The smartest and most elegant move Chris Paul can make in the coming days is to put out the fire that started with his cryptic response in his first meeting with Warriors reporters.
Sometime before next Monday, when Paul and his new teammates gather at Chase Center for media day, the veteran guard can say 11 words that would silence talk about his role.
“I want to win. Everything else – including my role – is secondary.”
Such a selfless statement would be welcomed by coach Steve Kerr, by general manager Mike Dunleavy and by every player in the locker room. The discerning citizens of Dub Nation – many of whom sighed when Paul hinted he might be in the starting lineup – put the past behind them and rejoiced in his presence on their favorite team.
A candid statement from Paul would clarify the deliberately ambiguous statement made by Kerr when he met with the media on Monday.
“We basically have six starters,” he said. “…and only five can go per night.”
Kerr doesn’t address the question of starter or sixth man because he’s respectful of Paul, a future Hall of Famer whose pride is big enough to block out the sun.
The question of whether the 38-year-old Paul would start or come off the bench has plagued Warriors executives, coaches, players and fans since July. This can be attributed in part to the fact that he has been a starter since his NBA debut in 2005, five teams and 1,214 games ago.
Most of it, however, started with Paul’s cheeky answer to a question about him coming to the Warriors to lead the second unit.
“Do you train?” Paul responded when asked about his role. “I don’t know yet what the situation will be. We’ll have to figure that out as soon as we get going.”
Paul’s tone and mischievous grin suggested he still considers himself a starter, no matter what squad he’s on. In fact, the answer was enough to suggest that Paul still thinks enough of himself and his game that he was able to come to training camp and perform so well that he was able to force Kerr to leave the starting lineup last season was best in the league.
Golden State’s starting lineup — consisting of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney — posted the NBA’s best net rating of 21.9 (128.0 on offense, 106.1 on defense). Nothing about the team’s grueling 2022-23 season went as well as the work of this quintet.
To put that in perspective, the league’s No. 2 starting lineup — Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets — ranked second with a net rating of 13.1 . That was good enough to win the 2023 NBA Finals.
Kerr would need a very convincing reason to move away from a lineup that is extremely effective despite having three shooters in a league where most contenders start at least four. The Curry-Thompson-Wiggins-Green-Looney cast is successful primarily because the roles are clearly defined and the five players generally maintain an almost symphonic floor harmony.
“I know these people well,” Kerr said. “I know five of them very well and get to know Chris. The one thing I know about all of them is that they want to win more than anything. They’re an incredibly competitive group and I’m very confident that we can do it and that the guys will commit to it and find a way.”
Kerr also knows that in Paul he has another intelligent player with a clear understanding of plans and strategies. Paul can play with starters, but his greatest value to the Warriors is his potential to nurture the emerging skills of young players Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. Paul and fellow veteran Dario Sarić, a tall man with a high IQ, can perform and teach in real time.
The second unit needs Paul and Sarić. The traditional starters benefit from occasional support from them. Another wrinkle. An occasional refresher. Think of them as part-time starters.
“I haven’t decided what we’re going to do yet,” Kerr said. “I want to watch the training camp. We will try different combinations and take a look. Of course all six boys will play a lot of minutes for us.
“But if this is to work, everyone has to accept it – no matter who starts and who doesn’t. It only works if the whole team participates.”
The long-standing core that knows what it takes to win a championship is on board. Paul can prove in 11 words that he is too.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast