RealGM reported today about tax problems reported by the SF Chronicle for Warriors owner Chris Cohan. These disputes originate from the 1998 sale of his cable operations. A number of tax shelters were used to protect some of the proceeeds from that sale from taxes. Cohan claims he disclosed those in good faith under the amnesty rule, and that the amount he owes is far less than the 165 million the IRS claims.

Good overview in this June, 2006 Forbes Snippet. The most disturbing part of the Forbes piece was this little number..."They reported a $14 million loss and even claimed a $1,200 refundable credit intended for lower-income families with three or more kids." I think he does indeed have 3 kids, but not sure if he qualifies as being lower-income.

The bulk of the money potentially owed comes from one shelter, and totals over 90 million in back taxes and 60 million in penalties. I don't believe that the disagreement is over the legitimacy of the shelters, but the total amount that Cohan should have to pay. It is also not clear how liquid Cohan is, and what resources he has to pay, it is likely that is the IRS amount holds up, Cohan would have to sell part of the team to make good. This is probably a good time to look at selling part ownership in the team since they are out of the basement, getting some national attention and seem to be on the upswing.

As the Warriors franchise sits on the edge of the 8th playoff seed, I felt it was worth taking a closer look at the upcoming offseason and what questions need to be addressed as we look to 2008.

First its worth mentioning that Chris Mullin has put this franchise in position to be a legitimate playoff contender with the current starting lineup on the floor.  The combination of speed and size at particular positions allows Don Nelson to play his style of basketball and as we have seen in the last ten games, our starting lineup is a lot to handle for some very quality NBA franchises.  I sit here now feeling the same thing I felt 13 years ago, "We are one big man away......".  We all know the story that unfolded.  First Richmond goes for Owens, Owens for Siekaly, Webber revolts and 13 years later, I am writing this article for a website founded as an alternative source to vent my frustration as opposted to drinking heavily.

Let's move on to examining the offseason moves, one by one.

Issue #1.  In house business comes first, what do you do with Mikael Pietrus and Matt Barnes?

I can't see us resigning Pietrus to keep him, I only see him being resigned as a part of a sign and trade.  Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson are going to see alot of minutes at Small Forward unders Nellie's system and for the price, I think they will bring Barnes back to fill in off of the bench.  I would also like to see us explore adding a rebounding small forward in the offseason or bring a small forward back in a sign & trade deal involving Pietrus.   I also feel that the decision here will impact what happens at Shooting Guard.

Issue #2. What will be the guard rotation now that Baron can only play 30 minutes per game?

 I think the warriors are now comfortable with Monta Ellis running point for spurts at a time and with Baron's contract/health combination, he is going to be very tough to move via trade.  I think they love his passion for the franchise, so with Baron staying, what does that mean for the rest of the guards?  I think here, they will keep Jrich and add a point guard who can give them periodic minutes so they aren't forced to play Monta at the point guard position.  I think they had hoped Sarunas  would be that player, but that hasn't panned out.  The target will be an Earl Boykins type of player who fits their price range, but I definately thing you will see a new backup point guard in the fold.  This will also allow the Warriors to bid Baron farwell after his contract comes up if he is not willing to resign for less as then Monta will assume PG responsibilties and they will still have JRich at the #2 guard.

Issue #3.  What is the missing piece for this team to take the next step?

 I sincerely believe this will be the hot question internally for the Warriors this offseason.  With the majority of their roster entering their prime, Mullin will establish what commodities can be dealt in order to acquire the final peice of the puzzle.  The missing peice has to be a front court player who can rebound and score, period.  With Andris able to play both 4 and 5 and the ability to add a great rebounding small forward as a possiblity, I think you will see the warriors put themselves in a position to attempt to acquire one of the three biggest available names on the market in Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce.  While there is no guarentee any of those players will be dealt, I firmly believe the warrios can put together the appropraite package to net one of those three players.  If the cost for any of them are too high, look for plan B to be a quality backup PG, and a quality rebouding frontcourt player. 

Issue #4 What assets do we have to pull of an impact trade?

The assets we have to pull off such a deal include:  Patrick O'Bryant, First round pick in either of the next two years, Kelanne Azibuke, Kosta Perovic, Peitrus (sign and trade), Barnes (sign and trade) & Jason Richardson.  At this point it appears management is done with project players and unless we win the lottery, we won't get the impact player needed through the draft.  Our explosive offense at their age makes it necessary to add the final peice as soon as possible.  The first round pick for this upcoming draft is a huge chip because of the depth available in the draft.  Combine that pick, the 09 pick, with Peitrus and O'bryant (even Richardson) and a rebuilding Franchise has some real assets to rebuild.  Don't be shocked to see one more shocking deal for the GSW's this offseason. 

