Chris Paul is expected remain a starter for the 19th consecutive season, even if those starting minutes will be limited.
ESPN’s Marc Spears anticipates Paul will start in “five-minute spurts” for the Golden State Warriors this fall, the NBA insider said Thursday on Yahoo Sports’ Good Word with Goodwill podcast (h/t USA Today).
“I do expect him to start. And I think it’s like five-minute spurts,” Spears said. “I don’t know that they really want his minutes to be high, but I think they’re gonna try it. I could be wrong, but that’s the gist I’m getting. This isn’t an opinion that he’s expected to start. It’s what I’m hearing. He’s never not started in his career.”
Paul was dealt to the Warriors in July after three seasons with the Phoenix Suns. The NBA veteran has started every one of the 1,214 contests he has appeared in since 2005.
Stephen Curry said in August on the “Gil’s Arena” podcast, hosted by former Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas, that there will be “a lot of narratives and conversation” around how much playing time Paul will get this season (h/t 95.7 the Game.)
“We obviously have a lot of questions to answer about who’s starting and who’s finishing,” Curry said. “That’ll play itself out. At the end of the day, we all are motivated to win— I’m sure nobody more than him.”
The team might have to wait until training camp for the answers to those questions.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps in August that he planned to look at “all kinds” of starting combinations during camp.
“I think that’ll be a case where you get three weeks of training camp before that first game,” Kerr said. “We’ll just look at all kinds of different combinations. The main thing is we know all those guys are going to play a lot of minutes.”
Back in July, weeks after his trade to the Warriors, Paul also indicated his role would be determined at camp, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.
“At the end of the day, it’s basketball,” Paul said. “I’m going into a situation with a bunch of guys who’ve been playing together for a long time. I’m not as worried about it as everybody else is. … We’ll figure all of that stuff out at camp.”
Warriors training camp begins on October 2.