Davis mum on future plans
# Guard isn't saying whether he will opt out of his contract or not
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 04/15/2008
PHOENIX -- Warriors guard Baron Davis is keeping all his options open.
Davis will have the right this summer to opt out of his contract -- which
is
set to pay him $17.2 million next season -- and seek a more lucrative
long-term deal. And as Golden State's captain closed Monday to within one
step of his first 82-game season since 2001-02, he declined to offer any
hint as to whether he's interested in finding a new team after 31/2
seasons
in Golden State's employ.
"Yeah, I want to win a championship here," he said at shootaround prior to
the Warriors' 122-116 loss to Phoenix. "We went to the playoffs, we're in
the playoff hunt right now, so my whole thing is to bring a championship
to
the Bay Area. That would be something great. Al Attles (the coach of
Golden
State's 1974-75 NBA title-winning team) is my man, so I've got some big
shoes to fill."
So, that means you're going to stay? "I didn't say nothing about that,"
Davis said with a laugh.
Warriors coach Don Nelson said he's already broached the topic with Davis
and hopes to do some more serious talking before the
just-turned-29-year-old
makes his decision.
"He's got to make the right decisions for himself and his family," Nelson
said. "He understands that. Whatever they are, we can deal with."
That said, it would be tough to find a more perfect complement for
third-year guard Monta Ellis, who will be a restricted free agent this
summer, as Davis' size and strength allow him to defend shooting guards
while still carrying the bulk of quarterbacking duties offensively.
Besides, Nelson said, "it's always hard to replace your best player,
unless
you're really (bad) and you don't have any good players at all."
Off the glass
Warriors center Andris Biedrins admitted early on this season that his
extra
weeks of work with the Latvian national team during the summer left him
more
fatigued than normal. Now he has to weigh if he wants to go through a
similarly grueling regimen, as his country attempts to qualify for the
2009
European Championships. "It's hard to play all summer," Biedrins said. "If
you practice June, July, August, September, it kind of adds up." Practices
begin July 1, and games start Aug. 20; Latvian coach Karlis Muiznieks is
coming to Oakland on Thursday to give his only NBA player the hard sell.
...
Brandan Wright's season appears to have reached an early end. The rookie
forward sat out Monday, his third straight game in street clothes because
of
his strained left groin, and is not expected to play in the regular-season
finale Wednesday against the Seattle SuperSonics.
-- Geoff Lepper
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