Chris Paul will be 38 when the new NBA season gets underway. Throughout his career, the veteran guard has dealt with a string of minor injuries that have limited his availability. In his 18-year career, Paul has only played in 70 or more games in seven seasons.
In a recent appearance on 97.5 The Game, UCSF’s Dr. Pandya discussed Paul’s injury history and how the Golden State Warriors could implement a soft minutes restriction on the veteran guard’s playing time. Pandya floated a potential drop to 20-25 minutes per game, along with sitting one game in back-to-backs, as being the ideal workload for Paul’s minutes during his tenure with Golden State.
“He had those soft tissue injuries, the hamstring’s, the groin’s, and things like that. So I think as long as the Warriors come in and drop him down to maybe, say, 20 to 25 minutes from his career average, which is 34 minutes per game, I think he’s going to be fine,” Pandya said. “So as long as they manage his minutes, whether he’s starting or playing the second unit, as long as he’s playing 20 to 25 minutes, takes back-to-backs off, I think there’s a high likelihood he’s going to be absolutely fine.
However, Golden State may look to copy the blueprint the Boston Celtics used to keep Al Horford healthy last season, as the veteran big man was fresh once the postseason rolled around.
With Paul now part of the Warriors rotation, Golden State will finally have the bench playmaker they’ve been looking for and will feel confident in the team’s ability to remain competitive during the non-Steph Curry minutes heading into the new season.