Of the two teams tipping off tonight at the Bradley Center, only 9th place Milwaukee has a shot at the postseason. As you might expect, Golden State’s Don Nelson is already making plans for the 2009-2010 campaign, one he intends to begin without the services of SG Jamal Crawford. From the San Jose Mercury News’ Marcus Thompson II :
According to multiple team sources, Coach Don Nelson has told guard Jamal Crawford that if he doesn’t opt out of his contract, the Warriors will trade him this off-season.
“I’m not even getting into that,” Crawford said before Friday’s loss to Detroit, in which he led the Warriors with 25 points. “Any conversation I have with the coaches or my teammates will remain private.” In that same conversation, Nelson told Crawford that he would give him some games off in part to keep his statistics high. The plan to variously rest the Warriors’ other veteran players emerged in part to avoid the appearance that Nelson was singling out Crawford.
In the past, Nelson has said he has no interest in the job of general manager or an increased say in personnel matters. Team president Robert Rowell, who is on this trip with the team, said Nelson’s message to Crawford does not represent management.
He qualified it as Nelson being emotional. Rowell added that he isn’t upset that his coach is unhappy and wants to change things.Nelson’s unhappiness continued Friday evening against the Pistons. The Warriors were on the road against a playoff team and had just eight players in uniform, only two with more than two years of experience. The result was never in question.
“We got into a gun fight,” Nelson said, “and we had a knife.”
The above item comes on the heels of a prior Thompson report which characterized Monta Ellis’ skipping the current road trip as a work stoppage rather than a legit injury.