Read More: chris paul rumors, Chris Paul (G – NOH), New Orleans Hornets, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers

The New Orleans Hornets are seriously engaged in Chris Paul trade talks with three teams, reports Yahoo!’s ace Adrian Wojnarowski: the L.A. Clippers, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors.

The parameters of any such deals aren’t remotely clear, though John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweeted early Tuesday that “good offers” were coming in for the All-Star point guard. One would imagine that guards like Rajon Rondo, Stephen Curry and Eric Gordon could be in play for New Orleans.

CP3 had reportedly informed the Hornets in recent days that he had no intention of signing a contract extension, and that if he were traded he’d like to go to the New York Knicks. It has been reported that Paul would like to join his friends Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony in the Big Apple; if he is traded to New York before the in-season deadline, he’d be eligible for a larger contract as a 2012 free agent. But Wojnarowski reports that if the Warriors or Clippers sign free agent Tyson Chandler, he could change his mind on staying long-term. Paul and Chandler had previously played together in New Orleans.

If CP3 won’t agree to an extension with one of New Orleans’ preferred trade partners, it’s unclear whether those teams will offer enough to pull the point guard. Stay tuned.

For more on the Hornets, visit At The Hive.

It’s going to be a very Merry Christmas in the Bay Area this year.

It was just announced that my hometown team, the Golden State Warriors, will help kick off the NBA’s brand new 66-game season on Christmas Day, as the final part of the five contests that are taking place on the 25^th.

The Warriors will host the Los Angeles Clippers to wrap up what should be a fantastic day of basketball, which includes Boston at New York, Miami at Dallas, Chicago at the Lakers, and Orlando at Oklahoma City.

Now the reasons why I’m excited for this game are almost too numerous to mention, but we should just start with the most obvious one first: the NBA is back, and just like everyone else, I want to see my team play as soon as possible. Who wants to wait until the 26^th? Give me a game on Christmas, please.

It’s really hard to say what kind of year the Warriors are going to have, and who will be on the roster come opening night. Will Monta Ellis(notes) still be on the team? (Those rumors of a trade with Memphis for Rudy Gay(notes) are coming up once again). Will new coach Mark Jackson manage to help take point guard Stephen Curry’s(notes) game to the next level? (Now wouldn’t that be fantastic). Will Andris Biedrins(notes) manage to get more than single-digit points and rebounds for the first time in what feels like a very, very long time? (Almost certainly not, but it’s a new season, we can hope). And will owner Joe Lacob use the amnesty clause from the new Collective Bargaining Agreement to shed David Lee’s(notes) contract? (The answer to that last question seems to be a resounding no).

So yes, who knows what W’s team we’ll see out there on Christmas Day, but no matter who it is, I know for sure that I’m going to enjoy seeing the Oracle Arena rocking, and the Warriors showing off their run-and-gun style up and down the floor.

And of course if you’re reading this and not a Warriors fan, there’s also another good reason to tune in. The Clippers employ a fairly large and athletic power forward by the name of Blake Griffin(notes), who has been known to dunk on a player or two, and also has a thing for jumping over Kia’s. Griffin himself is worth the price of admission (or at least the simple turning on of your television).

The game begins at 10:30 PM Eastern/7:30 PM Pacific on Christmas Day and will be shown nationally on ESPN.

Welcome back NBA – I’ve missed you.

REFERENCES:

ESPN.com News Services, NBA Adds 2 Games to Christmas Opener, ESPN.com

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

For the first time in franchise history, the Golden State Warriors Opening Night game will be nationally televised as part of a five-game schedule to tip off the 2011-2012 NBA season. Set for a 7:30 p.m. PT tipoff on ESPN, Mark Jackson will debut as the new Warriors head coach against Blake Griffin(notes) and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Back when the regular season was set to start at the beginning of November, the NBA was planning to have its typical Christmas Day tripleheader featuring the Boston Celtics at the New York Knicks, the Miami Heat at the Dallas Mavericks, and the Chicago Bulls at the Los Angeles Lakers. However, after coming to a tentative agreement for a new labor deal on Saturday, Nov. 26, the league decided to include this Warriors nightcap matchup following a game featuring the Orlando Magic at the Oklahoma City Thunder.

