MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: You could argue Monta Ellis posted better overall numbers and it would be fair to say the Warriors would have made the playoffs if Stephen Jackson hadn't missed the first seven games of the season, but Baron Davis was the no-doubt-about-it team MVP. He ranked among the league leaders in scoring (21.8) and assists (7.6), but nobody league-wide was better in one surprising category -- games played. After having been dubbed fragile following consecutive seasons in which he missed 34, 28 and 19 games, Davis was the only Warrior to play in all 82 this season.
MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER: When the Warriors dealt Jason Richardson for a draft pick last June, they knew they'd need Mickael Pietrus to fill some big shoes and have a big season. He appeared ready for it, having improved from 9.3 points and 3.1 assists a game in 2005-06 to 11.1 points and 4.5 rebounds last year. Playing for a new contract in 2008-09 only added to his potential. But the Frenchman, who saw his agent get rejected time and again in sign-and-trade offers to get out of Golden State, didn't have his head on straight for four months, then suffered a groin injury just when he was playing his best basketball in March. In the end, the Warriors wish he'd played elsewhere. BIGGEST NEEDS: In order to build upon the momentum of a 48-win season, the Warriors must re-sign young free agents Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins. Both are restricted free agents. Presuming that is done, they must then decide which is their greatest need -- another little guy to take the minutes burden off Baron Davis, Ellis and Stephen Jackson, or a quality big man to complement Biedrins and Brandan Wright -- and then determine whether their best way to get this player is through the draft, trade or using Davis in a sign-and-trade.
FREE-AGENT FOCUS: The Warriors enter the offseason with a remarkable 10 free agents: Ellis, Biedrins, Mickael Pietrus, Matt Barnes, Patrick O'Bryant, Kosta Perovic, Austin Croshere, Troy Hudson, Kelenna Azubuike and C.J. Watson. An 11th player, Davis, can opt out of the final year of his contract before June 30. The Warriors will be at least $12 million under the salary cap and $24 million under the luxury-tax threshold, figures that would vault to close to $30 million and $42 million if Davis were to opt out of his $17.8 million guarantee.
PLAYER NOTES:
--Andris Biedrins would like to play for his native Latvia in the European Championships qualifying in September, but he has two concerns: His free-agent status and the long NBA season. He doesn't have to make his decision until mid-July, when the Latvian team begins its workouts.
--Matt Barnes accepted a $3 million, one-year contract with the Warriors last summer instead of shooting for a long-term deal elsewhere because he thought he'd be in even better shape to cash in this summer. He was wrong. Coming off a season in which he averaged 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds, shooting 43.8 percent, Barnes slumped to 6.7 points and 4.4 rebounds, shooting 42.3 percent, in 2007-08.
--Mickael Pietrus likewise saw his stock plummet over the past year. Unable to get the Warriors to agree to a sign-and-trade last summer, Pietrus returned to the club for a fifth season and saw his scoring average drop from 11.1 to 7.2 and his shooting percentage from 48.8 to 43.9.
