The evils of the offseason

By Justin Phan

Initially, you're at the edge of your seat, excited about the seemingly endless possibilities. The plot line is drenched in drama and filled with unexpected twists and turns that keep you guessing.

But in the end, all that potential is thrown out the window and you're left thinking to yourself, "What the heck just happened?"

This is exactly how the past two offseasons for the Golden State Warriors have gone. They have been remarkably similar to an episode of "Days of Our Lives."

The poor decisions made during these offseasons have put the Warriors at a considerable disadvantage and will prevente Golden State from reaching its full potential, which we saw with their historical upset of the No. 1 seeded Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 NBA Playoffs.

During last year's offseason, General Manager Chris Mullin starred in the "From Riches to Rags" story, where we saw him trade away Jason Richardson for Brandan Wright and a $10 million trade exception.

The Warriors were supposed to develop Wright into one of their key rotation players and make a run at Kevin Garnett with that trade exception.

Well, Don Nelson still refuses to give Wright more than 10 minutes of playing time per game, and the trade exception was never used and has since expired.

Fast-forward to this offseason, where Monta Ellis stole the spotlight in the thriller "MoPeds, MoProblems."

Less than a month after signing a six-year, $66 million extension, Ellis suffered a major ankle injury when he got into an accident while riding a moped.

The Warriors will also have to do without Baron Davis, the team's unquestioned leader and fearless floor general, after he jet-setted to the Los Angeles Clippers.

All this creates a lot of obstacles that the Warriors are going to have to overcome this season.

Without the slashing ability of Ellis, Golden State will have to live and die by the three-pointer.

Although the Warriors will be virtually unbeatable on a given night when they are hitting all their threes, it will be at the expense of consistent play.

With the cards stacked against them, Golden State will look to overcome the challenges that were created by one of the worst offseasons in recent memory.

A playoff berth is certainly possible, but things need to start swinging in the Warriors' favor.

A healthy Corey Maggette, a speedy recovery from Monta and a quality point guard in exchange for a disgruntled Al Harrington will go a long way.