--The Warriors and Jazz, a pair of underachievers this past season, are obvious trade partners, so it's no surprise the rumor mill already is churning.
A report out of Salt Lake City had the Jazz interested in dealing F Andrei Kirilenko to the Warriors for F Corey Maggette. The Warriors would have to throw in at least one other player as Maggette's salary for 2009-10 is about half that of Kirilenko's. The deal makes some sense for the Warriors, who are anxious to exchange offense for defense this summer. Kirilenko is the type of shot-blocking small forward the Warriors could use. Meanwhile, Maggette's production off the bench might be a bit of overkill for a team that has multiple scoring options. The Warriors clearly would have more of an interest in Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer, but the price on the Utah star obviously would be much higher.
--G Monta Ellis got some good news at season's end when the Warriors elected not to void any or all of the remaining five years of his contract. As part of the 30-game suspension the club slapped on Ellis in the wake of the scooter accident last summer that violated terms of his contract, the Warriors reserved the right to terminate the remainder of his six-year, $66 million deal if they deemed the injury caused permanent damage to his left ankle.
But after watching Ellis play 25 games last season, the organization felt he was at or near 100 percent, so it agreed to re-guarantee the final five years and $55 million of the contract.
Ellis missed the first 43 games of the season while recovering from ankle surgery, then also sat out 14 of the final 39 games because of two other injuries related to the ankle but not associated with the scooter accident.
--The Warriors' top five players -- Monta Ellis, Jamal Crawford, Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette and Andris Biedrins -- combined to miss 148 games this season. They played together a total of seven games, going unbeaten (2-0) at home in those contests and averaging 120.0 points per outing.
--Two areas in which the Warriors made marked improvement this season were free-throw shooting and shot blocking. Perennially poor in both categories, they finished eighth in the league in free-throw percentage (79.2) and were the NBA's shot-blocking champs at 6.4 per contest.
--The Warriors barely won half their home games, going 21-20, but that didn't stop fans from flocking to Oracle Arena in Oakland. The Warriors sold out 12 games and played to a 97-percent capacity, ranking ninth in the league in attendance at 18.943 per game, the second-highest mark in franchise history.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I anticipated a hard year, and it was a hard year." -- Head coach Don Nelson, assuring he has higher expectations for 2009-10 than the recently-completed season.
