The NBA team, Commissioner David Stern and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee scheduled a news conference at 10 a.m. local time Tuesday to announce the decision to leave Oakland.

Definitely a sad day for Oakland but this needed to be done. As a Warrior's fan this move was needed to boost the visibility of the team and attract much needed corporate sponsorship. Much has been written about how the move will change the culture of the fan base which is considered among the most loyal fans in the NBA. The Giants went through a similar culture shift when they moved from Candlestick to PacBell/SBC/AT&T Park. My hope is that management works to keep these loyal fans by not raising ticket prices so that only the wealthier and less committed fans go (or not go) to games. But winning will always be the best deodorant. Once we start seeing the W's consistently making the playoffs and at some point becoming a contender, all of the initial shocks of leaving Oakland will be moot.

An hour and 15 minutes after a coin was supposed to be flipped at the NBA’s New York office, the league announced that the Warriors won the toss for the lottery’s seventh slot and will have a 72.4 percent chance of keeping their 2012 draft choice.

A bit of good news on the Warrior's part. Winning the coin flip allows them to have a greater chance to retain their 2012 draft pick. There still is a 27.6% chance that someone below them will jump up to the 1, 2 or 3 spot which will knock them to 8, 9 or 10 and their pick goes to Utah. I'll reserve judgement for when the lottery is done on May 30th before I get too excited about the possibilities for this pick.

The electric atmosphere of Linsanity may feel like a distant memory now, but the folks at Time magazine haven't forgotten the impact of Jeremy Lin's emergence. In their estimation, the New York Knicks point guard is still one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Not that he doesn't deserve it, but in my opinion, some of the picks for the 100 Most Influential are pretty suspect. Don't get me wrong, Jeremy Lin was a great story in the NBA this year but all the hype can do little to help him. In 25 games as a starter he has averaged 18.2 points and 7.7 assists. Great numbers for any NBA point guard rookie or not. But dissect that a little further and you'll see that most of that was in his first 12 games where he averaged 22 points and 9.2 assists. Over his last 13 games? 14.6 points and 6.4 assists. Still good numbers but more along the lines of Ty Lawson (16 points and 6.6 assists) versus Deron Williams (21 points and 8.8 assists). Ask yourself if he would be getting this much hype if he was just a middle of the road NBA player.

Teams are now game planning for him and he's essentially a rookie who has never had to play this many minutes over such a compressed period of time. His knee giving out is a clear sign of this. He needs time away from the hype to recuperate from surgery, build up his body to play the full rigors of an NBA season and improve his game. If his career mirrors his first 13 games, then there's no question he is worthy of the hype. Let's hope he gets there.

There really isn't a perfect spot for a player like Lamar Odom, who is buried under a mountain of turmoil and mental anguish, but he could do a whole lot worse than the Golden State Warriors.

This is a rumor circulating about Odom coming to the Warriors next year for the mid-level exception. First off, he'll get better offers once his contract is bought out by the Mavs. Secondly, he'll want to play for an immediate contender. Third, he'll want to be in LA where his wife is and his reality show is based. However, it won't be with the Lakers. My guess is there's too much bad blood. The obvious choice is the Clippers (whom it played for years ago). They are the glamorous franchise now with Griffin and Paul. I could see Odom coming off the bench and having a positive impact. Plus he'll get to stick it to the Lakers four times a year in their own backyard.

Cain and the Giants agreed Monday to a $127.5 million, six-year contract, the largest deal for a right-handed pitcher in baseball history.

It's that time of year again. The baseball season is underway (actually it's been underway). The Giants made some big splashes in the off-season, most notably the above mentioned extension on Matt Cain. I'm not sure if we are in a pitcher salary bubble but $21.25M a year for a guy who never won more than 14 games or struck out more than 186 a year seems a little much. Giants fans should rightfully have Zito nightmares over this signing. At least Zito had a Cy Young under his belt and a season or two of dominance on his resume. Does it make sense for Cain to be paid more than Roy Halladay ($20M a year)? For this contract to make any sense, Cain has to pitch like a #1 and he's had many years to prove he can and just hasn't. Some will argue that he doesn't get much run support and that's a valid point. But does anyone think the Giants are magically going to start bumping up the offense? Angel Pagan and Melky Cabrera won't scare many opposing pitchers.

And let's not forget that Lincecum's contract is up in two years and he'll want more than Cain given his resume. Can you afford to pay him the $25M+ a year he'll most likely want? I'm hoping for the best this year but have more doubts than ever.

The Warriors have been trying to get a top-notch center for some time, and they paid a steep price to get Bogut because they gave up one of the NBA's top scoring guards in Ellis...

