CP3 Is Going to Evolve The Warriors’ Offence
How is Chris Paul going to help the Golden State Warriors?
We all know that Chris Paul is a great playmaker.
We’ve known this since 2005, when he entered the NBA.
His I.Q. is second to none and he routinely averages more than 9 assists a game. He has even been the NBA’s assists leader five times.
And even though he hasn’t won a championship or an MVP yet, he has helped many teams exceed expectations.
One of those teams was the 2019-2020 Oklahoma City Thunder, when he led a group of young players to the playoffs and nearly beat the first seed in the first round.
The other team was the Phoenix Suns.
Under three seasons of his leadership, the Suns were able to achieve two big things:
Make it to the NBA Finals in 2021 after not making the playoffs for many years.
Win a franchise record 64 games in 2021-22.
Paul is able to help teams win because of his court vision and control. He’s able to read the defence well and is able to break them down with quarterbacking and pace.
This is something that his next team, the Golden State Warriors, is expecting him to help them with.
CP3 was traded to the Warriors earlier this off-season for Jordan Poole and head coach Steve Kerr believes the addition of Paul will improve their ball movement and subsequently their shot opportunities.
Via Sports Illustrated's Robin Lundberg:
"Our team last year needed another way to attack. We became a little too one dimensional with Steph [Curry] in high ball screens. We needed another playmaker to give us a different look, and Chris is, as we know, one of the all-time great pick-and-roll players. He'll know how to control the tempo. It's hugely important - especially in playoff games - to have guys like that, and they're hard to find," Kerr said.
I’m going to agree with Kerr here.
Paul’s playmaking is fantastic and he’ll thrive with the Warriors. He’s a pass-first guard so his game will mesh well with all of the talented scorers in Golden State, such as Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
He’ll also benefit from Draymond Green setting him up in the pick-and-roll or catching him off of a cut for a mid-range shot.
Another thing that will be interesting next season is how Paul will be a catalyst to the development of the Warriors’ young players.
On an episode of the Draymond Green podcast, he said that Paul will unlock the young Warriors’ potential.
Via Dime:
“I’ll tell you one more thing that I think it unlocks and I look forward to learning this from him — I think Chris Paul will completely unlock Jonathan Kuminga and his growth. CP is great with young guys. Deandre Ayton looked like a bust before Chris came to Phoenix. No disrespect but more of a compliment to CP but people didn’t know what Deandre Ayton was gonna turn out to be and suddenly he became an All-Star level player. So I think what he will do for Jonathan Kuminga and unlocking him is huge. Absolutely huge. And I look forward to learning that from him.”
The only concern -or question, really- I have is how the team is planning on playing Paul next season.
Is he going to start or is he going to come off of the bench and be the sixth man? And how will it affect his play and the team’s chemistry?
That’s the only thing I’m unsure of.
But other than that, I think he’ll do well and will help the Warriors make a deep Playoff push.
What are your thoughts on Chris Paul joining the Warriors? And how do you think they’ll do this upcoming season?
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