With the addition of Chris Paul, the Warriors are officially trying to make a deep playoff run. Yet, there are a lot of doubts and concerns about the move. So, What does Chris Paul bring to the Warriors and how can he help them?
Before we break down what Chris Paul Brings to the Warriors system, we have to understand the reason they traded for Chris Paul in the first place.
Coming off the 2022-23 season, the Warriors’ Salary tax was surpassing another all-time high. The Salary Tax Warriors owner Joe Lacob had to pay entering the 23-24 season was around 500 million, a number that very few sports franchises would spend while at risk of not winning another championship. To get rid of the overwhelming digit, the Warriors decided to move Jordan Poole‘s contract for Chris Paul’s contract which is an expiring deal that could also save them money.
Veteran Leadership
Unfortunately, after a couple of seasons, Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted that the Warriors aren’t able to win games while developing their young talents, a plan they had for ‘Dominating the next Era’. The Warriors ended up having to trade James Wiseman last year and were stuck with rumors of trading Jonathan Kuminga, Jordan Poole, or Moses Moody.
Luckily, the 18-years veteran coming to the Warriors can provide a lot of Veteran leadership for the Warriors’ young bench. Additionally, Chris Paul can create a lot of opportunities for the young talents to play well and score more as we’ve seen him done with DeAndre Ayton in Pheonix.
Play-making Ability
Chris Paul, also known as the ‘Point God’, is known for his historically impressive play-making ability. This ability that he could bring to the Warriors would be an exceptional value. On the other hand, the Warriors are known to shoot a lot of three-pointers and create outside opportunities through passing. In correspondence, Chris Paul is among the players who created the most three-point opportunities in the entire league last season. Also, he held the fourth-highest assists per 100 possessions mark in the league, trailing only James Harden, Nikola Jokić, and Trae Young.
Depth and Defense
Although the Warriors already have Draymond Green, the addition of Chris Paul would help their perimeter defense a lot, considering that playing good defense would be one of his primary focuses now that he is playing with great offensive players like Steph or Klay.
Furthermore, the addition of Chris Paul could certainly upgrade their bench to the next level. Last season, among all lineups that have played over 700 possessions, the Warriors starting lineup finished as the best in the league when it comes to points differential against the other lineups. This upgrade on the 17th net rating bench in the league could level up the Warriors’ record next season.
Issues and Concerns
While it is great to have a former All-NBA player who held the fourth-highest assists per 100 possessions mark in the league last year to come off your bench, he might not accept it. This is one of the biggest concerns before and even after the trade happened.
Overall, the addition of Chris Paul looks to be a great upgrade for the Warriors. However, there are still a lot of concerns the Warriors haven’t fixed yet. The only way we will know if this trade works out would be the start of the 2023-24 season. If they succeed, they might make a surprising run! If they don’t, that may be a whole new story.
The League Leader 
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