For the first time since trading Jordan Poole for Chris Paul, Golden State Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy revealed the true reason for making the shocking move.
“Obviously looking to improve our team,” Dunleavy said. “Felt like adding Chris gives us a chance to get better. He addresses some stuff for us overall as a team, but also gives us some financial flexibility moving forward.”
That final point from Dunleavy is one that’s important to address, because while the Poole for Paul swap was shocking at first, the financial flexibility it gives the Warriors going forward is significant. When asked about the financial necessity of making this trade, Dunleavy was honest, and revealed it was somewhat necessary.
“It was somewhat necessary,” Dunleavy said. “Not completely, because we still have another year, but to get ahead of it – we’re starting to see some teams do that right now. For us basically to be able to do that and basically do what we feel like is improve our basketball team, that was the reasoning behind it. What does that allow us to do? Hard to say at this point, but to just have that optionality and flexibility to a certain degree, where we’re not gonna be probably too propped up against that second apron.”
For Dunleavy and the Warriors, the reason for trading Poole was the combination of financial flexibility and overall team improvement.