While the Warriors await the May 30th draft lottery with crossed fingers, hoping they don't slide below their projected seventh slot and lose their pick to the Jazz, there are a few items of note from the Bay Area:
- The team has promoted Kirk Lacob, son of co-owner Joe Lacob, to assistant GM, according to a statement. He previously served as director of basketball operations for the Warriors and general manager of the Dakota Wizards, the team's D-League affiliate. Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle provides detail.
- A "big" upgrade at small forward is on tap this summer, according to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. It's increasingly clear that the team has soured on Dorell Wright, Kawakami says, and the team will seek a replacement who can have an impact on both sides of the floor.
- In the same piece, Kawakami says the draft is the most likely means the team will use to get a new starter at the 3, and mentions Harrison Barnes, Terrence Jones and Perry Jones as possibilities at No. 7, with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in play if the team moves up into the top three picks. If they make a deal to move into the middle of the first round, they're high on Meyers Leonard, Kawakami reports.
- San Francisco mayor Ed Lee, along with all 11 city supervisors, sent a letter to the Warriors that said the city would cooperate to help the team return to San Francisco by 2017, according to Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross of the San Francisco Chronicle. The city, home to the Warriors from 1962-71, is likely seeking a privately financed arena near the Bay Bridge. The news comes on the heels of the state's demand that Oakland return $3.5MM it had hoped to spend on planning for a new arena.
Dorell Wright was disappointed when he found out he was still on the Warriors after the trade deadline. And for much of the season he had no confidence to drive or shoot.He could have had a great year and come close to what he did in the 2010-11 season, but he just went backwards.