Perovic and Croshere are the team's latest additions, but more moves could be coming.
By Geoff Lepper
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Article Launched: 08/04/2007 03:02:14 AM PDT


OAKLAND -- Having watched Gilbert Arenas sail out of their lives and into superstardom on the other side of the country, longtime Warriors employees are acutely aware of the need to keep funds available for use in retaining the services of budding young stars Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis next summer.
That lesson is part of the reason Warriors president Robert Rowell said Thursday in a radio interview that his team must "be able to be in a position where ... we don't have people out there picking off our players."

Don't assume, however, that statement means Chris Mullin, the Warriors' executive vice president, will take the rest of the summer off after signing center Kosta Perovic, the Warriors' 2006 second-round pick, and veteran free agent forward Austin Croshere -- deals that were announced Friday.

Mullin said Friday that if the right situation or restricted free agent becomes available, he won't hesitate to use some of the nearly $8 million he has available under the luxury-tax threshold -- even though not spending that cash would remove a great deal of the sting from Biedrins' and Ellis' future raises.

"Are we done?" Mullin said. "No, not at all."

Mullin said he is mulling the possibility of getting a traditional pass-first backup to point guard Baron Davis -- a role Sarunas Jasikevicius failed to secure last season -- and is keeping all his options open in terms of available small forwards, including Mickael Pietrus and Matt Barnes, the Warriors'

own free agents, and Miami's James Posey.
"There's a possibility we'll bring both (Pietrus and Barnes) back and a possibility we won't bring either back," Mullin said.

Since Mullin wasn't around when Arenas bolted to the Washington Wizards in the summer of 2003, he remains unfazed by the prospect of history repeating itself. And, he said, it wasn't the driving factor behind the draft day trade of Jason Richardson, due to make $11.1 million this season, for rookie Brandan Wright.

"It wasn't like, 'Oh my God, we gotta move (Richardson) because we lost Gilbert.' No way. That's ridiculous," Mullin said. "The fact that we feel good about Baron (Davis), Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Monta Ellis, Andris Biedrins, Brandan Wright, that means, yeah, we can do a deal like that. We can find another guy who can score, we can we find another guy to fill that void and also address rebounding and defending the basket."

Despite losing out on the battle for Kevin Garnett -- "I think it was a good deal for Boston and Minnesota," was all Mullin would say about the trade that sent Garnett to Boston -- Mullin said that with Croshere, Perovic and Wright all joining the fold, the Warriors have taken solid steps toward solving the rebounding and shot-blocking deficiencies highlighted in their playoff defeat to Utah.

"Addressing issues is always a goal," said Mullin, who envisions Croshere being used as a power forward and center. "With Austin, he will rebound his position. ... I think he's got a lot of game left. If he shoots and rebounds the ball, maybe he can revive his career."

Croshere learned his work ethic as a rookie from watching Mullin, then a teammate with the Indiana Pacers. He said he jumped at the Warriors' offer because it afforded him an opportunity to put his skills as a 6-foot-9 3-point shooter to good use.

"It was a more a matter for me of picking the right situation than it was money," said Croshere, who will make the minimum $1.22 million on his one-year contract. "For me, I want to have a chance to play an important role on a team that has a chance to go far."

Notes: Mullin confirmed that Ellis is going to join the practice squad that later this month will help prepare Team USA in its quest for a 2008 Olympic berth. The Americans open practice Aug. 13 and begin play in the Olympic qualifying tournament Aug. 22. The move puts Ellis on track for consideration for future U.S. national teams. ... As it turns out, Croshere and Davis were not teammates at Crossroads School in Santa Monica; Croshere was a senior when Davis was in the eighth grade. However, the pair did attend school together, since Crossroads' upper and middle schools share a campus.

I don't buy all this talk about Croshere rebounding the ball all that well. If he could grab 7 or 8 boards a game in starting time, he'd have a contract larger than 800K a year as a 10-year veteran. Croshere was brought in to further comfort Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, and Al Harrington.

I see the idea; its almost like Mullin's trying to get guys together who have played on the same team before. It worked wonders for Washington when they revived the Arenas/Hughes/Jamison tandem... and the chemistry between Baron, SJax, and Barnes during the playoffs seemed too great to ignore.

Maybe there is a method to the Croshere sign...

I am looking forward to seeing how Croshere and Baron interact. They do not like each other at all. I think Austin would beat him up though.

I don't think Austin stands a chance. Baron's ripped.

I give them two months. After Baron makes a bad pass to him, they will go off.

And Croshere will get a ticket straight to Miami.

Croshere is a backup at PF, third string, right now but he could well be used in a trade and that would be a good move. He can shoot it some but otherwise is nothing good

32 wrote:And Croshere will get a ticket straight to Miami.

Yes!! That is Mulson's master plan!! Its a master game of chess...

PVWarriorFan wrote:

32 wrote:And Croshere will get a ticket straight to Miami.

Yes!! That is Mulson's master plan!! Its a master game of chess...

Lets hope. I can't be too mad at the Croshere signing, since it costs less per year than my parent's house, but it still doesn't seem like it got us anywhere. He can't shoot consistently. He can rebound consistently... but not very well. Croshere seemed like a nervous sign due to his previous relationships with Mullin, Jackson, Harrington, and Davis.

how do you guys know for a fact that croshere hates baron davis?

They were fighting the entire series, and it has just been common knowledge that they really dont respect each other.

Because people are doing their jobs competing against each other doesn't mean they dislike each other
Pure speculation, If this was true Mullin wouldn't have signed him..

There is a difference between being competitive and fighting.

Oh so who won the fight Did anyone get dropped & how long was the suspensions This must mean it is on On sight in training camp, I wonder if it will be pay per view

No one got dropped or suspended, mainly because Matt Barnes broke them up twice. I think that Croshere would have kicked Baron's ass though. It would be a good fight

I think that they will mellow out if they are on the same team, especially a superstar of Baron's caliber.