Nelson update: Ball is in w's court
By Geoff Lepper
http://www.insidebayarea.com/sports/ci_6837173
OAKLAND — The apparent logjam in renegotiations between the Warriors and coach Don Nelson has been broken, but progress is still coming very slowly even as the opening day for training camp looms on Oct. 2.
After being entrenched in a stalemate for weeks following the team's initial offer, Nelson's camp has come off its stance that all of the coach's 2008-09 salary be guaranteed in an attempt to resolve a situation the coach originally told the media would be settled by July 1.
The sides have talked several times this week in hopes of getting the framework for a deal done before the principals on either side — John O'Connor,
Nelson's lawyer, and team president Robert Rowell — head off on vacation.
However, the team is taking its time mulling over the counteroffer made by O'Connor in which at least $2 million would be guaranteed on the final year of the contract.
The Warriors had proposed a bump in Nelson's base pay from $3.1 million to $5.1 million over the next two seasons, but with the second year coming at the team's option, rather than being guaranteed money. That would effectively lessen Nelson's guaranteed payout by $1.1 million, a less-than-attractive option for someone who fought for years with the team over $1.56 million in salary after his first stint as Warriors coach ended acrimoniously.
O'Connor offered a compromise in which the coach would be guaranteed a partial payout if the team did not want him back in'08-'09. One source close to the negotiation pegged the total at $2 million even; another said it was worth "a couple million."
The ball is in the Warriors' court, and some sort of response will be necessary. Nelson, who could not be reached for comment, said he won't accept the team's first offer after being paid among the bottom half of the league's coaches while leading the Warriors back to the playoffs.