Rowell talks Baron Davis, Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson extension on KNBR

December 3, 7:52 PMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Robert Rowell and Stephen Jackson 

Warriors president Robert Rowell talked a little basketball with Ralph  Barbieri and Tom Tolbert of KNBR at the station's 9th annual sports auction.

Ralph talked three topics in general with Rowell: Baron Davis' departure; Monta Ellis' situation; and Stephen Jackson's extension.

You can hear the interview here: KNBR.com. Transcript provided below.

Would briefly like to touch on Rowell's reference to the Warriors actually having a five-year contract on the table for Davis.

That might seem strange but not really.

My understanding is that one of the things that didn't sit well with the Warriors was that Davis never offered or agreed to opt out of his last year (at $17.8 million), and then redo the contract all together.

Starting, of course, at a lower number. Anyway, here's what Rowell said on the radio Wednesday evening. ...

Responding to "not wanting Davis back:"

Rowell: "I don't think anybody said we didn't want Baron back. We were very adamant in the beginning with our discussions and in all our discussions with Baron as to where we were going to to protect the team salary-wise and the length of years.

"And we never came off of that  position.

"Frankly, Baron had a better offer in Los Angeles that paid him more money and he went and took it.

" We wish him well. We would have loved to have him in a Warriors uniform under the tems of the contract we offered him. And we actually had  five-year deal on the table, it just had provisions that protected the team salary-wise."

♦

Responding to question about Monta Ellis and the Warriors wanting to reserve the right to void contract: 

Rowell: "Basically with respect to Monta, he's started his rehabilitation and we think he's following it and doing a good job of getting back onto the court. We feel he is going to be healthy.

"The only reason that provison is in the document that we gave him was to protect the team long-term. We haven't spent more than the time you and I have spent talking about it now thinking about going forward with that."

♦

Responding to the Stephen Jackson extension being a "friend" thing:

Rowell: "No, it wasn't a friend thing. We've been talking to Stephen over the last year about an extension and all the basketball guys in the organization were aware of what we were doing.

" We figured we had a guy who wants to be here, has publicly said he wants to be here, has been a big part of where we've been over the last couple of years. ... He's an influence with our team; he's one of the toughest guys in the NBA.

"It's important to note, there are 130 players in the NBA that make more money than Stephen does over the next two years. It's not as if we've gone crazy with out extension with Stephen. He's paid for what he's delivered to the team."

Responding to why Jackson dealt with Rowell rather than executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin:

Rowell: "Well, Stephen didn't have an agent and basically wanted to have a conversation with me and then he wanted to have one with (owner) Mr. (Chris) Cohan. I am the president of the team and have been for the last six years. At the end of the day I do sign off on what we're doing."

READ MORE: Nellie says Mullin "like a son" to him.