Nelson contract being extended

ESPN have reported that the Warriors have extended Nelsons deal by two years which was originally due to run out this season. Because of Mullins expiring deal there are rumours abound that Nellie cvould take the GM job but he denied it

No. No. Don't want to be. No," Nelson said, according to the Mercury News. "I'm not interested in general manager, or coach and general manager, or anything else. I'll support Mully the whole way. I hope he gets his deal done as well. I love working with Mully. I'm a coach. Period."

On his extension

"It wasn't my idea," Nelson said, according to the San Jose Mercury News. "It was fine with me to weigh it year to year. But they came to me and wanted me to commit to three years and, uh, I'm pretty excited about it. It's quite an honor really to be wanted. At my age, you're lucky if anybody wants you. Hopefully your wife."

To be honest i'm a little mixed about the Warriors deciding to extend Nellie. Obviously after the Dirty dozen he has done wonders for restoring the image of Warriors Basketball and put them back on the map. Here's a look at the pro's and cons

Pro's

Extending him means that he will actually coach this season with a long term plan in mind. When Nellie took over the Mavericks in the late 90s, he got there with a long-term plan in mind. And he tanked 97-98 in order to draft Dirk Nowitzki.

If Nellie was a lame duck coach, he would have been under pressure to succeed immediately to ensure that he got another contract. And he would have squeezed every last victory out of the 2008-2009 Warriors, giving us close to 40 wins and a late lottery pick.

Now that Nellie is secure with his 3 year contract, and a potential front office position, he will be more likely to see the big picture.

Also, with the extension in place, Don Nelson will have more time to properly secure and mentor a successor.

Now that Nelson knows he's wanted perhaps he can take the time and not overplay the veterans when as proved in stretches llast year the younger crowd can do just as good

Cons

More small ball for the next two years which doesn't work as we all know

His refusal to play his bench last year was one of the factors in missing the playoffs as no doubt the vets would have had more in their tank to finish stronger

Small ball for the next three years which as we all know by now