Steve Kerr made it known that despite the ongoing raucous chatter throughout the offseason, they’ll determine Chris Paul’s definite role to the Golden State Warriors once this year’s training camp finally hits prior to the 2023-24 season.
“I think that’ll be a case where you get three weeks of training camp before that first game,” Kerr told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps after Team USA’s second day of training camp practice ahead of the FIBA World Cup. “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. But the luxury of having Chris Paul to add to this group that we’ve been lucky enough to have for a decade … pretty remarkable. He is one of the great competitors in the game. He’s one of the great point guards of all time. I think he’s a great addition for us, because of his ability to control games, control tempo, take care of the ball.”
Upon being acquired by the Warriors earlier this offseason from the Washington Wizards in expense of a package that features Jordan Poole, many have already wondered how the club will operate the future hall of famer.
For a total of 1,214 regular season games throughout his illustrious career, Paul never has been tapped to play as a member of the second unit. The same can also be applied in his 149 postseason match appearances.
In addition, Paul’s slow and calculated style of play is being viewed as a misfit to the Dubs’ trademark fast-paced, run-and-gun offensive system with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green leading the charge.
To add up on the discussion, Paul himself even provided shady responses in past inquiries that tackle his blending with Golden State. As such, The Athletic reported last month that the star point man is secretly lobbying for himself to get inserted as a starter.
It is worth noting that the 38-year-old is set to earn $30.8MM this season. But his next year’s $30MM – the last of his current four-year, $120 million deal – isn’t guaranteed.
Despite the non-stop talks, Golden State would tend to cherish a chance to have an all-time point man who possesses such pure craftsmanship.
Other than the supreme knowledge and added star power that he’ll bring to their camp, Kerr is delighted that Paul is set to help them manage their overwhelming turnovers through tactical approaches.
Golden State collectively tallied a costly 16.3 turnovers average last 2022-23 regular season – the worst throughout the association. By adding Paul who boasts his methodical pedigree, his career assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.98:1 would certainly be beneficial for them to diminish their errors and promote wiseful plays on one end.
“We had a lot of turnovers last year,” Kerr added. “We need to improve that. And the great thing with Chris, he’s so smart that he’ll figure it out. Whether he’s playing with Steph or without Steph. He’s incredibly smart, and the whole group is really smart.
“It’s been a hallmark for our team with Draymond and Steph and Klay and Andre [Iguodala] and all these guys. So you put a bunch of talented, smart players together, good things are going to happen.”
