Warriors Reveal Reason for Trading Jordan Poole

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For the first time since trading Jordan Poole for Chris Paul, Golden State Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy revealed the true reason for making the shocking move.
"Obviously looking to improve our team," Dunleavy said. "Felt like adding Chris gives us a chance to get better. He addresses some stuff for us overall as a team, but also gives us some financial flexibility moving forward."
Here’s Mike Dunleavy on the Chris Paul for Jordan Poole trade pic.twitter.com/dgBzQlMi7C
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) July 10, 2023
That final point from Dunleavy is one that's important to address, because while the Poole for Paul swap was shocking at first, the financial flexibility it gives the Warriors going forward is significant. When asked about the financial necessity of making this trade, Dunleavy was honest, and revealed it was somewhat necessary.
"It was somewhat necessary," Dunleavy said. "Not completely, because we still have another year, but to get ahead of it – we're starting to see some teams do that right now. For us basically to be able to do that and basically do what we feel like is improve our basketball team, that was the reasoning behind it. What does that allow us to do? Hard to say at this point, but to just have that optionality and flexibility to a certain degree, where we're not gonna be probably too propped up against that second apron."
For Dunleavy and the Warriors, the reason for trading Poole was the combination of financial flexibility and overall team improvement.
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Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.
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