The notion of the Warriors drafting Mike Dunleavy Jr., hiring Mike Sr. as coach and Chris Mullin as GM sounds like an ideal trifecta to get the franchise back on the NBA map. Too bad it won't happen.

Dunleavy Jr.? Still a possibility. Dunleavy Sr.? Forget it. Mullin? Uh, no.

If the Warriors are smart, they will take Dunleavy Jr. with the third pick, but that isn't a lock. Various sources in direct contact with the Dunleavy camp say two reasons Junior considered returning to Duke was intense pressure from coach Mike Krzyzewski and fear of being drafted by Golden State. Former Warrior Rick Barry said on his Bay Area radio show that Mike Sr. told him directly that Junior wasn't thrilled by the prospect of joining a franchise that is the first to lose 60-plus games in three consecutive seasons -- and counting.

	The No. 3 pick? You would stay in the draft, too.

Many interpreted Junior's decision to stay in the draft as an indication last week's meeting between the Warriors and Junior resolved his concerns. I'd already been assured Junior wouldn't pull a Danny Ferry/John Elway/Steve Francis and refuse to show up if taken, but arriving with reservations (other than for dinner) can become volatile as the losses mount. Chris Webber came on board despite concerns and we all know how that turned out.

If Junior is indeed cool with wearing a Thunder Head -- not to be confused with a Dunderhead -- on his shorts, the Warriors would be wise to publicize it, needing all the positive energy they can generate. For the most part, they haven't. Some say the team is taking a low-key approach because GM Garry St. Jean is working off his Don Nelson blueprint (believing deception and secrecy afford more creative draft-day opportunities). Others have suggested St. Jean can't speak because all team authority now runs through CEO Robert Rowell, and you know how beancounters are about being up front.

Whatever the case, the Warriors' recent decisions smack of putting the bottom line ahead of basketball. The franchise did indeed approach Mullin about running basketball operations, but "he asked some pointed questions and didn't get the answers he was looking for," one source said. St. Jean was to be retained, but Mullin would've had authority over him, an awkward situation since the two have long been friendly. Ultimately, the plan seemed to be for Mullin to be more of a figurehead than a catalyst, a way of putting his good name on the same bad product.

Nothing underscores the Warriors' bottom-line mentality more than the ongoing plan to bring back head coach Brian Winters. His re-hiring will officially shift the title of Franchise Functioning on a Shoestring Budget from the Clippers to the Warriors. It's never easy to change gears on a team with a bad work ethic, and that's exactly what the Warriors had under Dave Cowens, whose grittiness and diligence as a player never showed up as a coach, forcing his ouster after only a mildly disappointing 8-15 start. So I never expected Winters to do what Jim O'Brien did in Rick Pitino's stead. But 9-50, which included a 5-48 finish after the euphoria of Cowens being gone wore off?

Even if the team's young stars were swearing their undying loyalty to Winters -- and privately they are not -- there's no justifiable reason for bringing him back, other than the fact that he'll cost way less than Dunleavy Sr. or anybody else. A new head coach of any merit would want to hire his own staff, and the current assistants -- Phil Hubbard, Mark Osowski and Clifford Ray -- all still have a year left on their deals.

	"Junior, if you don't box out I'll turn this car around right now!"

Rumors have been circulating again that Chris Cohan has cash-flow problems after direct-deposit checks for front-office personnel landed a day late last month. A company meeting was held to clarify that it was a bank error, not a check-floating maneuver. Okay. And maybe Dunleavy Jr., combined with Antawn Jamison and the young trio of Troy Murphy, Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson, will be enough to break out of the 60-loss cycle. Maybe Cohan is being incredibly shrewd by sticking with what he's got. Maybe, after seven head coaches and four GMs (six if you count Ed Gregory and P.J. Carlesimo, each of whom had personnel authority for a while) in eight seasons of sole ownership, Cohan is exercising the kind of patience that served such vaunted franchises as the Rockets, Jazz and Lakers so well over the long haul.

Then again, looking at the long list of people whose remaining pay Cohan has fought to withhold after they've left the franchise -- Don Nelson and Rick Adelman among them -- if I'm Junior or anyone else, I get my money up front. In cash. No maybes about it.

AND ONES: Dajuan Wagner has the best chance of free-falling in Wednesday's draft, according to several lottery-team reps, thanks to measuring up average in athletic tests and under 6'1" in height. That's not good for a shooting guard. If the Cavs at No. 6 don't take him over Caron Butler and the Wizards pass at No. 11, he could fall as far as Orlando at No. 18 ... The Eddie Jones-for-Stromile Swift-and-Nick Anderson deal has resurfaced, this time with the Grizzlies sweetening the deal with their No. 4 pick for Miami's No. 10. Word also is that Jerry West is downplaying Curtis Borchardt, which has the NBA world believing Jerry wants him. Deciphering West at this time of year is apparently like speaking pig latin in a parallel universe ... Qyntel Woods is also sliding. If Miami doesn't take him at No. 10, he could be a non-lotto pick as well …Stanford guard Casey Jacobsen may not know it -- he insists he knows of no assurances -- but he is guaranteed not to fall past the Nets at No. 24 …Tremendous sleeper -- Yugoslav forward/center Nenad Krstic. Broke his thumb last fall and is getting no attention but experts in Yugoslavia consider him the country's top young prospect. Played last season for Belgrade's Partizan, whose owners include Kings center Vlade Divac, so don't be surprised if he winds up in Sacramento …Look for Lionel Hollins to wind up as an assistant under Sidney Lowe in Memphis, and for Mike D'Antoni to join the Suns' coaching staff.

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ric.bucher@espnmag.com.