Here is a transcript of my Tuesday afternoon interview with Warriors general manager Larry Riley.

Cohn: Where is your team going? You were aggressive draft night trying to get Stoudamire. Are you still being aggressive?

Riley: We'll continue to be aggressive about making the team better. I understand where the question's coming from as well. You could say, "You had a good night on draft night." That could be your perception. Maybe it isn't. But the movement that has taken place this summer those weren't huge weeks. So I think some of your people contacting you (on the Cohn Zohn) are wanting to know is there a big move coming. Right now we're still working toward the objective to make our team better. That may mean a big move or it may mean something that is smaller. In addition, any move you make could be motivated also for cap reasons. What I want to be clear about to the public is I have not been told to make a bad deal to save money. I've been told to make basketball deals. Now in basketball deals you look at cap management. What's the objective? To make a good team and to win. So we'll be aggressive all the way through. I have a feel for the market in the NBA. I know what players are worth in general. I pretty much know what each of our guys is worth. This may play into one of your other questions that you have to ask - it's about Stephen Jackson. People say, "Are you making calls about Stephen Jackson?" I don't have to. I know his value. I've had some conversations where his name has come up.

Cohn: Would you expect Stephen to be on the team this season?

Riley: I do. I do. We made a comment in response to the fact that he requested a trade. I didn't want to be involved in a knee-jerk reaction. I didn't respond immediately. But I knew you've got to respond to that kind of a request even though it's August and there's not much going on. That was big enough that you've got to do something. I made the comment that I expect him to be just as he has been, be a Golden State Warrior. We also gave him the benefit of the doubt by saying he's not the first guy who's ever wanted to play for a championship. We expect our guys to want to play for winners. I believe that. I didn't feel I could say something I didn't believe just to quiet things down. I understand his desire to want to play for a title. Everybody on our team would like to play for a championship. I'm not too offended by that. Here's what I say in regards to that. Was it a bad time for this to come up? Sure it was. Would it have been better if it never came up? Sure.

Cohn: Do you feel he's reconciled to being here this year?

Riley: At this stage that's my feeling and I've had some conversations with him. I also will probably have one more conversation at some point this week. My expectation is he will report to camp and go to work and be the same player he's always been for us. Nellie's also come out and said, "Stephen Jackson is still our captain." Nellie and I have the same expectation where he's concerned, that he's going to come to camp and go play. He's going to get some hard questions on Media Day (Monday). I haven't told him what to say. I'm not going to try to influence that. About the only thing I can say to him is, "Stephen, we're going to have you in camp. We expect you to play well. And you're going to get some tough questions."

Cohn: I think the cliché is the team needs to go to the next level. The way I look at your team you have a nucleus of terrific young players and I think a reasonable strategy could go either way. One, you could be patient and let these players develop. Another would be, "We have a very good, maybe great nucleus. We need a kick-ass veteran at 4 like Stoudamire." Which way are you inclined to let this thing evolve?

Riley: That's been on my mind since I became general manager and it's an accurate assessment of exactly where we are. You have two ways you could go. You could say, "We have a great young team. Let's just slow down here and let them all develop and hope everything works well." Or you could say, "I need a really solid player who's nearly an all-star or an all-star. The driving force on that is what's available. We are satisfied with our team and we can go play this season and we think we'll be successful with not having to do that. But if you could do that then you're going to arrive at the destination quicker. At that point the question is - what does it cost you to get that kind of a guy? Somebody asked me about getting players in the last year of their contract. You watch baseball. They'll go rent a player. Look at what the Cardinals did when they picked up Holliday. They know that, yet they're going after a title. The concept of renting a player is difficult for me to swallow if you have to gut your team to do that. So you're back to the asking price. If you don't have to gut your team, then it's a lot easier to say yeah. I think it would be beneficial for us if we added another guy without having to give up too much if we're talking about a really good player. Otherwise I have the confidence this team in due time is going to develop into a good outfit as it sits.

Cohn: What is due time?