After taking the Golden State job over the summer, Jackson, a former television personality for NBA games on ESPN, will be front and center on national TV for his coaching debut. With little time to prepare with players like Monta Ellis(notes), Stephen Curry(notes), and David Lee(notes), Jackson may struggle initially in regards to building rapport and implementing his offensive and defensive philosophies with his team. As with any new coaching regime, Jackson may experience some growing pains with his team, as he will be pressed for the time during the league’s abbreviated preseason.

Even though the team currently has 12 players on the roster (assuming the team signs Klay Thompson(notes), Jeremy Tyler(notes), and Charles Jenkins(notes) to rookie contracts) and will not need to sign too many free agents to fill up their roster, there is still much uncertainty regarding the state of the Warriors roster on Opening Night. With a little more than three weeks left before the start of the season, Warriors general manager Larry Riley and company have been contemplating plenty of free agent options, the amnesty clause, and possible trades. If the Warriors end up signing former Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler(notes), their No. 1 offseason free agent target, or other big men like New Orleans Hornets power forward David West(notes) or Denver Nuggets center Nene, the team will certainty need to make several more moves before the start of the season.

While there is sure to be some nerves in Jackson and the rest of the players, the team does have history on its side. Last year on Christmas Night, the Warriors defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 109-102 to end a six-game Christmas Night losing streak that started back in 1971. While that can be seen as good news for the Warriors, all eyes around the country will be on Jackson, seeing if he has what it takes to be a successful NBA head coach.

Sources:

Warriors To Tip Off 2011-12 Season On Christmas Night Versus Clippers at Oracle Arena, Warriors.com

Magic-Thunder, Clippers-Warriors set for Christmas, AP

Golden State Warriors Roster, Yahoo! Sports

Austin is a lifelong resident of the bay area, a lifelong basketball fan and Golden State Warriors supporter, and a contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Follow this contributor on Twitter @_austinchang.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Golden State forward David Lee seems pretty juiced about Saturday night’s charity game at the San Jose State Event Center, pitting past Warriors, including some from the 2007 playoff team, against the current squad.

The We Believe game is for a good cause — the Kaiser Permanente Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Matt Barnes’ Athletes vs. Cancer Foundation. It’s a treat for Warriors fans. And it breaks the monotony of the NBA lockout.

But what fires up Lee is that his guys will be together again.

“I’m really excited,” Lee said. “We’ve got most of the squad playing. It will be nice to play an organized game.”

Jason Richardson, Al Harrington, Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and C.J. Watson highlight the roster for the We Believe team.

Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Dorell Wright and Lee will lead the Dubs squad.

It is expected to be a fun-filled event, but a few of the current players said there is more to it than that.

Time together on the court — even in exhibitions — is important, several Warriors said. With no end to the lockout in sight, and the first month of the season canceled, there is an increased emphasis on player preparation.

If there is a season, camp won’t be long enough to get players in ample shape. A shortened preseason schedule won’t be enough to build chemistry. If things get going, preparation time will be rushed and players will need to come in ready.

“The game puts us back in that

competitive environment that we are missing,” Curry said. “When you get together with your teammates, chemistry comes back. Considering the situation, that could help us a lot.”

This is the second time since the end of the 2010-11 season that members of the current roster have been in the gym together. Ten players got together in Las Vegas to work out at the Impact Basketball facility in September.

They trained. They played pickup games against each other. They played as a team against other squads. They hung out together in the evening. Wright still raves about the first gathering.

“It felt like I hadn’t seen my boys in forever,” Wright said. “It goes a long way, getting back in the gym, playing with each other. It was good to see everybody, see what people have been working on, get a chance to get to know the new players and see what they can do. That type of stuff helps you jell and build camaraderie.”

Team workouts are expected to increase throughout the league. The Oklahoma City Thunder has had three team minicamps since the lockout began. Orlando, Indiana and the Los Angeles Clippers have also gotten together to work out.

Swingman Andre Iguodala and big man Elton Brand organized workouts for the Philadelphia 76ers in Los Angeles in August. According to Yahoo! Sports, Iguodala, who canceled a trip to Paris for the workouts, and Brand even footed the bill for the team’s nightly dinner and club excursions.