How many ways is this a bad trade?

1) Bogut is out for the rest of the year with a fractured ankle. Not something you come back from with no long term issues (see Curry).

2) The Warriors tack on about $25M more in salaries over the next two years.

3) They basically traded away their best scorer AND best defender for Captain Jack.

4) They lose Kwame Brown's expiring $7M contract which could have been excellent trade bait.

The only way this trade even begins to make sense is if Bogut can be better than he has ever been. Given his immaturity and propensity for injury, I have a hard time seeing that happening. Jackson may have another renaissance in the Bay Area but he's also 4 years older and declining which makes the likelihood of that happening very low.

If the rumors were true that another trade was available and turned down, then it's just business as usual for the inept front office and ownership, no matter who's in charge.

The Golden State Warriors have made it clear to the New Jersey Nets that they want more than just Brook Lopez if they are going to get Monta Ellis in return.

I don't understand why the Warriors would not do a straight-up Lopez for Ellis deal. Yes, Monta is a phenomenal scorer but he also costs $11M a year for the next 3 years whereas Lopez is at $3M and $4M for 2012 and 2013. But money aside, talented 7 foot centers don't come along every day. Especially ones that can easily become 20pt/10rb guys. A shooting guard's performance can more easily be replaced. Think of it this way, would you rather have a starting five of Curry/Ellis/Wright/Lee/Biedrins or Curry/Klay/Wright/Lee/Lopez? Klay may be 40% of Ellis in terms of production (and improving) but Biedrins is about 10% of the production that Lopez would give you (and falling). Make. The. Trade.

In his first start of the season, Udoh had a career-high 19 points to go with eight rebounds and led the Warriors past the Los Angeles Clippers 104-97 on Monday night.

One game does not make a trend. But man, what a game. Ekpe Udoh's first start of the season was an eye opener and he did it against legit big men. Going up against Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan (ironically, the big man the Warriors went after in the pre-season) and occasionally Kenyon Martin, Udoh held his own. More than anything he looked gassed because he's usually playing reserve minutes. Here's hoping he gets another start and can build on this.

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The Jack London Market building is now fully occupied after Navis LLC agreed to take space on the top two floors.  Great to see the it finally fully occupied. We've been in the area now for close to 5 years and the dream of this beautiful building as the anchor of a revitalized Jack London Square was starting to fade away. Hopefully with the increased foot traffic, many of the local restaurants and businesses can thrive.

(The Lakers) never had (Lin) under contract and aren't in the regretful state of mind of Golden State or Houston, but they discussed signing him two months ago when he was a free agent.

This story is ridiculous. Houston's GM may have officially regretted letting Lin go but the Warriors had no reason to keep him or feel regret about letting him go.  And they don't.  The fact of the matter is that Lin was playing behind two better guards - Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry. Don't for a second think that Lin's current hot streak means he is a better player than either of these two. He's done it for 4 games. Let him try doing it for a season or two before we crown him the next great guard.

And I'm not hating on Lin. I think his underdog story is great and I root for him because of his Bay Area ties. But never for a second think he would have displaced Monta or Stephen in the starting line up this season. And think about it this way. Lin should be thanking the Warriors and Rockets for cutting him. He fell into an ideal situation by playing for the guard depleted Knicks in a D'Antoni scheme that allows guards to flourish. And mark the words of Kobe - "Enjoy it. They'll receive judgement next season." When teams start focusing on Lin, will he still continue to put up these numbers? That's the true test of any great NBA player. Can they still perform when defenses are designed to stop them? Now that Lin's profile is so high, you can bet his future opponents will game plan for him. Here's hoping he can learn and improve.

The developers originally planned to open a public market in the building’s interior similar to the ones in San Francisco’s Ferry Building and Seattle’s Pike Place Market, but are now leaning toward attracting food manufacturing tenants to fill the space.

The news of the Jack London Market seems to be the secondary story in this piece (though Haven is quite good and deserves much kudos). Sad to see that the dream of having a Ferry Building style market place in Jack London is going away. However, looking at the abandoned first floor of the building for the past 3 years has been a bit of a downer so I'd be glad to see anybody occupy that spot. If they plan to bring folks like Miette in with their baking operations and small store front, it could actually work out to be something similar to the original idea.

It was a pretty ambitious plan to begin with. Without the necessary foot traffic, it would have been pretty difficult for any market style business to thrive. Had they been able to rent out all of the office space above the market, it could have worked. Hopefully once/if that space is taken, they can revisit the idea of a market style section.