More Shots At Nelson: "Another beatdown. What can I say? It's just all bad right now."
Those were Warriors' guard Stephen Jackson's words after the 118-90 smackdown his team received at the hands of the L.A. Clippers.
Mark Steven, the agent for Jackson, was even more brutal of his assessment of the club, saying it was time for his client to be moved, and moved anywhere saying no one trusted Don Nelson and the club's troubles were clearly a result of his style and direction.
"No one trusts Don Nelson," Stevens said to ESPN The Magazines' Chris Broussard. "When Nelson was in Milwaukee, Wayne Embry trusted him and brought him in, and he betrayed Embry. In Dallas, Mark Cuban took damn good care of him and his son [Donnie Nelson Jr.], and he betrayed Cuban. In Golden State, Chris Mullin hired him and trusted him and Nelson backstabbed him by reaching out to president Robert Rowell and blaming Mullin for everything that was going wrong with the Warriors."
"Chris Mullin wanted to re-sign Baron Davis, but Nelson nipped that in the bud," Stevens said. "Then he helped put together the trade that got rid of Jason Richardson. Then the Warriors lost Matt Barnes. Nelson loses the trust of all his players."
"I'm disgusted with the quality of Nelson's coaching and with the lack of trust his players have in him," Stevens said. "Nelson is the winningest coach in NBA history to never have coached in the NBA Finals, let alone won a championship. Yet he keeps getting jobs despite being 69 years old."
"I just want [Jackson] out of there now," Stevens said. "It doesn't matter where. At this stage, something has to be done. It can't get any worse."
Sources close to the Warriors' side of this say they have heard from roughly a dozen NBA teams all offering their worst contracts and while everyone would like to see closure on Stephen Jackson the team is not giving him away for lesser talent or long-term debt.
The Charlotte Bobcats were rumored to be interested in a deal for Jackson, however sources close to the Cats said this weekend that they made one phone call early in the process to gauge the price tag and ultimately moved on. That call was several weeks ago.
The Cavaliers were also rumored to be interested in Jackson, but when Golden State insisted Zydrunas Ilgauskas be included in any package the Cavs too felt the price was too high and may add Antonio Daniels sometime this week.
The Warriors are open to moving Jackson, but it's going to take someone offering them something of value that improves the team, and as of yet nothing like that has been offered.
IN RELATED: While Stephen Jackson has been the most vocal Warrior about wanting out of Golden State, do not be surprised if Anthony Randolph starts in on Coach Nelson too.
Sources close to the situation say Randolph is extremely upset about his role on the team averaging just 10 points and 18 minutes per game. His minutes have increased recently after venting to his coach, but word is Randolph got into it with guard Monta Ellis during a recent practice and is among the edgiest Warriors on the team.
Sources close to the situation say Randolph is annoyed after doing everything the team asked of him this summer and that he was told he'd have a larger role this year as a result. Randolph was not expecting to start but to play closer to a starter's role and that's not been the case.
Head coach Don Nelson played games with Randolph last year and Randolph believes it to be more of the same this year. Randolph is easily the best upcoming talent on the Warriors' roster so moving him seems like a stretch; however, if the Warriors concede and move their unhappy forward, Randolph packaged with Stephen Jackson might return a significant asset.
Not Having Any Fun: Grizzlies' guard Allen Iverson boarded a plane for Atlanta on Saturday after receiving permission from Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley to attend to a family matter.
Sources all around the situation say there is something going on with Iverson that he needed to attend to and that's a real story – no one would say what it was specifically, but it's believed to involve his children.
Sources within the Grizzlies' locker room have suggested that Iverson is also pondering retirement on his trip home, something the Grizzlies do not deny as possible, although Heisley says Allen never mentioned that to him when he requested the time away from the team.
"I just think if he was going to retire, he'd tell me first," Heisley said to Ron Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "I expect him to come back. If he does retire, I'll be tremendously disappointed. I feel bad because I don't think that's the way he should go out."
"I hope he doesn't retire," Heisley said. "I really hope he comes back and plays for us. He's still got a lot of game left."
Iverson has been clear in his stance to reporters and teammates that if he's expected to play from the bench, he'd rather retire and that's been repeated to a number of people in and around the team since he left on Saturday.
The Grizzlies have set no timeline on Iverson's return but Michael Heisley was clear this weekend that when Iverson chose to return there would be issues to resolve.
"There's no question that when he comes back we have to work some things out," Heisley said on Saturday. "He's got a lot of work to do, but we've all got to get on the same page. He understands what the conditions are. And we need to be less hyper about this along with Allen."
"He has to make some adjustments. This is something we knew we'd have to address. But Allen leaving has nothing to do with a penalty or Allen being (annoyed). There's no another agenda."
The Grizzlies' could waive Iverson at any time and eat his $3.5 million contract. The team could also explore trading Iverson; however he cannot be dealt until after December 15th. If Iverson files for retirement and submits the required paperwork he would need to sit out one calendar year before he could return to playing.
No Timeline On Gasol: L.A. Lakers' forward Pau Gasol has been trying to come back from a nasty strained right hamstring for several weeks. Every time he puts in extra work the injury gets worse, so for now Gasol has resigned himself to sitting and waiting out the injury, and even he's not sure how long that will take.
"It's just not there yet and it will take a little more time."
"Every time I put a timetable in my mind, I get disappointed, so I can't afford that anymore," Gasol said to Jeff Eisenberg of the Press-Enterprise. "It's a matter of time before it gets better. When, who knows? They cant tell me, I can't tell them."
"It's been hard so far," Gasol said. "I have no other option than to stay positive and be patient. It's a matter of time before it gets better. That's what they keep telling me and I have to get in my mind."
The Lakers should get center Andrew Bynum back today and hope to have him available for action this week.
The Lakers are 6-1 on the season and have yet to field their real starting rotation.
The Last Man Standing: The New Jersey Nets hold a unique distinction – they are the only winless team remaining. The 0-7 Nets have been battling injuries since pre-season and still have no clear timeline on when they will get back to full strength.
The Nets have some hype surrounding them mainly because of the pending sale of the team to Russian billionaire Mickael Prokhorov. However, there are a few wrinkles to the deal and the deal is having an impact on how the team is being run today.
Sources close to the situation say the team is being as "cost aware" as anyone in the league mainly because ownership does not want to continue pumping cash into the club knowing it will be sold.
The two big wrinkles in the deal are that the sale is contingent on current ownership breaking ground in Brooklyn before December 31st, something that's being tied up in the court system. The deal must also be completed before December 31st or Prokhorov is walking away.
Prokhorov told the other NBA owners last month that he would be attending at least a third of the Nets home games and would be actively involved in the team, if and when he closes the deal.
So while the Nets struggle on this season, current ownership seems to be less than interested in what's on the floor and more motivated to close the deal before it disappears on New Years' Day.
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