I think the biggest thing this whole Paul trade fiasco proves is that when faced with the choice of fixing the small market/large market structural issues (by increasing revenue sharing, creating an NFL-style franchise player system, or instituting a hard cap) or papering over them by just trying to get more money from the players, the small market teams opted for the latter.

At this point, I think it’s fair to say that if competitive balance were really the issue, they would have been much better off giving the players more than 50% in return for stricter payroll limits and a franchising system — but still not sure if they really wanted that over pure $$$.

I just wish this had all gone down BEFORE the players ratified the deal. Would have been pretty damn interesting to see if this would have put things in limbo…

Despite the universally acknowledged lack of quality, I find this draft fairly intriguing in terms of how it will all shake out — especially over the ten picks preceding the Warriors. Rusty’s sources are feeding him 5 names to focus on: Vesely, Valanciunas, Thompson, Singleton, and Biyombo. It seems unlikely that either of the first two will be available at 11, and I’d generally be satisfied with either of the latter three.

I watch a lot of ACC basketball and am a big fan of Singleton — he would immediately step in as the Warriors’ best perimeter defender, and my recollection was that his offense, while hardly his calling card, was usually well-timed. Biyombo also has the chance to be a major defensive presence, though the complete lack of offense and somewhat duplicative skill-set with Udoh raises concerns. Still, I think it’s fair to say that the Warriors need all the help they can get on defense, especially inside if they’re going to keep the small, reach-prone back-court.

I’m a bit more unsure on Thompson — sounds like he’s ready to step in and be an instant-offense guy off the bench, though his “lack of lateral foot-speed” seems to close the door to him ever being more than an adequate defender at best. I’m a bit more intrigued by Alec Burks who sounds more athletic overall, though he’s not close to the shooter that Thompson is.

The other guy who intrigues me is Keneth Faried. Yeah, he played in a small conference, but the dude put up massive numbers in terms of rebounds, a stat that usually translates well to the NBA.  Wages of Wins pegs him as the most productive college player in the draft, with the (big) caveat that his numbers are inflated by the conference he played in. Perhaps the biggest issue there is that taking him at 11 would be too high, as he’s expected to last until the 20′s.

Overall though, I can’t say this is a very high-pressure pick — you’re not going to get a difference-maker at 11, and with the Warriors’ new brain trust I have more faith in their ability to avoid the stupid mistake (Fuller! Diagu! O’Bryant!) and at least get a servicable rotation player. Just as long as they don’t pick Walker or Fredette, that is — the last thing this team needs is another 6′ 2″ combo guard.

Outside of the 11th pick, there are a few other potential story lines: trades, buying another 2nd round pick, and getting into the tail end of the 1st round could give us an indication as to how aggressive (and eager to open the wallet) the new ownership will be going forward.

It’s official: Keith Smart has been fired. I’m fine with the move, if — and this is a big if — they make an upgrade and don’t just swap him for a retread. Names currently being mentioned include Mike Brown (ugh) and Jeff Van Gundy (intriguing, though I’d rather have his brother), and Brian Shaw is also a name I’ve heard talked about in the past. That said, Shaw is currently an assistant with the Lakers so he can’t be hired yet, and my assumption is that they wouldn’t have fired Smart without a plan already in place. I guess we just have to wait for the other shoe to drop — more speculation from Steinmetz on potential options here.

It’s strange how anticlimactic the actual ownership takeover has been for the Warriors. I guess that’s because the real shock came when we found out that Lacob & Gruber had bested Larry Ellison (interesting bit of back story on that here), and we’ve now had months to get to know Lacob in particular (even despite his inability to really discuss roster moves in detail).

But now that it’s official, and their first round of media interviews are done, we’re finally getting a bit more details on what to expect. On the basketball side, a bigger and stronger team that can hang with the elites of the league; on the entertainment side, a new mascot and and emphasis on a better “entertainment experience” (not sure how that’s much different than before, mascot excepted).

A few scattered thoughts on the new guys:

Joe Lacob. I like this guy. Unlike the Wall Street bankers who offer little real value to the economy or the Fortune-500 CEOs who make a ton of money seemingly no matter what happens under their watch, venture capital guys make a real contribution in spurring innovation and (for the most part) only make money when they can push a start-up to a successful breakthrough.

My hope is that many of the same skills that make for a successful V.C. operative — patience, quick identification of the major structural factors holding a firm back from success, smart investments, good judgment of people, a penchant for avoiding drama, and a willingness to take a hand-off approach (to a point) in order to let the magic makers do their thing — will translate well to the NBA. And Lacob is certainly well-informed when it comes to basketball, so it’s not like he’s going to force things into the shape of the cookie cutters that he is used to in Silicon Valley.

