FanHouse Larry Riley

Warriors general manager Larry Riley cleared his late morning and early afternoon schedule on Tuesday and sat down to do a series of one-on-one interviews with Bay Area beat writers and columnists.

He addressed all sorts of issues, ranging from Stephen Jackson's trade request to which position Anthony Randolph is going to play this year to the general direction of the team.

And, of course, he answered several questions about the perception that he is little more than Don Nelson's surrogate.

Stephen Jackson made some statements over the weekend that apparently got the Warriors' attention. On Monday, they issued a statement in response to Jackson's statements.

Jackson made it clear on Friday he doesn't want to be a Warrior anymore. But less than 10 months ago, as he was personally negotiating a contract extension with team president Robert Rowell, Jackson talked of wanting to be a "Warrior for life."

Jackson wound up securing a three-year, $27 million extension last November. The Warriors' statement from general Larry Riley follows:

At the start of the offseason, Warriors general manager Larry Riley said one of the team's pressing needs was to "add some beef."

We're not sure acquiring Mikki Moore qualifies as "beef," but Moore will give the Warriors more size on the interior. In fact, you could argue that the addition of Moore will mean the Warriors have one of most slender frontcourts in the NBA this season.

ESPN is reporting the Warriors and Moore have agreed to a one-year contract worth the league minimum of $1.3 million. Moore's agent, Mark Bartelstein, has confirmed this.

When it comes to whether or not Amar'e Stoudemire will end up a Golden State Warrior within the week, the answer is: probably.

But it's not quite a done deal at this point. There seems to be that little matter of Stephen Curry, whom the Warriors plucked with the No. 7 pick in Thursday's draft. Apparently, that's a player the Suns like and want included in the deal.

It looks like Warriors general manager Larry Riley likes Curry, too. A lot.

Two weeks ago, Orlando assistant general manager Dave Twardzik was talking about the NBA Draft when he shook his head a little and said: "It's a tough one."

When a questioner wanted to know whether that meant Twardzik thought there would be hits and misses all over the place in the first round, he responded: "Yes."

On Monday, Warriors general manager Larry Riley was asked about the uncertainty of this year's draft and had this to say:

Guard Monta Ellis went on a Bay Area radio station on Thursday, and said he and the organization are on the same page and that he'd like to retire a Golden State Warrior.

Ellis said in an interview with KNBR that general manager Larry Riley and coach Don Nelson had flown east to meet him and that the get-together "really put us on the same page."

According to DraftExpress' Jonathan Givony and the San Jose Mercury News' Tim Kawakami, Ellis was upset that the Warriors apparently were planning on selecting a point guard with the No. 7 pick in next Thursday's NBA draft.

Conventional wisdom to this point has Golden State looking point guard at No. 7 in next week's NBA Draft. As I joked a few weeks ago, everyone but Monta Ellis realized this season that Monta Ellis is not an NBA point guard, even for a team as epileptic as the Warriors. With a stable of young big men (Andris Biedrins, Anthony Randolph, Brandan Wright) and wings (Stephen Jackson, Jamal Crawford, Ellis), an offensive ringleader for this crew is what's needed. I think.

But Ellis still thinks he can be that dude. Hence the problem. Both DraftExpress' Jonathan Givony and the San Jose Mercury News' Tim Kawakami reported within hours of each other that Warriors coach Don Nelson and GM Larry Riley recently flew back east this month to diffuse the (re-)budding clash with Ellis. According to Kawakami, the team may have promised Ellis it would not draft a point guard. Givony thinks Golden State might prefer Arizona power forward Jordan Hill to the likes of Brandon Jennings and Jrue Holiday anyways.

SEATTLE -- Jamal Crawford may be the league's most talented player yet to play in an All-Star Game or even a playoff game. Once a skinny, inexperienced but immensely talented 20-year-old tabbed part of the Bulls' post-Jordan resurrection, Crawford is now 29, just completed his ninth year in the NBA and at a crossroads.

He has a monumental decision on his hands in the next five weeks: Opt out of the final two years of his contract and become a free agent or return to an uncertain situation in Golden State, a team rich with talent but lacking direction after the firing of GM Chris Mullin who lost a power struggle with upper management.

The Warriors finally got around Tuesday to doing something they probably should have done back in October.

They announced that executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin wouldn't be returning for 2009-10, and that Larry Riley would be the Warriors' new general manager.

The reality of the situation is that most in the Bay Area and around the league -- Mullin included – knew he was a goner back during the preseason. That's when team president Robert Rowell (pictured, right) made it clear to the media that he and Mullin had had a fundamental disagreement over how to handle Monta Ellis' moped accident.

The writing was on the wall. It was sloppy, oddly colored, and held no defense from the elements, but it was still clear as day. And now the punctuation mark has been cemented.

Chris Mullin is out as the Warriors' General Manager.

Technically, Mullin wasn't ousted. His contract wasn't renewed. Which is a lot like when your high school girlfriend didn't actually dump you, just kind of let things end when you both went to different colleges. Only with millions and millions of dollars and the ability to tell Anthony Randolph what to do.