Baron Davis wants an extension, Don Nelson could use a nap: The Warriors exit interviews
By Tim Kawakami
Thursday, April 17th, 2008 at 12:24 am in
NBA,
Warriors.
BIG NOTE: Baron's opt-out deadline date is JUNE 30, and not the date I'd typed a few times before and thanks to the commenter on a previous post for waking me up. I mentioned the wrong date to someone at the game tonight who gave me a quizzical look. I just re-checked my notes. For some reason I read May when the scribbles said June. Of course it's June 30, since the new league fiscal season starts July 1.
Whew. This will wrap it up from Warriors Exit Central-
Baron Davis and Don Nelson Q & A's come lower.
-After tonight's game, as players milled around and said good-bye to each other, Baron Davis sat patiently and answered every question and didn't deny that he wants an extension (sounds like three or four years tacked on to next year's $17.2M) from the Warriors pronto.
Which is interesting, because earlier today Chris Mullin said he would not negotiate an extension before Baron's opt-out date. Very specifically asked and answered.
Davis also talked about the end of this season, his benching in Phoenix (was stuck in the back and didn't hear much of this part-I understand he said he wasn't thrilled but that he's fine with Nelson now) and his upcoming decision whether to opt-out of the final year of his deal.
-Don Nelson, meanwhile, was obviously tired of talking, tired of seeing us (3 interviews today! I was tired of myself by the end of it) and fairly happy to blow through this post-game session abruptly.
So there's no post-game Nelson Q & A. I did include his pre-game Q & A, which served as his season wrap-up and was pretty good-and includes a good reference to his upcoming arbitration hearing in his battle with Mark Cuban over $6.5 million in deferred payments Nelson says he's owed from his Mavericks days.
(Plus another glancing shot at Cuban for letting Steve Nash go as a free agent.)
-Quick note: Nelson has got it in his mind that I wrote that he doesn't like Andris Biedrins (
see his Q & A on this take) and Don is not pleased with me about this. I wouldn't mind-if I did actually say that. Which I didn't, as far as I can remember.
What I do remember typing is this: Nelson doesn't like Biedrins
with Wright and probably wouldn't like him
with Kevin Love. That's in the
playing combination sense, not in the human being sense or overall
as-a-player sense.
Big difference. I've made this point because Biedrins does create some complications for the Nellie Warriors-Andris doesn't shoot jumpers, and Don almost never puts two non-shooters on the floor, so he can't put Biedrins and Wright together and any big man he adds will either duplicate Biedrins or possibly replace him, right?
I have no doubt that Don likes Biedrins-though I'm not sure he loves him unconditionally as a player. The in-and-out playing time thing might go against that Nellie point.
But oh well. I'm sure Don will get over it, if he even remembers it after tonight. I just wanted to clarify that.
On to the Q & As…
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BARON DAVIS post-game Q & A/
-
Question: You do want to come back to the Warriors, right?
-DAVIS: I want to come back. I want to come back. There's no doubt in my mind that I want to come back. I think you know that by the way I am with my teammates. My teammates know that.
We'll wait and see what happens. Hopefully something positive happens and comes out of this season. For everything we've been through, all the free agents we have on this team.
I think we did a great job of trying to keep it together as much as possible. first time I've played on a team where more than half the team is free agents.
I think we did a good job and it'll be better next year if we have a solid foundation.
-Q: What does it mean to you that you played all 82 games? How do you feel afterwards?
-DAVIS: Actually I feel good. Towards the end of the season, I was starting to get better with my stretching and different things like that.
For me to play 82 games was to prove all the doubters wrong. I've always been a guy that people doubt. I think this season I was able to consistently do what I wanted to do and that's go to the gym and play. And that's all I ever wanted to do in my career.
A lot of times I played injured. But that's who I am and that's the player I've been in my career-a player who played when he could…
-Q: It sounds like you want an extension before you get to your opt-out decision date…
-DAVIS: (Laughs.) Whatever you say. You're a smart guy.
I'm going to see what happens. We'll see what happens. I still have one more year here. There is a lot of different scenarios and I'm sure you all are going to write about them throughout the playoffs. I don't know what more you want me to stay.
-Q: Would you be comfortable if you come back for the remaining year and without an extension?
-DAVIS: Yeah, I'm fine, man. One thing I know is that I can play in this league.
For the next four or five years, I'm going to continue to get better. If I continue to get better, then I'll still be one of the elite guards in this league. And that's what I want to be-I just want to be a great point guard and win and hopefully eventually win a championship.
That's my ultimate goal, to be the best point guard I can be, the best player I can be in this league and win the championship. Whether it's here, whether it's somewhere else, that's all I want, is to be able to compete for a championship.
-Q: What does this team need to add to do that?
-DAVIS: We had a lot of ingredients and tools this year to get there. I think we just need a little bit more discipline as a team and a little bit more maturity. But that all comes throughout the course of a season.
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DON NELSON pre-game Q & A (there's no post-game Nellie Q & A included because I was there, he was awful and uninterested,
c'est la planeride to Maui)/
-
Question: Will you be back next year?
-NELSON: I believe we've addressed that already. I'm going to take some time off, go to Maui and think about it.
-Q: Do you know when you'll decide?
