Golden State Warriors #12

Nearly three hours before the Warriors' first exhibition game, guard John Starks and forward Antawn Jamison, the team's first-round pick in last June's draft, were taking the first of what would be hundreds of pregame jumpers. Starks had invited Jamison to join him for some early work, and a promising sign for the Warriors is that Jamison appears to be the kind of rookie who eagerly does whatever is asked of him. The workout was exactly the type of moment that coach P.J. Carlesimo envisioned when Golden State acquired Starks and two other veterans, forwards Chris Mills and Terry Cummings, from the Knicks for guard Latrell Sprewell.

The Warriors' plan is for the three former Knicks to help guide their young teammates on the floor and in the locker room. Golden State will start the season with at least six players 25 or younger, including three likely starters, power forward Jason Caffey, 25, center Erick Dampier, 24, and small forward Donyell Marshall, 25. "The guys we got in this trade have been winners," Carlesimo says. "There are lessons they can teach some of our young guys about hard work and preparation that will be of tremendous value. I think that aside from their talent they'll have an effect on this team that you can't even measure."

Their presence won't obscure the fact that the Warriors are far from a championship team. Golden State, whose agonizing 1997-98 included a 19-63 record and the notorious assault by Sprewell on Carlesimo, failed to upgrade at point guard, where Bimbo Coles isn't much of an offensive threat and 5'3" Muggsy Bogues is more effective playing for short spurts off the bench than for a starter's minutes. Starks, 33, takes over at shooting guard, but some rival players wonder if he has the competitive fire that marked most of his eight years in New York. When he brought his golf clubs on a trip to Indiana during the playoffs last year, some teammates were quoted as saying that Starks's heart was no longer in it. He denies that he has lost his edge—a lengthy workout before an exhibition game is strong evidence in his favor—and he certainly doesn't sound like a player who is coasting. "Losing is not something I handle well," he says. "It eats at me."

Golden State has the makings of a solid rotation up front, with Caffey, Dampier and Marshall, who was the fourth pick of the 1994 draft and was in danger of being labeled a bust until he finally began to fulfill his promise last season. He'll have to keep improving to keep Jamison from taking over his spot.

Carlesimo thinks Golden State can contend for a playoff berth. It's overly optimistic to expect the Warriors to travel that far, but for the first time in years, they at least seem to be headed in the right direction.

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