in the NBA likely wants to take on the deals for the very same reason a pre-sale Warriors team would probably like to get rid of them. So, while a relative short contract like Jamal Crawford's may still be tradeable, longer deals like those of Maggette and Jackson will likely remain fairly toxic for a few years.

The expensive and long-term but tradeable contracts on the Warriors belong to Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis - the centerpieces of the franchise's moves last summer and the supposed foundation on which our future would be built. Ellis cracked that foundation when he crashed his moped and the recent rumors regarding Andris suggest that Cohan, Rowell and Nelson may have abandoned the building site all together. Both young players still have value around the NBA and, given their potential for continued improvement, are actually on moderately priced deals. Swapping them for one or two-year rentals would cut expenses for potential owners and could - under a scenario like the increasingly unlikely Stoudemire trade - generate a temporary buzz around the team and some highlights to drive up their profile. Good for Cohan as a potential seller, bad for Warriors fans hoping for a respectable future.

My nightmare scenario is Cohan, Rowell and Nelson packaging one of our worst contracts (Maggette, Jackson) with one of our cheap young prospects (Randolph, Curry) for a single year of superstar rental (like Bosh - although Toronto's moves suggest he's off the market - or Amare without an extension). My guess is such a drastic move is unlikely, since Curry arguably became the second most marketable Warrior (after Randolph) the moment he was drafted. If our young guard avoids a complete disaster this next week during the Vegas Summer League, the hype will likely hit overdrive in an effort to highlight the bright future potentially ahead of the club (just as the team has seemingly done every summer for the past decade plus). So while I worry about what Cohan may do to this team to prepare it for sale, there are at least one or two players who appear to be relatively safe.

Where does this all leave us? Probably on the last stretch of suffering before we're finally granted relief. The team may shed contracts to prepare for sale - or at a minimum avoid any other long-term investments to add talent - but our reward for another year or two of under-funded, over-gimmicked, average-at-best basketball may be an entirely new beginning. We may not be left with much when the transition is over, but we'll at least have a real reason for hope. And while there are some scenarios under which a sale wouldn't result in a complete house clearing (particularly if it involves minority partners), my guess is a new owner will embark on a dramatic change in strategy. There's a nearly two-decade record of failure for the man, woman or entity that next owns the Warriors to pour over. In retrospect, the mistakes during that shameful period have not been mysterious or one-off occurrences.

Chris Cohan proved that he and his small coterie of basketball-outsiders were poor judges when the time came to delegate authority - resulting in years of both an unsuccessful and unwatchable product. When Cohan brought in Chris Mullin, the team regained a degree of credibility. When Mullin brought in Nelson, the team once again was entertaining - reinvigorating the interest of the Bay Area and driving up ticket sales. The Nelson strategy of fielding high-scoring, low-defense, casually entertaining teams has run its course, however, and the product now may be too weak to justify continued spending from all but the most optimistic and/or deluded (a group in which I'm somewhat ashamed to still be a member). If the Warriors fans I know in person and through this blog are at all representative, the fanbase has finally detached its love and devotion for the team from any need to spend money on it - an event that knocks out the apparent core of Cohan's business strategy: exploiting the seemingly endless devotion of his fanbase.

Warriors fans want a winner - built with a long-term, well-funded, carefully executed plan. We don't want "salary protection," specially priced four packs, or a Great Time Out. We want a team - and an owner - we can be proud to call our own.
 
wow min wage is 7.5/8.15 for you guys?
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damn yall are getting paid
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The summer league games aren't on NBA TV, dammit! Someone find a link!

Please.

In other news,
Blazers' Mills To Miss NBA Summer League
Blazers rookie Patty Mills suffered a broken right foot in practice, knocking the point guard out of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

I feel bad for the dude. He really should have stayed at St. Mary's for one more year.
 
Originally Posted by BangDak

cost of living in nyc is just as high, and we only get 7.15
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Def, NYC is expensive...but for folks who have a job in SF and don't live in SF, incur more in commute costs than NYC'ers see, too.

It depends, at the end of the day, if you're on minimum wage in either city, it's hard to live.
 
well im still young, so i still live with parents
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commute is eh..prices are raising mta: 2.25, 1gallon is about 2.93/7 depending where you go.
i need to find a better paying job.
 
I just know the SF Bay Area has one of the highest costs of mass transit in the nation.

Partly, it's more spread out than most, but still.
 
lmao Wright is taking summer school. Get his %@! on the summer league roster. He can get his degree after he's an established NBA player.
 
Originally Posted by Enlightened Thought

if ppl were able to get the orlando summer league games, maybe someone will pull through with the las vegas ones.
those were free on the orlando magic website
 
Originally Posted by LazyJ10

I just know the SF Bay Area has one of the highest costs of mass transit in the nation.

Partly, it's more spread out than most, but still.

Seriously, $2 to ride the bus now and tax here is 9.5%
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. If anything,the minimum wage should increase.
 
Just got done watching some SL practice highlights.

Morrow, if he can add elements to his game, will be a good NBA producer.

Since we're not going to get rid of our coach, it was actually nice to see Nellie in LV for these practices.

Maybe he's actually taking this team seriously? Time will tell.
 
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