Players from San Antonio and Miami have talked publicly about scheduling team workouts. The players union recently announced it was setting up workout centers in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Houston and possibly Miami so locked out players could work out on the union’s dime.

In addition to the We Believe game, the Warriors plan to hold another team workout, to be organized by last year’s team captains (Ellis, Curry and Lee).

“It’s really important to play together during the lockout,” second-year guard Jeremy Lin said. “Especially because we’re a young team. If the lockout ends, games will start up really quickly, so we want to have a foundation to build upon.”

Golden State forward David Lee seems pretty juiced about Saturday night’s charity game at the San Jose State Event Center, pitting past Warriors, including some from the 2007 playoff team, against the current squad.

The We Believe game is for a good cause — the Kaiser Permanente Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Matt Barnes’ Athletes vs. Cancer Foundation. It’s a treat for Warriors fans. And it breaks the monotony of the NBA lockout.

But what fires up Lee is that his guys will be together again.

“I’m really excited,” Lee said. “We’ve got most of the squad playing. It will be nice to play an organized game.”

Jason Richardson, Al Harrington, Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and C.J. Watson highlight the roster for the We Believe team.

Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Dorell Wright and Lee will lead the Dubs squad.

It is expected to be a fun-filled event, but a few of the current players said there is more to it than that.

Time together on the court — even in exhibitions — is important, several Warriors said. With no end to the lockout in sight, and the first month of the season canceled, there is an increased emphasis on player preparation.

If there is a season, camp won’t be long enough to get players in ample shape. A shortened preseason schedule won’t be enough to build chemistry. If things get going, preparation time will be rushed and players will need to come in ready.

“The game puts us back in that

competitive environment that we are missing,” Curry said. “When you get together with your teammates, chemistry comes back. Considering the situation, that could help us a lot.”

This is the second time since the end of the 2010-11 season that members of the current roster have been in the gym together. Ten players got together in Las Vegas to work out at the Impact Basketball facility in September.

They trained. They played pickup games against each other. They played as a team against other squads. They hung out together in the evening. Wright still raves about the first gathering.

“It felt like I hadn’t seen my boys in forever,” Wright said. “It goes a long way, getting back in the gym, playing with each other. It was good to see everybody, see what people have been working on, get a chance to get to know the new players and see what they can do. That type of stuff helps you jell and build camaraderie.”

Team workouts are expected to increase throughout the league. The Oklahoma City Thunder has had three team minicamps since the lockout began. Orlando, Indiana and the Los Angeles Clippers have also gotten together to work out.

Swingman Andre Iguodala and big man Elton Brand organized workouts for the Philadelphia 76ers in Los Angeles in August. According to Yahoo! Sports, Iguodala, who canceled a trip to Paris for the workouts, and Brand even footed the bill for the team’s nightly dinner and club excursions.

Players from San Antonio and Miami have talked publicly about scheduling team workouts. The players union recently announced it was setting up workout centers in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Houston and possibly Miami so locked out players could work out on the union’s dime.

In addition to the We Believe game, the Warriors plan to hold another team workout, to be organized by last year’s team captains (Ellis, Curry and Lee).

“It’s really important to play together during the lockout,” second-year guard Jeremy Lin said. “Especially because we’re a young team. If the lockout ends, games will start up really quickly, so we want to have a foundation to build upon.”

Will the Golden State Warriors be playing NBA basketball this year? No one knows, but a decision needs to come down in a hurry between the league and the player’s union. It does look like both sides are willing to deal though, which can only mean good things for those who want to see a season.

Adrian Wojnarowski has more from Yahoo Sports; read the details by clicking here!

Don’t think that this is the “lived happily ever after” part of the pamphlet. NBA players and owners are making progress, but they still have a lot of ground to cover and not much time to do it to get the season back on track. There’s certainly reason for optimism–both sides are bargaining and coming to agreements on certain positions–but that doesn’t mean we can expect basketball to be coming our way until every situation is remedied.

To discuss the NBA lockout with fellow Warriors fans, head to Golden State of Mind.

Marcus Thompson II, Contra Costa Times

OAKLAND

The Golden State Warriors announced the hiring of ESPN analyst Mark Jackson as their new coach on Monday, and the consensus among the team’s front office types was that they indeed got their man.

