Guess Who's Back?

After weeks of not-so-intense negotiations, Nellie's agreed to come back for one more year. Even though Nellie was holding all the cards, he relented and signed for virtually the same offer he received a few weeks ago.

Nelson, who last season led the Warriors to their first playoff berth in 13 years and a first-round upset of the Dallas Mavericks, will get a $2 million raise on his base salary for the upcoming season, from $3.1 million to $5.1 million, but the final year (2008-09) of his three-year contract is now a team option (at $5.1 million) rather than guaranteed cash.

As a Warrior fan, this comes as a relief. He's not leaving the team to flounder in the beastly Western Conference and the front-office is continuing to hold firm when it comes to contract negotiations.

The franchise is set for both the short and long term. The players get to play in Nellie’s system for at least another year and Nellie gets one more shot at the playoffs and some extra cash. He’ll probably be too burned out by the end of the season to coach anymore, but Keith Smart should be ready to take over as his successor. Nellie’s also been offered a job as team consultant after he really retires from coaching. Even if Smart is heading the team, Nellie will be around for another 5 years to keep things together.

What does this all mean? We get to watch some organized chaos, wacky lineups with four guards and a big man, and patented Jedi mind tricks for a whole ‘nother year. I can dig it.

I don’t like no coaches, but I looove this man.

-Stephen Jackson after the playoff clinching game in Portland.