With Baron Davis gone, Monta Ellis out as long as two months, the Warriors unable to transfer into the Eastern Conference and Don Nelson in the final year of his contract, there's really just one question left unanswered about Golden State's 2008-09 season: Who will be the team's coach in 2009-10?

The early favorite is current Nelson assistant Keith Smart. In fact, he's such an obvious choice, you have to wonder: Why haven't the Warriors made it official yet?

Consider the potential positives of a preseason announcement:

--It would make for a smooth transition, giving Nelson and Smart 82 games to work together on a successful hand-off.

--It would allow the rest of the league to pay tribute to Nelson, the NBA's second all-time-winningest coach, on his final trek through each city.

--And it would eliminate the inevitable distraction that would come with no such announcement, leading players to wonder why Smart wouldn't be getting the job and reporters to float rumors about other candidates being interviewed behind the scenes.

Make no mistake about it: 2009-10 will be a critical season for the Warriors. Presuming they don't make the playoffs this year, next season will either end a two-year postseason drought or make it three in a row and remind people what happened in the Nelson aftermath the first time around.

It was then that the Warriors took 12 years to rebound from Nelson leaving, returning to the playoffs only after rehiring the man who had led four postseason runs in seven seasons.

Suffice it to say: Right up there with Ellis making a full-strength recovery from ankle surgery, the most important thing the Warriors will do this season is figure out what they're going to be doing next season.

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