What people haven't realized about the Chris Paul's trade
After Jordan Pool was traded for Chris Paul Jordan Pool unfollowed Draymond Green on Instagram. The Warriors also included Patrick Baldwin Jr Ryan Rollins and two picks in the trade then drafted Brandon Padziemski at number 19 and Trace Jackson Davis at number 57. Then they picked up Javon Johnson who went undrafted. What an insane 24 hours. At first, I was pretty stunned by the Chris Paul trade, but as time went on and as I had more and more time to digest what just happened, I realized that Mike Dunleavy Jr. is a genius. From a basketball standpoint and a business standpoint, the new GM of the Warriors just orchestrated a brilliant move. And as a result, the Warriors are now in a prime position to contend for the 2024 championship. The Warriors are in a prime position to win it all again next season.
Let’s get one fact straight. Despite the Nuggets winning the championship, and despite Giannis leading the Bucks to the number one seed in the East, the Golden State Warriors still have the best five-man starting lineup in the entire NBA. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the facts. During the 2023 regular season, the combination of Steph, Clay, Wiggins, Draymond, and Looney combined to outscore opponents by 24.3 when they were on the court together. The Nuggets led by Jokic were at a plus 12.6, whereas the Bucks led by Giannis were at a plus eight. The same thing happened in the 2023 playoffs. When the Warriors starting five were on the court together, they outscored their opponents by 20.1 points, whereas the Nuggets were at 7.9 and the Bucks were at 9.6.
After researching these numbers, I came to a profound realization, and that’s uh… Not only are the Warrior’s starting 5 better than the rest of the league, but they’re far better. I mean, as good as the Nuggets are with Jokic leading them, the Warriors starting 5 are beating the Nugget’s starting 5 by a factor of 2 when it comes to outscoring opponents. That isn’t my opinion, there’s no bias in there, that’s just numbers.
The only reason why Golden State wasn’t an elite team was because of the bench. You see, whenever Steph went to take a rest, opposing teams would instantly go on a run, and if I had to be honest, it was stressful to watch those non-curry minutes. To show you exactly what I mean, I’ll use Jordan Poole as a quick example. As good as Poole was in the Warrior’s 2022 championship run, the opposite happened in 2023. It’s not an exaggeration to say that his production numbers dropped off a cliff.
As per the numbers, when he was on the court, the Warriors had an offensive rating of 113.6, but when he was off the court, they were at 121.2. Looking at the whole picture, the Warriors had the highest offensive rating in the NBA when Poole was off the court, but when he was actually on the court, they’d be right between the Wizards and the Timberwolves at number 23.No offense, but that’s downright atrocious to be in the company of those two teams.
In 2024, that’s all going to change because when Steph goes to the bench, Chris Paul, the one they call the point god, is going to take over. I know CP3 is 38 years old and injury prone, but that’s when he was averaging like what, 30-plus minutes a game? Well, with the Warriors, he doesn’t need to be the man anymore. If Steph plays 30 minutes a night, Paul can just fill up the non-curry minutes and play 18 minutes, which should help a ton toward keeping him fresh and off the injury report.
He’ll also be coming off the bench and leading that second unit, which means he’ll be mainly playing against opposing teams’ bench players, and for someone of CP3’s caliber, that should be barbecue chicken.
You know, I’m excited to see this because, for the first time in a long time, the Warriors bench has a chance to be elite. I mean, can y’all imagine their starting unit getting a 10-point lead, then their second unit coming in and extending that to like 15 or maybe 20? Sheesh! Anyway, here’s one thing that people haven’t realized yet. So, you got Chris Paul running the show, right? And with Jonathan Kuminga on one side and Trace on the other, you know what that is? Lob City. Yeah, that’s right. Lob City is coming to the Bay Area. These two aren’t as tall as Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan, but they sure have hops. Because look, we already know how high Kuminga can fly, but you know, after the Warriors signed Trace, I immediately went online to see what type of player he is and this is what I saw.
Man, this guy isn’t a shooter like Stafford Clay, but the dude is a young athlete, a rim-running big who excels in pick-and-roll situations and who battles on the boards.
That’s the exact type of player the Warriors need. Last year in college, the 6'9", 245-pound center averaged 21 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks per game. I know it was just in college, but by those numbers, he’s sort of like a poor man’s Nikola Jokic. Trace only ended up as the 57th pick because he played four years in college and is 23 years old at the moment. You see, because most teams prefer younger talents that they could develop, someone like Trace isn’t their ideal pick.
On the other hand, he’s perfect for the Warriors because they’re going all in on Steph’s timeline. And what’s going to make him even better for the Warriors is the fact that he’s playing with a chip on his shoulders. Just like Draymond was, Trace is angry at the fact that he slid into the second round and tweeted this to the rest of the league. “Y’all will regret it, I promise you.”
Here’s another crazy fact about this Trace. Last year in NCAA basketball, the National College Player of the Year was Zach Eadie, a 7'4 center, but right behind him at number 2 and right ahead of Brandon Miller, who was the number 2 overall pick, is none other than Trace Jackson-Davis. Who would have thought the Warriors would find such a gem pick at number 57? I mean points, rebounds, assists, blocks, attitude, size, and age. He’ll fit right in with the Warriors and coming off the bench whether it’s Steph or CP3 running the offense he’ll be the recipient of a lot of lobs.
Like I said it’s not just him either. Kuminga is there too. And I think Chris Paul is going to unlock the human helicopter next year. Because look, Kuminga already made huge strides last year. Whether it was the three-point shot, a shot from within the arc, or a cut to the rim, Kuminga already took a huge leap forward. Then with another offseason to improve, not only will he continue making strides on his own, but he’ll also have CP3 there to make him even better.
That’s going to be scary for the league because look, everywhere CP3 goes, his team gets better. Like back when he was a Clipper, he turned DeAndre Jordan into an all-NBA player for three consecutive years. Then with the Rockets, he had them up 3–2 against a Kevin Durant led Warriors team, and they could have arguably won that series, if not for his hamstring injury. With the OKC Thunder, that team was initially thought to be his career graveyard, but instead, while mentoring a young Shea Gilgeous Alexander, he got them to the playoffs, where the Thunder brought a prime James Harden and Russell Westbrook to a Game 7. After getting acquired by the Suns, he brought a sorry Phoenix team that hasn’t sniffed the playoffs in over a decade to within two games of an NBA championship. And now he’s leading the second unit of the Warriors? Man, the only thing anyone could ever say about Chris Paul at this point in his career is that he’s old and injury prone. But if the man just plays like 18 minutes per game and stays healthy, this is going to be one scary team.
Strength in numbers is officially back. With regards to Brandon Podziemski, I don’t think he’ll get too many minutes because of his age but the undrafted player Javon Johnson who stands six foot six and played five years in college is 24 turning 25, and is an absolute sniper from downtown. He’s pretty much a plug-and-play type of player who could also fit in with the second unit. Now at this point, the Warriors should still go and acquire another big free agent. If they could find a seven-foot center in the G League who’s hungry, and who could potentially play the Javale McGee role, then the Warriors would pretty much be set for a deep postseason run. I mean, the chemistry issue they had is solved, their size is solved, and the non-Curry minutes are solved, so if they could just stay healthy, dare I say that a championship is waiting for them? only time will tell.