Riley: That's of course the hard one. I would hope we would be playing winning basketball somewhere at the end of the season. It's very difficult to say how fast somebody's going to come along. Both Randolph and Morrow for example are young players that played a lot of minutes last year. They may be ahead of some guys who are second-year players. Brandan Wright is a third-year guy. Those guys know Nellie's system. Will there be some hiccups? Yeah. That's the NBA. The only guy on our squad that's in the young group that has a lot to learn is Curry. He has the benefit of having such a basketball background. He probably has a little better picture of the NBA than some people do.

Cohn: I assume Randolph will be your 4 this year.

Riley: That would be a correct assumption in my discussions with Nellie.

Cohn: I think eventually he can play a 3 and you can get a big guy there (4) and I think that's the key move.

Riley: That could happen. What we have talked about with Randolph is him playing 4 and then playing some 3. We looked at that last year and thought putting him in two positions - we felt it was better for him to play at the 4. I'm quoting Nellie so make sure this is Nellie's analysis. It was better off for him to play the 4 and play one position and not have to learn two of them. As we go into this year we look at that and I'm certain Nellie's going to play him at 4 but he's going to have the expectation he might go some at 3. He might go even at 5 in some situations. I don't think Nellie sees him as a guy who plays a lot of 5. He's looking at him as a multi-position player.

Cohn: This season will you be a playoff contender?

Riley: Our objective is to be in the playoff hunt. If we can get there by All-Star break then maybe you make a push to make your team better at that time. We want to be in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Cohn: What's the future of Monta Ellis?

Riley: His preparation coming into this season should be pretty good. His injury history is that, it's history. He had an awful good year when we won 48. I think he can advance from that. Last season of course was a wash.

Cohn: I have been ironic toward you in my writing. I called you Little Nellie. My thinking was you were very close to Don and I was suspicious whether you were an independent guy. My question is: I assume from your point of view it's an unfair thing for me to write. Can you say why? How can you convince fans and readers you're your own guy?

Riley: It's more relevant to you than me. I'm an older guy who has my own system in place for how I want to live and how I do my job. It isn't based on Don Nelson. What is between Nellie and I is a great friendship and ability to work with each other. Obviously it's almost a sarcastic remark.

Cohn: I'd say it is sarcastic.

Riley: Would it have been pleasant to read it some other way? Yeah. I'm comfortable enough with who I am and the way I'm approaching my job that I can't allow those kind of things to come into my thinking where it bothers me regards to the job I do and regards to my relationship with Nellie. You'll still see me smoking a cigar with Nellie from time to time outside the arena. I'm not going to distance myself from him nor should I. I don't see a great need to go out and prove to the world that I'm anything else than what I am. It's not in my interest to say, "I'm going to show the world than I'm more than Don Nelson's friend." That'll all come out in the end. That'll emerge in its own time.

Cohn: I won't use that phrase any more. Fair is fair. We talked about it. You explained yourself.

Riley: Name calling can be a little tough as far as my family is concerned.

Cohn: Can you describe your personality?

Riley: Self-analysis is the hardest thing in general to do and have it be accurate. Inaccurate self-analysis is pretty easy. Accurate self analysis is pretty difficult so I may not be right on this. I hope I am. If you'd describe me I think you would say sometimes quiet, not shy, but sometimes quiet or reserved. Usually thinking too much, too many thoughts spinning around my own head for my own good. Not that that's a bad thing for the organization - for my own good. Sometimes too serious. And in that regard Don Nelson has been one of the best things that ever happened to me. He taught me how to enjoy life while in this wacky business. Before I encountered him I had months and months of serious grind grind grind and Nellie taught me how to break that. I needed that. Plus if you're around him he's one of the most fun-loving guys you're ever going to be around. We get separated in the summer time. Even if I've got something going on I do a better job now laying it down so I can have dinner and have a little bit of an evening and go to bed and sleep. Years ago I couldn't do that.

Cohn: You said -- sometimes I'm quiet. I'm not shy -- What are you quiet about?

Riley: I'm quiet because of the things spinning in my mind.