FanHouse AndrisBiedrins

Warriors haymaker Stephen Jackson is again talking to Yahoo!'s Marc Spears about the injustice of it all, in which "it all" is a $30-million extension from a bad team who has apparently broke its promise to stop sucking. Clearly, in the grand scheme of the Golden State's familiar foray into bleakness, Stephen Jackson is the victim, according to Stephen Jackson.

But he's also a cause, and not because of this latest impetuousness. The very fact that Jackson is considered the Most Valuable Warrior -- or even a valuable Warrior -- helped get Golden State into this mess.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The optimists around the Bay Area like to say that the Warriors' 29-win season in 2008-09 was primarily the result of too many injuries and a very young roster.

The pessimists say that last year's significant step-back-- from 48 wins the season before -- was mostly the result of poor management decisions that yielded a mismatched roster with too much overlap on the perimeter and not enough bulk on the interior.

The goal in 2009-10 is to figure out which side was right.

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Bylaws have been checked. Rules have been scrutinized.

And, yes, it has been determined the West must start a center in February's All-Star Game in Dallas.

So, gentlemen, lace up your high tops. The race to be the starting center for the West is as wide open as the Yukon Territory.

The Warriors surprisingly took Stephen Curry at No. 7, leaving supposed heartthrob Jordan Hill on the board. (Hill went one pick later to New York.) Curry had refused to work out for Golden State during the workout season, and the hubbub followed that the Warriors would avoid a point guard to avoid angering Monta Ellis, who fancies himself a modern day Cousy.

But there's a twist: all evening, a rumor that Phoenix is working on sending Amar'e Stoudemire to Oakland for a package of the No. 7 (Curry), Andris Biedrins, Brandan Wright and Marco Bellineli, has circulated. Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times reports that Golden State may already be working on a tentative extension agreement with Stoudemire, who will be a free agent in 2010. Stay tuned.

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

Suddenly, Dallas' offense is clicking like a metronome. That bountiful output to (virtually) eliminate Phoenix on Sunday hardly shocked -- it was Phoenix -- but pitching two 60-point halves on Utah ... even away from Salt Lake ... name me impressed. The Mavs racked up 130 points. The Jazz, only 101.

Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry did the damage, with 31 and 21 points respectively. Deron Williams tried to shoot the Jazz back into it, but 5-14 from the field didn't quite cut it. Josh Howard is still struggling with consistency on offense, but seven steals always help. Always!

Jamal Crawford will be a spectator tonight, watching from the bench as the Warriors host the Bobcats. Is he injured? Not at all. Suspended? Hardly. Instead, he's the victim one of Don Nelson's whims.

Despite the fact that Golden State's backcourt is already short-handed -- Monta Ellis (ankle) has already missed one game and will likely miss several more -- Nelson decided that tonight is a good time to begin randomly benching veterans in order to give younger players more playing time. C.J. Watson is expected to start, and Anthony Morrow and Marco Bellinelli should see a few more minutes, as well.

Shaquille O'Neal is a distant second behind Yao Ming in All-Star voting among Western Conference centers, and there's virtually no chance that he'll catch him before the final results are revealed on January 22nd. But unlike last season, when Shaq's streak of 14 consecutive All-Star appearances came to an end largely because he was battling through injuries (and also because frankly, he just wasn't playing very well), the voters won't be able to keep him out of the game this time.

Shaq is having a resurgence of sorts, playing at a level we've not seen from him in years. Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks, for example, he was dominant from the very start, and put on a show that was reminiscent of his days in Los Angeles.

From the perspective of Cleveland and New Jersey, the Knicks went from Jean Grey to Dark Phoenix today. But we won't know if the Great Contract Sell-off of 2008 actually worked for roughly 586 days, so let's focus on the present: the weirdest team in the league just got more gonzo. Don Nelson already starts four two-guards, and now he's acquired Jamal Crawford. Does the trade make you tingle, Nellie?

"I'm stoked, is what I am."

Once Monta Ellis returns and Crawford suits up (the Warriors expect him to be ready Tuesday), I expect you'll be able to describe six of the top seven Warriors in minutes per game as two-guards. Corey Maggette currently mans the power forward position. Stephen Jackson has been alternately running point and sitting at small forward. Anthony Morrow has gotten two starts at the two-guard (with another expected tonight), and Kelenna Azubuike has been alongside him for more than a week.

In the Matt Steinmetz Examiner piece linked above, Nelson notes that Crawford will likely start at the one for now and will share the associated duties with Ellis. Crawford, Ellis, Jackson and Maggette figure to be your starters, with Morrow and Azubuike ready to jump in before the first true power forward or center (Brandan Wright and Ronny Turiaf are each under 18 minutes per game).

Nellieball is getting even more bizarre before our eyes. Andris Biedrins, I hope to ready to keep on rebounding.

H/T: Golden State of Mind

Chris Mullin is a rock. He is an island.

He is incredibly chill about losing his $66 million point-guard for 4 months.

As reported by the irreplaceable Tim Kawakami, Mullin told local reporters that though disheartened by the loss of Monta Ellis for the start of the season, he is not in panic mode. Kawakami reports that Mullin and Don Nelson are looking at their options, including inserting Marcus Williams as starter, or going to a bigger lineup with Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette. Mullin also said he will be going to a long-scheduled meeting in Chicago with former Clipper Shaun Livingston. Livingston, as you may know, kind of has his own injury issues to work out, but Mullin says he's not in any rush because he "has enough ball-handlers, even without Ellis."

While the Warriors are archetypically comprised of big men that can run and score, they still need a central point guard, and preferably one with speed, to execute Don Nelson's offense. The idea of a Stephen Jackson-Corey Maggette-Brandon Wright/Anthony Randolph-Al Harrington- Andris Biedrins lineup is fascinating, though. It would be like a fleet of giraffes. Not going to frighten you in any respect, but you will stop and watch it for a while, just because it's so bizarre. My first thought when I heard about the Ellis injury, other than "Fate is cruel" was "They should look at Livingston." Livingston had a ton of talent and potential before his knee exploded like the Fourth of July, and he's worth taking a look at.

Hey, at least you can see the worst case coming in that scenario.

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

Andris Biedrins, jovial Latvian to the stars, offers an auspicious start to our ranking. Beans, as he's affectionately known by the more insane of Golden State's fans, registered only 10 points a contest last season, and just under 10 rebounds. But he's so much more than an almost double-double.

Biedrins doesn't miss baskets. His two seasons as a major rotation player -- at ages 20 and 21 -- he has hovered near the top of the league in True Shooting percentage and field goal percentage. Usually, Biedrins' shots are quick chippies near the hoop -- putbacks, flushes off guard penetration, vapid post moves resulting in bank lay-ins or swift slams. He has no jumper to speak of, and little in the way of silky maneuvers.