Don Nelson and the Golden State Warriors have reached an agreement.
The prominent NBA figure will return to coach the Warriors for at least one more season according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Nelson accepted a restructuring of the two years left of his contract and will earn $5.1 million from $3.1 million, but the final season is now a team option rather than guaranteed cash, according to the report.

Basically the club eliminated Nelson’s $1 million bonus for making the playoffs and leading the team past the first round and added those to his base salary.

Nelson's lawyer, John O'Connor, countered the Warriors' offer last week with a deal that included a partial guarantee in 2008-09, but the team didn't agree.

During the long negotiation process, Nelson met with Golden State’s executive vice president Chris Mullin, the one who convinced him to resume his coaching career last year by training the Warriors.

"He said, 'You've got to do the right thing, and everything else will fall into line,' " Nelson said.

"I decided the best thing was to sign the deal and put it behind me. We've got to make preparations for training camp (which starts Oct. 2). Mullie was the guy that changed my mind."

The deal could by finally sealed with the parts’ signatures today and President Robert Rowell confirmed that the deal very close to being finalized.

"We are definitely rounding third base," he said.

The 67-year-old coach coached the Warriors over the past season and led them into the playoffs after 13 years of absence and produced the upset of the playoffs by ousting the title favorites, the Dallas Mavericks.

Don Nelson has also coached the Milwaukee Bucks, the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks. As of March 4, 2007, Don Nelson's overall NBA coaching record is 1,216-914, which makes him NBA’s second-winningest coach and the only coach to lead the Warriors above the .500 mark in the past two decades.

On December 29, 2001, he became the third coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games, joining a select group which contains Lenny Wilkens and Pat Riley. Nelson won his 1,200th career game on December 9, 2006, joining Wilkins as the only coach to pass this milestone.
An innovator, Nelson is credited with, among other things, inventing the concept of the point forward, a tactic which is frequently employed by teams at every level today. His unique brand of basketball is often referred to as Nellie Ball.