Trouble Brewing in Golden State?

There is plenty of chatter in NBA circles about issues going on in Golden State that could clearly affect the way they approach their draft pick on June 25th.

The talk is that Monta Ellis is unhappy with the direction the organization is heading in, and still holds a bit of grief over the way they held his contract status in limbo for months following his moped injury. For weeks we’ve heard that Ellis is no longer interested in playing for Golden State, and apparently it had reached a point where it was “close to popping off” in the words of one NBA executive—meaning going to the media and publicly demanding a trade.

General Manager Larry Riley and head coach Don Nelson reportedly flew to Atlanta to meet with Ellis this week, and basically have made every attempt possible to defuse the situation, at the very least in order to not lose leverage in any trade talk they will inevitably be involved in. One NBA executive we spoke with believes that Ellis was promised that the Warriors will not be picking a point guard with the #7 pick, and that he will be the one running the show for them next year.

A number of agents seem to have heard similar things or just don’t want to get anywhere near this situation, and both Jrue Holiday and Stephen Curry are currently refusing to work out for Golden State. The same goes for Ricky Rubio and Tyreke Evans.

Golden State is in a different situation that most teams picking in the top-10, as they are under an unusual amount of pressure to win immediately at all costs—or else. It’s widely accepted at this point that incoming General Manager Larry Riley has one year at best to work enough magic in his team’s front office and roster to convince ownership to keep him around. Head coach Don Nelson needs 24 wins to surpass Lenny Wilkens and become the winningest coach of all time.

The reality of these situations would seemingly rule out point guards Brandon Jennings and Jonny Flynn, both deemed too raw to be of immediate help to the Warriors next season. Stephen Curry could still be in the mix here, despite the fact that he won’t work out here. It’s not quite clear what that would do for the Monta Ellis situation. The two other players that seem to be the main candidates are Jordan Hill, and surprisingly enough, James Johnson. Golden State’s front office appears to be leaning towards Hill for now, and may have even told him as much after he worked out for them last week, according to a report by Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group.

Hill had dinner with Coach Don Nelson on Thursday and said he walked away feeling that No. 7 might be the lowest he would go.

"He said if I'm not picked in the top six," Hill said, "they're probably going to take me."

Regardless, look for the Warriors to heavily pursue bringing back Baron Davis this summer, and don’t be surprised to see them do something unexpected on draft night.