"It is possible that Jerry West came to the Warriors with the sole purpose of fashioning the franchise to the exact and entertaining specifications of Monta Ellis, for now and forever.

But I would not bet that way.

In fact, when you study all things Warriors and West -- not necessarily in that order -- the Ellis foreshadowing is hard to miss.

It's nothing personal. It's just basketball business.

And with West on board as management's newest, sharpest voice, it seems likely that West already has begun to survey trade options for Ellis.

"I've seen teams trade players that score tons of points and people say, 'How in the world can you trade that player?' " West said last week. "Because he might score tons of points and the team doesn't win.

"When I look at (the Warriors), obviously they need more size."

Of course, West was not definitively referring to Ellis when he spoke those words, and throughout the conversation he added that he admired Ellis' toughness and inventive scoring ability.

But if West is instantly the team's most influential voice in personnel moves, which I believe he is, and if he's going to make a major move, which everybody in the NBA expects "... whom else but Ellis could he trade?

This is part of the West methodology; since coming to the Warriors, he has emphasized the need to take risks, and my assumption is that co-owner Joe Lacob understands and embraces this.

mentioned two unpopular trades in his Lakers past -- when he dealt Norm Nixon for rookie Byron Scott and when he dumped Nick Van Exel to Denver.

Both moves, by the way, involved trading away high-scoring, ball-dominating smaller guards to clear the way for more versatile, younger talent.

The point of the Nixon deal: Handing the Lakers offense, once and for all, to Magic Johnson.

"I've always said that with the ball in his hands, Earvin Johnson was Magic Johnson; with the ball out of his hands he was Earvin Johnson," West said.

"(Johnson and Nixon) had a difficult time sharing the ball and being successful."

The point of the deal to move Van Exel, one of West's favorite players: Beginning to tailor the backcourt to Kobe Bryant."