Former Suns PG Chris Paul's Role With Warriors Still Unknown
Former Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul is now ready to begin the next chapter of his storied career with the Golden State Warriors, though this might be a different start than he's used to.
Paul has mostly been one of the top players on every team he's arrived to, and while that's still the case with Golden State, he joins a top-heavy backcourt of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson - leaving questions as to whether or not the future Hall of Fame player will be coming off the bench for the 2023-24 season.
When asked about the possibility in his first interaction with Warriors media, Paul didn't react very kindly to that idea.
When recently interviewed by ESPN's Tim Bontemps, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr didn't offer much clarity either:
"I think that'll be a case where you get three weeks of training camp before that first game," Kerr said. "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."
Kerr continued with, "We had a lot of turnovers last year. 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."
That's certainly the hope in Phoenix, as the Suns have assembled arguably the top trio in the NBA with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal - who was exchanged for Paul in a deal with the Washington Wizards prior to the start of free agency.
While the Suns reportedly will utilize Beal as their point guard, new head coach Frank Vogel will certainly have his work cut out for him in making an offense work without a traditional ball-handler.