Jackson was chosen over Dallas assistant Dwane Casey, San Antonio assistant Mike Budenholzer and Los Angeles Lakers assistant Brian Shaw. The announcement comes seven weeks after Golden State parted ways with Keith Smart, who led the Warriors to a 10-game improvement in his first full season as head coach.

“We do feel like we have done an exhaustive search,” said Larry Riley, the Warriors’ executive vice president of basketball operations. “We got to the point we were convinced we were making the right decision.”

The agreement is for Jackson to join the Warriors at the conclusion of the NBA finals, for which he is currently serving as a color analyst. Golden State is hoping to have an introductory news conference on Friday.

Jackson, who played point guard in the NBA for 17 seasons, has been a popular name in coaching circles for the last few years, interviewing with Atlanta and Philadelphia last season. But he does present a risk since as he’s never coached professionally, not even as an assistant.

But the Warriors — namely co-owner Joe Lacob — were impressed enough to give Jackson his first shot. Riley said Lacob met with Jackson “a week ago Thursday.” Jackson did so well in his interview that Lacob passed on interviewing Casey, who was pegged by many to be a favorite, and hired Jackson.

A team source confirmed reports that Jackson will receive a three-year deal worth $6 million.

“A tremendous honor,” Jackson said on ESPN. “They believe in what I’m preaching.”

Riley said Jackson’s inexperience was outweighed by his grasp on the game. He wowed the Warriors’ brass with his passion, strong personality and leadership ability.

Despite his inexperience, Jackson brings the credibility of a highly respected point guard in what is known as a players’ league. He was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1987-88 and was selected as an All-Star in 1989. He made it to the playoffs in all but three of his NBA seasons, logging 131 playoff games and more than 3,700 postseason minutes, including a trip to the NBA finals with Indiana in 2000. He is third all-time in career assists (10,334), behind Hall of Famer John Stockton and the Mavericks’ Jason Kidd.

“We felt the knowledge he collected as a player and the way he analyzes the game was helpful to him,” Riley said. “I just feel like there was enough there. He going to able to put together a good staff and he’s going to be able to handle coaching games.

“He’s been preparing to be a head coach all along. And that’s exposed when you talk to him about Xs and Os, and also when you talk to him about managing a team.”

Riley said an important part to Jackson’s hiring was securing a quality top assistant. A team source confirmed the Yahoo! Sports report that Golden State is heavily pursuing New Orleans assistant Mike Malone for that role.

Malone also is being pursued by the Lakers to serve as new coach Mike Brown’s top assistant. Before becoming lead assistant in New Orleans, Malone spent five seasons on Cleveland’s bench under Brown. He was an assistant from 2001-2005 with New York, where Jackson started at point guard in 2001-02. Riley said Jackson is a big fan of Malone and the Warriors are willing to pay good money for an assistant.

After Jackson assembles his staff, Riley said the new coach will help determine what the Warriors should do with the No. 11 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. The Warriors on Monday worked out Kansas forward Marcus Morris, who is projected to be taken in the back half of the lottery.

Of more importance, however, will be Jackson’s opinion on current players, namely second-year man Stephen Curry. Golden State is hoping Jackson’s experience as a point guard helps take Curry’s game to a new level.

Another factor in Jackson’s favor was that he preached defense in his interviews. Riley said Jackson emphasized defense as the key to the Warriors improvement.

Jackson wasn’t known for his defense as a player, though he played on stellar defensive teams with New York and Indiana.

Read More: Philadelphia 76ers

Add current ESPN analyst Mark Jackson to the list of coaching candidates for the Golden State Warriors.  From Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:

Golden State recently interviewed Mark Jackson for its coaching job, a league source tells Y! Sports.

Jackson has no NBA coaching experience, but that hasn’t stopped him from pursuing opportunities in recent years.  Via a 2010 FanHouse article by Brett Polakolff:

I think it depends on who’s doing the hiring,” Jackson said. “I think you’ve got great examples of it, just like any other hire. And then you have examples where it didn’t work. Doc Rivers was hired with no experience, and he’s as good as it gets as coaching goes.

The former NBA point guard been considered for several head coaching jobs before, including the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Hornets.  Last year, the Philadelphia 76ers wanted to interview Jackson for their opening before they hired Doug Collins, but Jackson reportedly was not interested.