I am loving this playoff push in 2007, but for the first time in recent memory, I am ready to see the next step in 2008.

The Golden State Warriors Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin does things a little bit differently than the average NBA decision maker.  Instead of reacting on emotion after an extremely dissapointing season he decided to just step back take a few deep breaths and not do anything until he was able to think it all the way through.  When the smoke cleared he realized that the roster wasn't the problem...He realized that he had assembled a core group of players that are talented, versatile and capable of causing matchup problems for opposing teams.  He realized that if he could bring in an architect, capable of taking this roster and bringing out the full potential of it's collective parts that wholesale changes were not needed.  What he found was Don Nelson, a leader of men, a strategist an NBA legend and one of the brightest minds to ever patroll the sidelines of an NBA arena. 

Once Nelly was in place the natural progression of thinking for Mullin was to address which players would fit with Nelson and which ones won't.  You can rest assured that Nelson had some imput in this area.  The roster as presently constructed has a lot of "Nelly" type players...Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Zarko Cabarkapa for example.  There are a few non nellie types as well like Ike Diogu, Michael Pietrus and Jason Richardson and several guys could go either way depending on how they react to instruction.  Andris Biedrins could be really good or really bad for example.  Chris Taft, Patrick O'bryant, Adonal Foyle and Devin Brown would all fall into that category as well.   

Now it appears that they have turned their attention toward the old Don Nelson strategy of taking chances on players that others view as flawed and turning them into effective role players in his system.  DaJuan Wagner is a highly skilled basketball player capable of putting up a lot of points in a short amount of time.  He causes matchup problems for most teams at the shooting guard position and is a guy that will force other coaches to react and take their focus away from other areas of the game.  Selected sixth overall by Cleveland in 2002, Wagner has battled a variety of injuries throughout his career. He played in just 73 of a possible 164 games in his first two seasons before being limited to 11 contests in 2004-05, when he was diagnosed with colitis, an inflammation of the colon.Wagner had his colon removed last October, and he lost 30 pounds.  Still just 23 years old, Wagner has averaged 9.4 points in 102 career games and his potential has never been tapped. 

Dermarr Johnson is another highly skilled basketball player that was chosen sixth overall in the draft but due to a serious car accident after his second season has never reached his full potential as an NBA player.  The car accident not only cost him his starting position on the Hawks, it nearly cost him his life. Johnson fractured four vertebrae in his neck, causing him to lose all right to left movement of his head. For the seven weeks that followed, DerMarr was forced to wear a stabilizing halo around his head while his neck healed.  At 6'9" and just over 200 lbs, Dermarr is capable of playing multiple positions.  A silky smooth athlete with a nice outside stroke.  Dermarr is the type of player that the Warriors really don't have currently on their roster.  He is only speculation at this point, but the fact that they are targeting players like him is a very good sign and it shows the impact of Nelson on the franchise.

Another possible target for the Warriors is former Fresno State big man Melvin Ely.  Ely brings some things to the table that the warriors really don't have in the way of toughness, interior defense and old school low post moves.  He is kind of a throwback type of player that really likes to operate inside the painted area.  He established career high averages with 7.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 20.9 minutes last season with the Charlotte Bobcats.  With a long awaited breakout season under his belt, Melvin is ready for an even bigger role next season and because of the depth of the Bobcats front line he may be looking elsewhere for an opportunity to continue his development.  Rumors have swirled that the Warriors are in talks with the Bobcats about a sign and trade deal that could bring Ely to the Bay.  They really don't have anything to lose by taking a chance on a big man with so much upside potential. 

Tuesday was already shaping up to be a great day for the Bay Area.  The A's continued to pull away in the AL West, the Giants inched closer toward the NL Wild Card, the Raiders were enjoying their 4-0 preseason record, and the new Too Short album was set to hit stores.  Fun for the whole family.  And yet by 9 AM, all anyone could talk about was a 66-year-old man coming out of retirement (no, not Jeff George).  After 12 brutal years, Don Nelson has finally returned as head coach of the Golden State Warriors, singlehandedly saving the team's most disappointing offseason in years.

All of a sudden, no one is saddened that the Warriors were denied the chance to overpay Al Harrington or Chris Wilcox.  Failing to rent Ron Artest for 8 months before his next meltdown no longer seems like a missed opportunity.  And for the first time in over a year, Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O'Neal are no longer considered to be the only men capable of turning this team around.  Somehow, the Warriors managed to find someone who just might be able to win with the players currently on the roster, a feat only a precious few coaches would even dare dream possible (the short list: Emilio Estevez, Gene Hackman, Walter Matthau, the guy who played Lou Brown in "Major League").  And unlike any player the team could have brought in, Don Nelson isn't likely to be steamrolled by the Warriors' losing culture.  After all, he's the reason that culture exists.