This is a guy who clearly wants to win. Not in a joyous Mark Cuban way, but in a stone-cold-ruthless-back-room-deal sort of way. He clearly has confidence in his own basketball instincts, and has already made quite the mark on the team even while ostensibly sitting on the sidelines. Unlike, say, Kawakami, I like the patience he has shown with the current Warriors leadership team. Nelson was the obvious guy to change — especially with Smart in the wings as an obvious backup — and I have no problem with going the rest of the season with the current leadership before getting down to business in the off-season. I certainly prefer that to — as Lacob noted in one of his interviews — the Chris Mullin approach of trying to make your mark as quickly as possible.

The smartest criticism I’ve seen of Lacob is that his Boston experience might have made it all seem a little too easy to Lacob, and that experience won’t necessarily translate well. Boston was in the right place at the right time and got Kevin Garnett in a way that can hardly be duplicated — but I’d have to imagine that Lacob is aware of that. Time will tell, of course, though his emphasis in interviews on the Garnett trade and the impact of just one player suggests that he’s a guy who will be very willing to be aggressive on the trade front if there’s a chance to land a superstar.

So the bottom line is that, so far, I really like this guy’s style. I like that he’s pushed the team toward better rebounding and a more “normal” roster in terms of height match-ups. I like that he’s aware that the NBA is a “star” league, and the in order to win the big prize you need several clear stars. I like that he’s a numbers guys (I’ve noticed several times already that he loves to correct slightly inaccurate numbers — it’s a bit pedantic, sure, but I do like that he knows the numbers), which gives me hope that he’ll pursue the right stars while building this team instead of just going for the big names (Amare Stoudamire, anyone?). I know it’s still early, so label me cautiously super-optimistic.

One more note on Lacob — there’s been a lot of talk about the fact that right after the purchase became official, Joe hired his son Kirk as “Director of Basketball Operations” in the front office (it’s not nearly as impressive a job as the title suggests — he’ll be the low man on the totem pole and will be working on stats work, scouting, and salary cap issues). First off, like any good liberal, I’m not exactly thrilled at the nepotism on clear display and the fact that a guy named Joe LaFool would never in a million years get this job. But I’m much more concerned with what this will mean for the team, and on that front I see very little downside. He’s clearly qualified for what is essentially an entry-level positions, and hopefully Kirk will be focusing on advanced statistics and other metric-based judgments on players. That’s something that has been non-existent for this franchise (hello, Troy Murphy’s extension), and if that’s the case then I’ll be glad that he has his dad’s ear when it comes to making roster decisions. So file this one under things I’m not very concerned about, at least until Kirk gets some real responsibility.

Peter Guber. Thing guy seems like he’ll provide plenty of entertainment over the next few years, and is destined for at least one national-level foot-in-mouth incident. I like the enthusiasm he brings, and despite the avalanche of buzzwords he does seem to have a solid grasp of how to build a quality entertainment product. The guy clearly loves bringing joy to people (and being a part of it), which is more than you can ever say for Cohan.

And while it’s easy to cast him as a bit of a huckster, I was really struck by the way he described their ownership during their Chronicle Live segment earlier this week. The question was about whether the Warriors fans would be interested in watching a more plodding, half-court team (this was after Lacob talked about wanting “more beef” and a more defensive mindset), and Guber gave a ton of deference to the fans and described him and Lacob not as “owners,” but as “stewards” of a team that really belongs to the fans. Maybe he’s just talking a fan-centric game here at the start, but it came across as fairly genuine and is the sort of well thought out description that I wouldn’t expect from someone who was just bullshitting.

So while Lacob is the one I care about more right now since he’ll be in charge of the on-court product, I do like the energy and enthusiasm that Guber brings to the entertainment side. My guess is that the half-priced night on Monday was all Guber’s idea — and it was a good one.

The bottom line. Obviously, this ownership team will be a huge upgrade over Cohan. But the question will always linger: would things have been better with Ellison? Aside from the bottomless pockets (which certainly matter), I’m not sure it would be.

Lacob is passionate about basketball (compare that to Ellison, who attended his first Warriors game last season), has seen a well-run franchise from the inside, and from the sounds of things will basically be working full-time with the Warriors from now on. I think he’s just as ruthlessly dedicated to winning as Ellison ever would be, but brings a lot more basketball experience to the table than Ellison ever could.

I’ve liked the roster moves made so far (still not sure Lee is worth $80M, but he’s clearly a massive upgrade in a department — rebounding — where they desperately needed help before they could ever hope to be consistently good), and the basketball philosophy he describes in interviews is one that I can definitely get behind. Sure, there are still questions (Do these guys really have enough money? Will they ever go into the luxury tax, or will “salary protection” once again emerge as a Warriors buzzword? Do they have an actual plan to become this Celtics-Lakers hybrid they keep describing?), but all-in-all I definitely like the direction things are headed in terms of the on-court product.

So here’s to a new day for Warriors basketball. Chris Cohan’s ownership is dead — long live Lacob and Guber!

UPDATE BY JAKE: A good take from Truehoop on Kirk Lacob