Steinmetz: Trouble brewing among Warriors’ executives?

No talks: The Warriors have not had contract negotiations with executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin and don’t plan to any time soon. (Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO — Back in mid-July, most Warriors fans already had figured this was going to be a challenging season for the team.

Baron Davis had called the Warriors’ bluff, opted out and signed a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.

It was going to be hard enough compensating for the loss of Davis, the team’s unquestioned leader and playmaker.

But when Monta Ellis injured his left ankle in an off-court accident in late August, the prognosis for the Warriors’ 2008-09 season went from challenging to bleak.

Now there could be another adjective to describe the upcoming season: shaky.

Turns out, Warriors issues might not stop on the court. On the surface, something seems to be brewing in upper management.

First, consider the Ellis incident, in which he apparently first lied to the team about how it happened, then reportedly told the brass he sustained the injury while riding a moped — a no-no in an NBA contract.

More than a month has gone by since not only the injury but the subsequent surgery.

And still no word from the Warriors, other than that they are meeting with Ellis and his agent, Jeff Fried, next week.

During a meeting with the media late last week, executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin seemed to strike a conciliatory and supportive tone about Ellis. Mullin sure seemed like a person ready to address the situation and put it away.

Owner Chris Cohan and president Robert Rowell may not agree. Clearly, they are looking to protect themselves if Ellis’ injury turns out to be more than a two- or three-month deal.

It’s not hard to imagine Cohan and Rowell none too pleased that it took Ellis all of 32 days to do something that his six-year, $66 million contract explicitly said he couldn’t do.

Now what?

It seems unlikely the Warriors are going to give Ellis a slap on the wrist. It seems more likely they are going to try to get a chunk of that money back.

But if they come down Ellis’ road and try to take too much money out of his pocket, they better realize that when he returns, he won’t be the same player no matter if he’s all the way back healthy and then some.

Complicating all of this is that nobody can really say for sure when and if Ellis will be back.

The same can be said of Mullin, who is in the final year of his contract. Mullin said late last week that he had had no extension talks with the Warriors and that he didn’t anticipate any.

It also came to light over the weekend that Warriors forward Stephen Jackson is negotiating a contract extension with Rowell and Cohan, but Mullin appears to be out of the process.

Five days into training camp, the Warriors seem to be heading toward a very interesting season.

Matt Steinmetz is the NBA insider for Warriors telecasts on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. E-mail him at msteinmetz@sfexaminer.com.