So far, Warriors are on periphery of free agency

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The NBA free agencyperiod is 36 hours old, and already a lot has transpired. The Warriors,however, havent been involved in a lot of it. Because they are over the salarycap, the Warriors only have their mid-level exceptionworth approximately --5 million to spend.Thats not going tobe enough to put them in the running for any of the big boys. Still, theWarriors would like to get something done. Heres a quick thumbnail on whatsbeen going on with Golden State and some moves that have affectedthem.AndreMiller to re-sign with Nuggets: Few players in free agency made asmuch sense to the Warriors as Miller, one of the leagues most solid pointguards and a positive veteran influence.Those are two areaswhere the Warriors need help, but Miller wont be the guy. He is reportedlysigning a three-year, 9 million contract to stay in Denver. It seemed alongshot that the Warriors would be able to acquire Miller.Conventional wisdomheading into free agency was that Miller would likely receive an offer worthmore than 5 million.That Miller istaking 3 million per year to stay is a little bit surprising. It would seem tosuggest that either the Warriors didnt want to play Miller more than that peryearwhich they could haveor that Miller had no interest in coming to theWarriors.Either way, not agreat sign.What aboutKirk Hinrich?: Point guard Kirk Hinrich, who played last season withthe Hawks, is drawing interest from more than a half-dozen teams and the Warriorsare one of them.Hinrich, likeMiller, makes sense for the Warriors for a number of reasons. He can play bothguard positions, can defend and possesses the veteran savvy the Warriors arelooking at.Hes been banged-upa little bit for the past three or four years, but if hes healthy he wouldgive the Warriors a backcourt toughness they desperately lack rightnow.Warriorsinterested in trading for Dwight Howard: There was a report over theweekend that the Warriors are still interested in trading for Dwight Howardeven though he has made it clear he has no interest in playing in Golden Statelong-term.Well, a pattern isdeveloping and its this: When a star player seems to be available, theWarriors are always mentioned as a possible partner. Its happened with ChrisPaul, its happened with Lamar Odom, with Brandon Roy, Pau Gasol and a fewothers.It seems apparentthe Warriors dont mind when theyre linked to these types of players becauseit gives the perception they are in the middle of all the action and have ashot at acquiring some of them. But until the Warriors land a player of thatstature, its natural for fans to be skeptical that they even can.The reality isHoward coming to the Warriors is beyond remote. He doesnt want to play here,and the Warriors dont have a realistic package to put together.Warriorsinvolved in talks with J.J. Hickson: This would seem to make sense.Hickson is a player the Warriors were interested in signing after the Kings hadwaived him late last season.The Warriors seemedpoised to sign Hickson at that time, but he was claimed off waivers by Portland then subsequently waived again.Hickson certainlymakes some sense for Golden State. But he wouldnt be the kind of upgrade manyfans were hoping for.Noextension for Curry: It was reported a few days ago that the Warriorsand Stephen Curry were unlikely to reach an agreement on a contract extension.But that was not a surprise.Late in the season,Curry and the Warriors both acknowledged that it was probable that both sideshold off on any kind of deal. Why? Well, because the Warriors need to be sureCurry is healthy before they make him a part of the long-term future, and Curryneeds to be healthy to receive the kind of contract he likely feels hedeserves.Charactercounts: After Thursdays draft, Warriors owner Joe Lacob and generalmanager Bob Myers talked extensively about the character of their top threepicks: Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli and Draymond Green.There seems to be apattern developing with the Warriors, and its that theyre targeting thesekinds of players.They traded StephenJackson for Richard Jefferson months ago, and even accepted an extra year onJeffersons deal. The reason was because the Warriors didnt want to bring avolatile veteran like Jackson onto their young team.While thats a toughstrategy to criticize, the logical extension is that theyre most likely notinterested in players such as Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith, Reggie Evans orDelonte West.