Whoa, Nellie?

The last Golden State Warriors team that Bay Area fans watched in the playoffs was way back in 1994, shortly after the Run TMC era of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin. The coach who directed that wildly entertaining team, Don Nelson, will return to the sidelines in Oakland this season with hopes of restoring some of that old Warriors glory.

The move is surprising on the surface, given Nellie's age (66) and his connection to the Dallas Mavericks franchise. But with Avery Johnson firmly in place as the Mavs' coach and Nelson's son Donn handling the general manager duties in Dallas, Nelson was ready for another challenge. And with both Mullin and Richmond handling front-office duties for the Warriors, the link is an obvious one.

There are a couple of reasons why Mike Montgomery will be bought of his contract and Nellie will take over.

First, Mullin had to make a splash after a summer of failed trade possibilities. The Warriors GM had hoped at various times to deal Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy with the idea of landing Al Harrington, among others, but nothing has materialized.

If the Warriors had started next season without doing a thing, the Golden State faithful wouldn't have had much to be excited about. Hiring Nelson is a big deal because he's one of only a handful of coaches who can truly make an instant impact on a team. (In that regard, it is similar to the Lakers' re-hiring of Phil Jackson last summer.)

Nelson will have the Warriors running, gunning and playing multiple lineups with the idea of creating mismatches across the board. Golden State has some good young talent and Nellie has the ability to develop it. He'll have an opportunity to turn the Warriors into a very entertaining outfit.

The second reason for bringing back Nelson is this: If anyone can make a connection with Baron Davis, it is Nellie.

By midseason Davis and Montgomery had almost no relationship whatsoever, according to Golden State insiders, and the situation severely hurt the team's chances for success. The Warriors had no chemistry or direction.

Nellie will come in with a resume that includes helping develop a couple of point guards (Tim Hardaway and Steve Nash) into NBA stars. Each became the leader of an up-tempo basketball team, and the opportunity changed both players' careers.

Davis is ultra-talented, but he has been both injury-prone and moody over the years. It is Nelson's job to turn Davis into the leader he can become. One thing is for sure: Davis will enjoy playing Nellie's style. The ball will be in his hands, and he will have full authority to run the club. Ultimately, the relationship between the two men will be the key to whether this union is a success. That and Davis' health.

If Davis comes to camp in shape and healthy, and if Nellie can convince him to run the club the way it needs to be run, the Warriors might be onto something. Jason Richardson has "All-Star" written all over him, Murphy and Dunleavy can be productive players and Monta Ellis showed flashes of brilliance last season.

Maybe the Warriors can put it all together. And then maybe they can make a run to the postseason and create a nickname of their own, like Run BNC – Baron, Nellie and Chris.

Steve Kerr is Yahoo! Sports' NBA analyst. Send Steve a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Updated on Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006 8:15 pm, EDT

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