NBA Mailbag: Are Warriors a playoff team in 2012-13?

Mailtime Assuming the Warriors re-sign Brandon Rush and adda backup power forward, is this a playoff team? Robert, Petaluma,Calif.Steinmetz: On paper its the closest theWarriors have been to being a playoff team since 2007-08, when they won 48games.Now, Im not saying this is a 48-win team. Im saying thisis the best roster the Warriors have had since that time. However, here comethe disclaimers.First, the Western Conference is still a bear. OklahomaCity, the Lakers, the Clippers, the Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies are allmore talented than the Warriors.As long as Dallas has Dirk Nowitzki, I think theyre going tomake the playoffs, particularly because I think they did enough to maintainthis offseason. So, that leaves two openings and teams such as the Warriors,Denver, Houston, Portland, Utah, Phoenix and Minnesota.Can the Warriors compete with that group? Yes, assumingtheyre healthy. And, really, thats what so much of this comes down to. CanStephen Curry and Andrew Bogut play full seasons or relatively close to fullseasons? That will, in many ways, dictate the Warriors season.If theyre healthy, I think the Warriors can compete for oneof the final two playoff spots in the West. I see the Warriors as a teamknocking on the door of .500again, if healthyand if theyre knocking onthat door it means theyll be in the vicinity.I think if everything goes right for them, maybe this teamcan climb above .500. If theyre banged up or have some bad luck, then I thinktheyre under. But as of right now, yes, I think the goal for the team and thefans should be the playoffs.Whats going on with Brandon Rush? Mark, PaloAlto.Steinmetz: You want to talk about the normalcourse of thingsthis is the normal course of things a lot of time with arestricted free agent. Particularly with the way the Warriors have handled itfrom back in the regular season and shortly thereafter.Its not accurate to say nothing is going on with Brandon Rush,because something could break at any time with another team signing him to anoffer sheet. At the same time, its the kind of situation that could lingerbecause some teams are likely very leery of signing Rush to an offersheet.See, the Warriors have made it clear that Rush is a priorityfor them and that they want to re-sign him. Rush made 3 million last season,so youve got to figure the Warriors are willing to go somewhere in thevicinity of 5 million per season to keep him.So, the question is this: Why would another team sign Rushto an offer sheet, knowing the Warriors are going to match? Not only that, theWarriors could take up to three days to match, meaning that the team thatsigned Rush to the offer sheet might have to remain idle during thattime.Its one thing to come up with a whopper of an offerlikeMinnesota did with Nicolas Batum or Houston did with Jeremy Linbut Rush isdifferent. Hes not so coveted that a team is going to offer him that kind ofmoney.So, again, I could see this lingering for a while, and if itdoes, it does. But you never knowmaybe a team like Minnesota, which struckout on Batum, might be trying to put something together for Rush.But the reality is that the Warriors are in control of theRush situation, and they know it.Any word on whether the Warriors are interested inAndray Blatche? Ryan, Santa Clara.Steinmetz: Oh, lordy, I hope not. Few players inthe NBA have underachieved like Andray Blatche. He came into the league withcomparisons to Kevin Garnett, but hasnt turned out to be a shell of the playerGarnett wasis.Blatche seems to be everything the Warriors are trying tosteer away from these days. Owner Joe Lacob and general manager Bob Myers havebeen stressing the importance of bringing in character people, and thats notthe reputation Blatche has.From a practical standpoint, what concerns me most aboutBlatche is that he seems to have lost all the athleticism he once had. Thatmeans hes a player without know-how and a player without athleticism.Ill pass on him, and Im sure the Warriors will,too.