CP3's value to Warriors perfectly explained by single stat
Aside from the supposed beef Chris Paul and the Warriors had in the past, the point guard's fit with Golden State basketball-wise has been a head-scratcher the NBA world is trying to crack since the blockbuster trade was first reported.
While many pundits around the league don't understand how the 12-time All-Star will fit in with Golden State's style of play, The Volume Sports' NBA podcaster Jason Timpf explained just one stat that perfectly portrays how Paul can help run Steve Kerr's offense.
"The Warriors ran just over 2,200 pick and rolls last year, which amounted to just 24 percent of their possessions which was dead last in the league. Chris Paul by himself ran over 1,100 pick and rolls, which was 77 percent of his possessions which was number one in the entire league," Timpf explained to Colin Cowherd. "So you have the guy who runs pick and roll more than anybody in the entire NBA on a per-possession basis going to the team that runs it as infrequently as any team in the NBA.
"So the styles are really, really weird there. It's a move for the playoffs because what happened in the [Los Angeles] Lakers series is [Anthony Davis] was shutting all of [the Warriors'] stuff down in the backline when they were running their motion, and so they just had to go to Steph [Curry] high pick and roll and he got fatigued. And he wore down and his jumper started missing. If you could toss some of those possessions to Chris Paul, maybe you lighten his workload so Steph is able to stay at his ceiling longer in the playoffs."
Our guy @_JasonLT uses just ONE STAT to explain to @ColinCowherd why the Warriors need CP3 pic.twitter.com/ZZsNxsfM5g — The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) June 26, 2023
The Warriors agreed to a trade last Thursday that sent 24-year-old guard Jordan Poole, Ryan Rollins, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and future draft picks to the Washington Wizards in exchange for the future Hall of Fame point guard.
Last season with the Phoenix Suns, the 38-year-old averaged 13.9 points on 44 percent shooting, 4.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists in 32.0 minutes played.
Non-basketball-wise, the deal was primarily a business move that came down to Poole's hefty contract, which kicks in next season.
Paul, entering his 19th NBA season, will be due $30.8 million in 2023-24, $15.8 million of which currently is guaranteed, per Spotrac. Meanwhile, Poole signed a four-year contract extension worth $128 million before the 2022-23 season. His current deal is set to expire at the end of the 2026-27 NBA season.
There's no telling how Paul will fit in with the Warriors, but when the time comes, it certainly will be exciting to find out.
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Source: NBC Sports Bay Area
