The Golden State Warriors made a bold move a few weeks ago when they traded Jordan Poole for veteran point guard Chris Paul.
Some feel it was a questionable move, given the fact that Poole was the team’s best young player and that Paul is 38 years of age and in decline.
But there is also the possibility that Paul will reinvigorate a team that won the NBA championship just one calendar year ago.
Stephen Curry certainly feels that Paul will help the Warriors this coming season and said as much, via The Ringer.
“I think he gives us an element and a change of speed that we needed even in the [Los Angeles] Lakers series because it started to become kind of just a one-speed pitch that was a motion offense and jacking up threes and we were trying to figure out some more pick-and-roll situations,” Curry said of Paul.
During the 2022-23 campaign, Golden State had a puzzling split personality, as they had one of the best home records in the league but won just 11 games away from Chase Center.
Their uneven play culminated in a six-game defeat in the Western Conference semifinals at the hands of LeBron James and the Lakers.
With Curry, Klay Thompson, and the recently re-signed Draymond Green all getting up there in age, it was thought that the Warriors needed a little more help from young complementary players such as Poole.
Instead, they decided to get older by going for Paul.
Paul isn’t exactly the offensive threat he was just a few years ago, but he is still an excellent floor general, and he has always seemingly had a major positive impact on every new team he has ever played for.
However, there is the question of how he will fit in with the Warriors, as he loves to slow the pace to a crawl and control the ball, while the Warriors have won four NBA titles by being a fast-breaking team that relies on ball and player movement.