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So let's take a little poll and put our money where our mouths are:

Assume Davis opts out. What is the max you would sign him for, assuming that you were in Mullin's shoes?

Where's the option for no extension?

In Mullin's shoes is not the operative consideration when it comes to signing checks this offseason, by the way, but Mullin would cling to Baron Davis to the end. They'll both be leaving at about the same time if current trends continue.

let him walk.

S&T him for Rashard Lewis money to some desperate franchise (Hello New York)

I actually agree mostly with Rowell. I would not extend Baron.

And the Warriors won't extend him.

We don't extend anybody.

The Warriors are out of the extension business since Mullin broke the bank on the idiotic extensions for his original core. Monta and Dre aren't getting extensions either. They are getting new contracts. We will be offerring Tay and Dre new contracts at whatever the market demands (unless Cohan cheaps out.) It's also what we did with Barnes and Pete last summer. We paid only what we had to. They didn't get multi-year offers (at least not in the states apparently) so we only gave them 1 year. The distinction between extending or re-signing is important. The W's are no longer willing to negotiate with players in a vacuum. They have determined to let the market set players value rather than paying them based on good will, or "in-house" value. I don't have a huge problem with the philosophy (but I do have a problem with one-size-fits all policies in general.)

I do offer Baron a new contract once he expires. My offer would start at 10 mil in the 1st year with an additional 25% in incentives (but I'd be willing to negotiate as high as 11.5.) I would only really want him for 3 years, but I would add years vs. competing with higher per year payouts. If the market for Baron is set higher than that, I would let him leave. That's the point of not offerring anyone an extension. You don't have to pay more than any other team would. The cap/tax is something of a zero sum game. You don't want to be spending amount on players that other teams wouldn't, and you don't find that value out in a closed extension negotiation process. In a public auction, you know exactly what the player is worth to the league, and you know if you are overpaying or hidering future trade value. I understand and really have no problem with the W's playing this tough, but I'm not in the jettison him out of spite camp.

I would like him to opt out, so we can make a contract offer that we're willing to live with, and let Baron consider that vs. the broader market. If he were to opt out this year, everyone gets to make that decision sooner than later. But, I would certainly be willing to consider bringing him back at a cost that makes sense in light of his limitations.

I'd like Baron to opt and for us to acquire Chris Paul.

I'm predicting Baron will be traded this summer..(Yet to ever miss)

To one of these cities....

Dallas (Please Cubert)
LA Clips (Kevin Love to the W's!!)
Denver (No!!!)
Portland
Sacramento (Welcome our new lunatic Ron Artest)
Boston (C's flop in the playoffs and trade Allen for Baron)

You never know what could happen cities...

1. Atlanta (Bibby for a year (yuck) + Marvin Williams)

2. Philadelphia (Andre Miller )

3. Phoenix (Nash reunites with Nellie?)

4. LA again (Baron for Odom)

5. Houston (Yao for Baron-Biedrins)

6. Oklahoma City (Baron was born to live the Okie life)

7. New Orleans (They love BoomFizzle in the Big Easy)

The $$ I'd sign Baron for depends on the length of the deal

1 yr / $17M (what he already has on his contract)
2 yr / $31M (figuring the 09-10 year is worth $14M)
3yr / $43.5M (10-11 year worth $12.5M)
4yr / $54.5M (11-12 year worth $11M)
5yr / $64M (12-13 year worth $9.5M)
6yr / $72M (13-14 year worth $8M)

The contracts wouldn't necessarily be structured this way, this is just the total $$ offered based on contract length. For instance the 5yr/$64M deal would look more like 12,13,14,13,12 rather than 17,14,12.5,11,9.5.

Ideally there would be team performance incentives included so that the base was $1-2M/yr less, but on very good years Baron would make $1-2M/yr more.


While this is more than many on the board would do, I suspect that this is way less than what Baron and his agent expect. The talk that they don't expect max raises off of his current deal makes me think that they consider $17M/yr the low end of any deal.

Add Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minnesota to your list, Squid.
Remove most of the others.

DAL / LAC / ATL potential deals I really like... esp. the Atlanta one, as Bibby might retain enough value to be traded as more than an expiring...

PHI is a pipe dream... I'd trade Baron for Miller straight up if it were an option... he's been instrumental in making life easier for Louis and Thad... he makes Dalembert relevant... completely underrated.

The DAL/LAC/ATL deals are my top options... pit them against each other and see who can outbid the others.