Matt Steinmetz of the Contra Costa Times has a bone to pick with Warriors GM Garry St. Jean.

Steinmetz notes that other teams are all publicising the draft candidates they've got working out.  Houston provides the media a schedule.  Memphis encourages local reporters to attend the last part of workouts.  Phoenix makes the players available for interviews.

Even Jerry Krause, the ultimate in secrecy, has allowed the team website to list the schedule for draft workouts.  They even post interviews.

But not the Warriors.  Steinmetz says the whole process is kept under wraps.

St. Jean has refused to give out any information regarding player workouts in Oakland. The team's public relations department doesn't even know who is coming in. Further, if employees should see a potential draftee roaming the halls, they're to look at the floor and act like the person isn't there.

The official reason is the team's front office don't want to "tip their hand" about what they'll do.

But Steinmetz says it's just another step in the deteriorating relationship between St. Jean and the local media.  At the end of the season, Saint refused to give any year-end wrap-up interviews to local media.

But he gave an interview to a national reporter.

Steinmetz says it's time for the Warriors to open up to their fans.  The fans deserve to be part of the team's future.

While it is true that Houston covets Yao Ming, and it is true that Jerry Krause would love to get his paws in Blue Devil Jay Williams, Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune reports that things may not exactly pan out as planned.

League insiders are reporting that both Golden State and the L.A. Clippers have eyes for Williams, both sides willing to make a move.  The Clippers could be the dark horse of the two and have the goods that could entice the Rockets, namely Lamar Odom.

Smith reports that the Clippers reportedly do not intend to re-sign the talented small forward due to the large number of young players coming up for extensions.  Odom, once labelled as a Magic Johnson clone, could be just the player the Rockets would be willing to give up the opportunity at Ming for, a package of Odom, the eighth and/or twelfth pick, and the Clippers first pick next year for the first pick and Glen Rice could be enough to get the deal done (according to Smith).

There's also talk Houston will stick with Yao but might try to extract something from the Bulls, like Jamal Crawford or a future No. 1 pick, to pass on the trade offers for Williams.

Phil Jasner of the Daily News reports:
No, the 76ers have not traded their No. 16 pick in the first round of the NBA draft. No, the Sixers have not struck a deal with the Golden State Warriors. Yes, the Sixers are listening to any and all offers. Yes, they do that every year.

After an ESPN Insider report that claimed Philadelphia and Golden State may have already reached an agreement to trade the #16 pick, Sixers GM Billy King denied the reports.

"We have not agreed to trade our pick to Golden State or anybody else at this time," King said yesterday.

Insider reported the information was gathered from a "league source" and offerred the fact that the Sixers haven't even started working out potential draftees as potential evidence.

The Sixers can't trade their first round pick before the draft because they may have to trade next season's first round pick as a result of the Roshown McLeod/Jerome Moiso trade with Boston. By league rule, a team cannot go back-to-back years without a first round pick, and since the pick the Sixers owe the Celtics is lottery-protected, it cannot be traded in advance. Also, by league rule, a team can draft a player, then trade simply the player instead of the pick, but King said the Sixers "have no deals at this time."

In any case, Warriors general manager Garry St. Jean has declined all interview requests and has made no comments since last Sunday's lottery.

The Golden State Warriors got a taste of something they are craving for yesterday when Jay Williams arrived for his workout., but will he be available when the Warriors pick third overall?  It seems like it is unanimous that Yao Ming will go first overall to the Rockets and that Williams will be quickly snapped up by the Chicago Bulls, leaving the Warriors out to dry.

I can't say I'm definitely going to be here or I'm definitely going to be there because I don't know where I'm going to be," Williams said. "I'm kind of like a piece of meat right now. Wherever they want to package me up and send me, that's where I'm going to go. ?

"I know M.J. (Michael Jordan) went third in the (1984) draft. So you never know, right?"

Williams worked out for 90 minutes for the team and was joined by Frankie Williams of Illinois, Tayshaun Prince of Kentucky and Lubos Barton from Valparaiso.  It was Williams? first official workout for any team.

Drew Gooden and Casey Jacobsen are scheduled to visit today.

While Houston have stated that their phone is barely put back on the hook and it is ringing again over the top selection in this year?s NBA draft, in Chicago Bulls boss Jerry Krause said that he did not field any calls Monday in relation to offers for the Bulls number 2 pick.  But this, he added, does not mean that it is not being discussed.

One team surely interested is the Golden State Warriors, with word coming out of San Francisco that Golden State general manager Garry St. Jean didn't even wait until he got home from Sunday's lottery New Jersey before studying the rosters of the Rockets and the Bulls. The Warriors landed the third pick and are interested in moving up.

''I don't think anything is locked and shut up there [in Houston and Chicago],'' St. Jean told the San Francisco Chronicle. ''People will listen to deals or teams, and may go in a different direction than maybe is anticipated.''

The reason why the top two selections are so valuable lie in Yao Ming, the 7-5 center from China and Jay Williams, the National Player of the Year and top prospect point guard from Duke.  The two are expected to go one and two in any order.

While Yao originally mentioned Chicago, Golden State and New York as preferred destinations because of their large Chinese populations, a representative of his said that he wouldn?t have a problem with Houston.

''Yao isn't going to pull a John Elway on anyone,'' Yao's cousin Erik Zhang told ESPN.com. ''We'll look at what is best for Yao. But we will work within the rules of the game, and Houston is a place we have looked at very carefully.''

The Bulls, meanwhile, are scheduled to work out Gonzaga's Dan Dickau, Eastern Illinois' Henry Domercant and St. Bonaventure's JR Bremer on Wednesday then Illinois' Frank Williams, Memphis' Dajuan Wagner and Arkansas' Jannero Pargo on Thursday.