Mullin May Not Be Long for the Warriors

Let me set the scene for you: The Warriors lost half their team and staked their future on a guy who hurt himself on a scooter. On media day, Stephen Jackson -- arguably that team’s second-most important player -- said he’s discussed an extension with the team president Robert Rowell and “them.”↵
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↵You’d assume that “them” would’ve included Chris Mullin, the general manager. But after Mullin refused comment, Jackson said that the GM hadn’t been around. So, as the San Francisco Examiner explains:↵↵⇥That would seem to mean one of only two things: Something’s not quite right with Jackson’s story or the Warriors are considering giving Jackson a contract extension and Mullin, the top man in the basketball operations department, isn’t in on it.↵⇥
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↵⇥This, of course, wouldn’t seem to bode well for Mullin, who is entering the final year of his contract. On Thursday he said he was not disappointed the Warriors hadn’t approached him with extension talk.↵↵On one level, this is potentially scandalous version of “who’s on first.” With “no comments” from Mullin and Rowell’s mouthpiece, it’s hard to deduce exactly what went down, or why, or who might’ve been there in spirit. But Mullin made some crappy decisions before Don Nelson came along, and then Nellie-ball allowed him to pretty much sign whoever as long as dude could run. With Nelson not long for this league -- his contract expires this year, with a team option for 2009-10, and the 67 year-old is always on the verge of retiring -- it makes sense that the organization would be wary of extending Mullin. They need some proof that he can put together a team, not just ride the coattails of Nelson’s idiosyncracy.↵