NBA news – Golden State Warriors
Newly-appointed Golden State Warriors GM, Mike Dunleavy Jr’s first big move in the role was to trade for 12x NBA All-Star, Chris Paul in a blockbuster trade on the day of the 2023 NBA Draft that sent Jordan Poole on his way to the Washington Wizards.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic argued that such a move was ‘extremely’ risky as Poole was available for every game of the 2022-23 regular season, whereas 38-year-old CP3 is “not as reliably available and doesn’t have the long-term upside or burst he once had”.
The move was widely viewed to be a championship-or-bust one, with their championship-winning trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green all entering the latter years of their respective professional basketball careers.
Prior to free-agency beginning, there were reports surfacing that the Warriors could have lost Green, a loyal servant to the franchise who has contributed on both ends of the floor in their four successful championship runs since 2015, after he chose to decline his player option.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, speaking on Sports Center, there were a ton of contenders interested in acquiring the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year’s services, including the Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies and Miami Heat.
However, the 33-year-old chose to re-sign with the Warriors on a four-year, $100 million deal, likely to be his last big NBA contract offer.
Add to the fact that the Bay Area team also drafted Brandin Podziemski with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the Warriors’ rotation is set to look much different to that in seasons gone past.
Whether the starting line-up to open the 2023-24 season will be affected, though, remains to be seen.
What is Mark Medina’s prediction on the Warriors’ starting line-up for opening night?
Medina doesn’t believe that Chris Paul will be in the starting line-up to start the 2023-24 regular season as it may force Draymond Green to play in the center role, instead predicting CP3 will be used as the sixth man.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the journalist said: “I think what happens is if you start Chris Paul all of a sudden, you’re now putting even more strain on Draymond Green to play the center position.”
“So I think what happens opening night, we have a starting line-up of Kevon Looney at center, Draymond Green at power forward, Andrew Wiggins at small forward, Klay Thompson as shooting guard, Steph Curry as point guard, and Chris Paul is your sixth man.”
“But I think with that, there will be a lot of times where Chris Paul closes games. You may recall in past games in past seasons, that the Warriors go with small ball line-ups in crunch time.”
“I think that that’s exactly what’s going to happen during the regular season and more importantly during the playoffs.”
What could the Warriors’ rotation look like next season?
When the Golden State Warriors made the monster trade for Chris Paul, there were questions surrounding how this would alter their starting line-up for the 2023-24 regular season.
The main question that is seemingly on everyone’s mind, though, is will Chris Paul start?
In his entire 18-year NBA career, he has never come off the bench, but with Curry and Thompson locking up the starting guard positions, there are questions whether head coach, Steve Kerr, will look to go with a three-guard starting line-up, or choose to stick with the line-up that has been successful in the past. .
In last season’s opener, the Warriors breezed past the L.A. Lakers in a blowout 123-109 win with a starting line-up of Curry, Thompson, Green, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney. All five players are still members of Dub Nation and could find themselves starting their opening game vs. a new-look Phoenix Suns together too.
This means the ‘Point God’ could find himself coming off the bench after all, and with good reason.
According to NBA.com, the Warriors struggled when Curry was not on the court, with them being 8.1 points worse off per 100 possessions compared to when the was running the offense.
If Paul is utilized correctly by Kerr, this number could lessen next season, giving the Warriors some much-needed stability on the floor, as well as maintaining elite play-making ability in the backcourt during the non-Curry minutes.
As it stands, the Warriors’ current roster rotation is very guard-heavy, with the likes of Garry Payton II and Cory Joseph as well as rookie Podziemski on the roster.
As a result, Kerr has a difficult decision to make regarding not only his line-ups, but his entire system. It may be that he chooses to opt for a small ball system which would see Green take the center position, which in turn would send Looney to the bench, but then they would be at risk of losing rebounding and paint protection due to lack of size.
The starting line-up will be by the time the regular seasons comes around is currently unclear. All that is certain, though, is that things could look drastically different for the Warriors as they gear up to prepare to go on one more championship-run that could cement their legacy as one of the greatest teams to ever grace the NBA.