Troy Murphy read news accounts of the Warriors' offseason moves and listened to reaction on talk radio -- but not too much of the latter, he said, because otherwise he would have been overcome with road rage.

His assessment of the general skepticism?

"It's a slap in the face to me along with the other guys who have been here to say that by making these trades, the Warriors are taking steps back and going downhill,'' Murphy said the other day, shortly before working out with special assistant Chris Mullin at the team's practice facility.

"I think the Warriors have taken a lot of garbage in the press about it, but I think they're good moves. And we're going to prove that.''

The starting power forward will not have to wait long. The Warriors begin training camp this week in Laie, Hawaii, putting aside a hectic offseason and launching their quest to halt a nine-year playoff drought, the longest active streak in the NBA.