-NELSON: I'd like to get the arbitration in Dallas out of the way. I told Bobby Rowell I'd make my decision after that. That's scheduled for June the 26th, I think, so the first of the next month.
-Q: If you come back next season, will that be your last season as a coach?
-NELSON: Will it be my final year? Yeah, I would think so. Again, you never know about life. If I come back, I'm pretty sure it would be my last year.
-Q: Would it bother you if your career ends like this-out of the playoffs?
-NELSON: No, not at all. I'd walk away and feel good about this year, feel good about my two years here, feel good about my career. I'd have no problem at all, either way.
It's nice to be wanted and I think the organization would like to have me back. I think most of the players in the other room would like to have me come back, probably a few wouldn't. But it's OK.
I've had a really good time here in two years. And that's a big factor in whether I return or not. I enjoy working with Mully and the ownership's been great to me here. Bobby Rowell's been really good to me.
I'm getting up to the point where it's not an easy job. Whether it's another year, it's soon that I have to walk away from this job. Whether it's this year or next year… it'll probably happen one of those two years.
-Q: If you win your arbitration with Cuban, would you be more likely to retire?
-NELSON: You mean
when I win the arbitration? Not necessarily, but that's probably the reason I'm going through all this. It's weighed heavily on me for almost three years now. Two years, anyway.
My mind would be freer after that.
-Q: Would the money make a difference in your decision?
-NELSON: I could walk away now and lose the arbitration and not ever have a penny and be fine. I mean, it's not that, won't affect me that much either way.
But there's a side of me that would like to come back and coach Jack and Baron another year and watch the development of the young kids. I've gotten close to a lot of the players on this team.
That and the love of the game and knowing that when I walk away this last time, it'll be the end. That's another issue, knowing that when I walk away it'll be the last time.
-Q: If your involved with arbitration… will you be as involved in draft preparation this year?
-NELSON: Yes. I'll be involved in all of that. I'm planning to do the same thing I did last year…
-Q: Have you enjoyed coaching as much this season?
-NELSON: I sure have the last two years. I had a hard time in Dallas after Steve Nash left. I kind of fell out of love with the game, not having him and losing him the way we did took a little bit out of me.
But I got it back here. I've had two great years. A lot of enjoyment. Hard work, yes, but a lot of enjoyment.
And this young staff that I have… they really have done a great job developing our young guys. It's not their fault that I haven't played them, because they've developed them, and they'll be ready to go next year.
-Q: Can you win a title building around your current Big 3?
-NELSON: I think we've already proven we can't do that-we need some help. We have some areas where we've got to continue to grow and improve.
-Q: Do you need to add a player who is as at least as good as those three or maybe better?
-NELSON: No, I mean, I don't know. You guys evaluate that. We can get deeper, for sure.
-Q: Do you have any regrets about this season?
-NELSON: Play Baron Davis last game. That's a joke.
-Q: Anything else more serious?
-NELSON: No. We had an incredible year. I'm very proud of the team. We deserve to be a playoff team. We're not. So here we sit.
-Q: Last year you guys won every game you had to. This year, you probably lost every game you had to win. Any explanation for that?
-NELSON: Well, we played a lot of really good teams. We weren't able to beat very many of them. I think just the Lakers-we probably should've beaten them the second night.
I can't remember what the schedule was a year ago. But it was tough in the West.
-Q: You played your Big 3 so much because you felt pressured by how great the West was. If the West is better next season, how can you avoid heavy playing time again?
-NELSON: I don't know. To get deeper, to have a good draft, to maybe get a player there and maybe some free agents. And the development of our three rookies.
-Q: You'd like to add a shot blocker, right?
-NELSON: It would help our team to have somebody capable playing in the game and could be a force at the rim. Because we're not just a very good defensive team. We need work in that area. And a shot-blocker would help that.
-Q: Would you be OK if that guy can't shoot?
-NELSON: Oh, of course.
I don't know where you get the idea that I don't like Biedrins. I love the guy, just to set the record straight. You could've called me and asked me, I would've told you.
He's an incredible player who gets 100 percent out of the ability that he has. He's not a shot maker, and he fits in very nicely with what we're doing. He's not a shot-blocker. Does an adequate job there. But he has great hands and finishes around the basket. His range is probably five feet. I'm trying to get him to shoot a jump shot.
-Q: Do you want to keep this core?
-NELSON: I hink we have a pretty nice starting five. I like them. I think we just need to develop and replace a few guys, the team will change a little bit. And we need to have a better bench.
We got a little too young this year. Three rookies on a team-difficult for any team, I think. And not having any of them be able to play. I thought Belinelli would be able to play right away, I was wrong about that.
But I still like him very much. I think he's going to really be a good player. And we'll see next year. Those guys will get the opportunities.
-Q: Do you think the Richardson trade cost you some victories this year?
-NELSON: It's hard to see us winning more games than we did, whether he was here or not.
(But) I think we were a stronger team with him, if this was a playoff situation and a game that's a must-win. I would think he would've been a factor in winning those games because of what he can do.
Winning a game by himself, he has a great ability to get his own shot and he rebounds. He does a lot of real nice things for a team and I think you all know why he was traded, for cap reasons and stuff. I'm not complaining at all.
Not that we don't know, but Nellie has gone on record that either this or next yr will be pretty much his final yr as a coach. I just hopeMullin has plan B in mind so that this team would not regress.
