As GM, St. Jean engineered trades last season that brought veterans Terry Cummings, Chris Mills and John Starks to the Bay Area and was also was responsible for the Draft Day trade which sent Vince Carter to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for promising rookie and 1998 College Player of the Year Antawn Jamison. This collection of moves helped the Warriors improve their winning percentage to .420, a jump of .188 from the previous season and marked the third greatest improvement in winning percentage of all NBA teams in 1998-99.

Though the Warriors missed the playoffs and are lottery-bound this year, it may be the last time in a while because St. Jean & Co. are putting the pieces of a playoff contender together.

St. Jean previewed Saturday's NBA Lottery and the talent available in the upcoming NBA Draft in a live chat on Wednesday.

thomas from pps.k12.or.us at 2:59pm ET
Who do you think will win the championship? Who do you think will win the West? Who do you think will win the East?

In the East, everybody's going to say New York's going to beat Atlanta. Well, health is a big factor there. If Lenny Wilkens' team was firing on all cylinders, I think he'd be an underdog. With that said, I think Philadelphia's going to be a great light-heavyweight.

They're going to go a lot of rounds with Indiana, but Indiana will prevail, and I think whoever wins new York-Atlanta, Indiana will win. Two months ago I would have said Utah. Today I'm less clear. That would be a tremendous series, due to the veterans, and the journeys they've both (Utah and Indiana) taken to get there. I think that would be special.

You have a lot of ways to go: you can trade your pick, move it for veterans, look at your pick and take the best player avaialble and strengthen your team. But I think when you lock into a position, you are vulnerable for mistakes.

Terry and Andre Miller: those are the two seniors. With that you've got experience, guys who've successfullly run their teams, done what they've had to do to win. Miller's case, plays great defense, doesn't look to force scoring opportunities. He's extremely well-coached. Jason Terry has been behind Bibby, Stoudamire, whoever.

But his turn came, he played with alot of underclassmen, and his elevated his game. He made lots of big shots at the end. In different ways, one being an all-around game, one being a scorer, they both kept their programs at a really high level.

I think they tie hand in hand. You can have a number of good, young picks in the draft, consecutive years, but young players have to learn how to win. That was the point I was making about Indiana and Utah. That's where you maybe acquire veterans: through your draft flexibility. Wether you're over or under the cap. You have to have that leadership in the locker room, that chemistry, and that comes from the veterans.

There's a talent level there, and it's a player having an opportunity. You can go with a club and not have an opportunity right away. With that said, we've got an interesting year where four of the top eight picks are going to teams who've traded for those picks. Some established teams will be acquiring these picks. They may have depth, which won't allow a guy to come in right away. Cleveland might have Boston's pick, Minnesota (might have) New Jersey's.

I don't know that there's guys up there who're going to jump out at you as guys who'll definitely jump right in and be major impact guys.

But they're out, Brand is a defined four, a great low post scorer, great hands. What's going to be pivotal for him is size, his workouts with teams. With Avery, you have youth: sophomore, good quickness, good body, shot-maker. The concern there is experience.

Then you take the E for experience, and make it even larger when you talk about Magette. Everyone notes that this young guy is blessed with a terrific frame and has a great upside. But can he come in, is there the ability to play right away or is he a guy you're going to have to wait a few years for?

On the other side of the coin, we think he's a young player with alot of potential. We forget that it takes time for big guys, in most cases. We have our exceptions, like (Tim) Duncan and Shaq, but we think that, at 24, he has a bright future, and we'll do everything we can to keep him a part of the Warrior family for a long time to come.

We talk every year about not having enough centers, and if you can find one you'll be happy with, you'll take him. None of these guys, though, is ready to step in right now, like Duncan did two years ago. These guys are going to take alot of work. You have a team with multiple picks, like Cleveland, Atlanta, Toronto, they can take these guys, work with them, allow them to grow, and see if they can come in.

Maybe they won't be big-time starters, but if you find yourself a good backup pick, there's nothing wrong with that.

We've been spending an awful lot of time looking at scenarios. We're going to be prepared, going to make good decisions and help our ballclub. We've tried to emphasize that you have internal development, where you work hard withg young players, and we're going to be in the free agent situation, be involved with the draft, and look for trades, to help us become a better team, come the fall.

In many places, prices have been lowered. We understand what the fans have gone through for the past five years here, through some tough years, and then last year's situation. Now this past year we come off a situation where a number of fans have come back. Our slogan has been "A Great Time out" Come see the Warriors.

Our players played hard for us. There's a different perception, an image out there that people like about our team. We want to create every chance we can for moms and dads to bring their children to games next year, and we think with the price structure we're going to have and the team we'll have, we're going to create a special bond with our fans.

Sometimes media will say, "Gee, you're not telling us enough!" You can share some things, but the fact is, you have to keep your most pertinent knowledge within your room — your "war room", your "room of information". That stays within.

He's a competitor, and it was tough in the beginning for him to swallow. Gary and I said from the get-go, it was a difficult situation to have Donyell Marshall here, and we acquired Chris Mills. . .those are veteran guys. He had to come in and establish himself, earn minutes.

He did that, not immediately, but when he did, there was a bond, a nice feeling, between our fans and him. He stated that, after the draft, and I don't know many of our fans who'd go in a different direction. They think he's going to be a heck of a player.