Why Chris Paul will UNLOCK the Golden State Warriors
Trading away Jordan Poole may have been a genius move
Just a month ago, the Golden State Warriors’ new general manager, Mike Dunleavy, made the seemingly mind-boggling move of trading away their talented 24-year-old Jordan Poole. In addition to a future first-round pick and other young players, all they could receive was an aging, 38-year-old guard, in Chris Paul.
Many fans, like myself, were astonished and shocked by the move. I mean, why would you trade a skillful rising star in return for a point guard who’s clearly on the decline? But now that the trade has fully settled in, it’s much more clear what Dunleavy saw when making this trade.
Here’s why bringing in Chris Paul could unlock the Golden State Warriors team and possibly bring them their fifth ring as a dynasty.
By far the Warriors’ number one issue as a team is their turnovers. For the entirety of the dynasty, they’ve always been near the top of the league in this metric, with this past season being no outlier. As shown above, the Warriors led the league in turnovers with 1,336 (around 16 per game).
Ironically, the player picture shown next to the graphic is that of Jordan Poole. But this is not for no reason. Out of the entire roster, Poole had by far the most turnovers, with 252 alone. Additionally, Poole was one of the few players on the team with a negative plus/minus for the season.
Based on these stats, it’s clear that there was a disconnect between Jordan Poole and the rest of the team. In the season before, he played much better and was one of the main reasons that the team won the championship, but now something obviously changed. Maybe it was caused by Draymond’s punch or even because his playstyle doesn’t fit with the team. But, it’s clear as day that he had to go.
His new replacement, Chris Paul, is one the polar opposite of the spectrum. For comparison’s sake, Paul’s assist-to-turnover ratio was 4.6, while Poole’s was much lower sitting at only 1.5. One of the Warriors’ keys to success over the years has been their ability to pass the ball. And Chris Paul not only does that, but he excels at that, being third all-time in the category.
Let’s stray away from what Jordan Poole did wrong and focus on what Chris Paul can do right. Throughout his career, we’ve always seen Chris Paul be great at creating shots for his big men. From DeAndre Jordan to Clint Capela to Deandre Ayton, Paul has always found a way to get them scoring.
In the Warriors’ system, there really isn’t a traditional big man that Paul could dump the ball to, but there is one player who could play that role. Jonathan Kuminga is a 20-year-old, 6-foot-7 power forward who can jump out of the gym. While he was drafted relatively high, at 7th overall, the Warriors haven’t really found a way to utilize him well. But now, with the addition of Chris Paul, Kuminga could likely find a way to contribute to wins for the Warriors.
It’s likely that Chris Paul will not come off the bench, as many may think. In an interview, he was asked about his eagerness to play a bench role and help the younger players develop, to which he responded:
“Are you coaching?”
Based on this we can assume that Chris Paul will play point guard for the team, and Stephen Curry will move to a more shooting guard role.
While this may seem like a bad idea, and possibly ruin the Warriors’ chemistry, I actually believe this will help elevate the team. Steph is already a great player without the ball and is at his best when coming off-ball screens. If he has Chris Paul along with Draymond Green to help get him the ball in the best spots, there’s no telling how many more open shots he will get.
Imagine a scenario, where you have Chris Paul coming off a screen with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson on the wings and Jonathan Kuminga rolling to the hoop. Teams likely won’t be able to guard all of the Warriors’ options.
If they can fill the rest of their bench holes in free agency, the Golden State Warriors will be in a prime position to contend for an NBA championship and possibly get CP3 his first ring.
This is why the Chris Paul trade will help elevate the Golden State Warriors back to contender status. Let me know in the comments your ideas on this take and what you think will happen. To see more articles just like this, please make sure to check my account linked below.
