I saw this article posted at yahoosports and thought I would copy it here. This seems to be about that time where teams who are well out of contention start evaluting young talent moreso than usual.
Warriors to veterans: Take a seat
by Marty Burns, Inside the NBA
Danny Fortson and the Warriors veterans might not like it, but the youth movement has officially begun in Golden State.
Coach Brian Winters plans to use youngsters Jason Richardson, Gilbert Arenas and Troy Murphy much more down the stretch. The idea is to get them on the court as much as possible, both for development and evaluation purposes.
Left unsaid, of course, is the notion that if the team bottoms out in the standings and improves its chances of landing the No. 1 or No. 2 pick in the draft (Chinese 7-foot-5 center Yao Ming would be huge in the Bay Area), so much the better. Warriors vets such as Fortson, Bob Sura and Chris Mills aren't exactly thrilled about sitting on the bench. Fortson walked out of a team shootaround last week when informed he wouldn't be the starter, and was visibly upset after playing just seven minutes (and securing one rebound) in a loss at Chicago. "It seems like it's a setup to failure," said Fortson.
Despite the grumbling in the locker room, the Warriors really have no choice. After years of mismanagement and bad deals (think Chris Webber and Marc Jackson), Golden State has to get on with the rebuilding. As one team source said: "We only won 15 games with those other guys. What do we have to lose?"
Warriors to veterans: Take a seat
by Marty Burns, Inside the NBA
Danny Fortson and the Warriors veterans might not like it, but the youth movement has officially begun in Golden State.
Coach Brian Winters plans to use youngsters Jason Richardson, Gilbert Arenas and Troy Murphy much more down the stretch. The idea is to get them on the court as much as possible, both for development and evaluation purposes.
Left unsaid, of course, is the notion that if the team bottoms out in the standings and improves its chances of landing the No. 1 or No. 2 pick in the draft (Chinese 7-foot-5 center Yao Ming would be huge in the Bay Area), so much the better. Warriors vets such as Fortson, Bob Sura and Chris Mills aren't exactly thrilled about sitting on the bench. Fortson walked out of a team shootaround last week when informed he wouldn't be the starter, and was visibly upset after playing just seven minutes (and securing one rebound) in a loss at Chicago. "It seems like it's a setup to failure," said Fortson.
Despite the grumbling in the locker room, the Warriors really have no choice. After years of mismanagement and bad deals (think Chris Webber and Marc Jackson), Golden State has to get on with the rebuilding. As one team source said: "We only won 15 games with those other guys. What do we have to lose?"
