Are these Golden State Warriors worth it?

But Monday, in his first big showdown, Mullin blinked. With shooting guard Jason Richardson and forward Troy Murphy entering the final years of their contracts, Mullin bowed to pressure from their agent, Dan Fegan, and re-signed both to multi-year, multi-million dollar extensions. Combined, the two contracts are reportedly in the $130-million range.

While Richardson has tremendous upside, he has yet to establish himself as a go-to player or an all-star. Murphy missed most of last season with injuries, but he's averaged a double-double for his career. But their combined contract is more than what Indiana is paying Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest - two all-star players.

An argument can be made that the Warriors need stability to end their decade-long playoff drought and these signing go along way toward establishing a core group of players.

But why the hurry? No matter what posture Fagan took - he said that if no deal was agreed upon, Richardson and Murphy would not be back - Golden State had the ultimate say. Both would have been restricted free agents after this year, which meant the Warriors could have matched any offer presented to the players. The Warriors could have waited until the season was over, watch how these guys progress and evaluate whether they would be worth the money. There was almost no chance Richardson or Murphy would have commanded the money they got from the Warriors on the free-agent market.

There was talk in the offseason that the Warriors' moves to free up salary cap space was to make a run at a big-time free agent. With the signing of Richardson and Murphy, they took themselves out of any free-agent derby.

The Warriors can now change their slogan, from "It's a great time out" to "You dance with the one you brought."

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It was announced yesterday that the NHL canceled its February All-Star Game.

No big surprise there as the lockout closes in on its second month.

But what is surprising is there are rumblings among some members of the media that the rank-and-file of the NHL are getting antsy to get back on the ice. These are the players who aren't making millions and millions of dollars and can't afford to sit out for a lengthy period of time. The Lounge even heard reports that there has been some talk about breaking up the players' union and/or agreeing to a salary cap - the biggest sticking point in the whole dispute.

The owners and players haven't had discussions about trying to end the stalemate since September and are philosophically divided. The owners want some kind of cap or luxury tax while the players are dead set against it. In contract negotiations, both sides need to comprise. It doesn't appear either side is willing to budge from their position.

The biggest losers in this whole thing - besides the fans - are the players. No matter how much money the players make, the owners have more, and they're definitely not making it from owning a professional sports franchise. The owners can wait out the players and when their money is gone, what next?

Nathan Mollat can be reached at e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 x102.