The Warriors reportedly were close to acquiring Stoudemire, a four-time All-Star, in a draft-day trade in June. Talks broke down because of his refusal to sign a contract extension, the Suns' desire to obtain rookie Stephen Curry or a suspect injury report, depending on whom you believe.

So Randolph remains the Warriors' future at power forward. He had eight points and four rebounds in 10 minutes in the 108-107 loss to Houston on Wednesday.

"He'll get his minutes, but he's 20 years old," Nelson said. "We like him very much, but we want him to play a certain way.

"In the first game, I wanted to play that bigger lineup, so that made him the third power forward. But I like the way he played. I have no negatives at all about what he did when he was on the floor."

After a rebound, Randolph pushed the ball past midcourt but threw a crosscourt pass that got intercepted by Shane Battier . Randolph chased down Battier and stopped a breakaway layup.

"He can do the spectacular that not many can, but it's the regular that we'd like a little more of," Nelson said. "I hate to say I want a guy to be more ordinary, but everything can't be sensational. He's got to do a lot of ordinary stuff, too."

Law update: The Warriors aren't expected to pick up the fourth-year player option on Acie Law by today's deadline, but don't be surprised if they make a play to re-sign him as a free agent.

The Clippers were one of five teams interested in dealing for Stephen Jackson, according to an ESPN report this week - but you can cross them off the list. A Clippers official said, "Maybe Steven Jackson, the St. Louis Rams' running back."- Rusty Simmons