Shock waves were sent through the NBA last month when Jordan Poole was traded for Chris Paul. When the Warriors came up short in their quest to defend their 2022 championship, it felt like a dramatic change was needed in order for them to remain title contenders. They made it happen, and have widened their championship window while sacrificing some of their future.
Kerr Says Chris Paul Can Be Another Playmaker For Warriors
“Our team last year needed another way to attack. We became a little too one dimensional with Steph [Curry] in high ball screens. We needed another playmaker to give us a different look.”
Steve Kerr on the Warriors adding Chris Paul.
(via @SInow)pic.twitter.com/0o5ae6zfjt
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 6, 2023
Their future was supposed to be Jordan Poole. Golden State rewarded him with a 4 year, $120 million contract extension last off-season, hoping that he’d be the one to eventually take over for Steph Curry, who is advancing in age. But Poole showed some serious cracks in his game during the playoffs, shooting an abysmal 16% from deep in Games 2 through 6 of the series against the Lakers.
It wasn’t just the small sample size of poor play, though. The team had to make a decision on whether to keep Poole or Draymond Green, as it had become apparent that the two could no longer co-exist on the same team and be successful. Green was a free agent, but the team decided to bring back the veteran, shipping Poole off to Washington in exchange for Chris Paul.
Golden State Was Too One-Dimensional
“I used to hate Reggie [Miller]… I feel like that’s kind of how it’s gonna be with Chris [Paul]. [Warriors] hated him because we were competing, and he was so good. And now that’s our guy, and we love him.”
—Steve Kerr
(via @SportsCenter)pic.twitter.com/u1kielDbLV
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 2, 2023
The match seems odd, given Paul’s history with the Warriors. The seasoned point guard has gone up against Golden State in many different regular season and playoff battles, and has become something of an enemy for their fan base.
But he does bring a new aspect to the Warriors, one that head coach Steve Kerr says that the team badly needed:
Chris is such an incredible competitor. He’s one of the all-time great competitors in my mind. He’s so smart, he controls games. He’s thinking 3 steps ahead…Our team last year needed another way to attack. We became too one-dimensional with Steph and high-ball screens. We needed another playmaker.
It will be interesting to see how the Warriors and Kerr plan to use Chris Paul. He and Curry obvious play the same position, so one of them will be forced to slide over to the non-ball dominant spot, which we haven’t seen either do much of in their careers. But the two point guards have some of the highest basketball IQ of any players in the game period, and they should be able to figure something out to work in their benefit.
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