All was quiet on the Western front on the day of the 2023 NBA Draft. Quiet, that is, until out of nowhere, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer sent a Tweet that the Golden State Warriors were discussing a trade surrounding Jordan Poole. Just minutes later, Poole was heading to the Washington Wizards and Chris Paul was going to be joining Stephen Curry and company in an agreed-upon deal.
It was an unexpected move but certainly an explainable one, with the Warriors getting off from Poole’s big contract extension before his standing in the league could get worse. From the Warriors’ side, they were betting on an all-timer being able to fit into their system to help them win a title.
There were immediate questions about whether deliberate, pick-and-roll Chris Paul could fit into the Warriors’ chaotic read-and-react system. But what if the plan was never for Paul to need to fit into the system? What if the Warriors moved Poole for Paul, only to turn around and look to send Paul on to another team?
The Warriors may not be done
Chris Paul’s $30.8 million salary allows them to match the salary of another player, and they have two firsts, multiple swaps and a few young players remaining to make a run at a star. If the team in question also values Paul more than simply matching salary, that’s all the better.
Let’s look at one trade proposal that would see Chris Paul return to Los Angeles.
Laying out the blockbuster trade
The Los Angeles Lakers may have an interest in adding Chris Paul, but they don’t have a player the Warriors would be interested in. The LA Clippers, however, have been rumored to be considering deals for All-Star wing Paul George, and given both their interest in Paul this offseason and his history with the team, a reunion could make sense.
Because of the rules about aggregating salary, for the Warriors to make this move now they would need to loop it into a three-team deal with the original Wizards trade, and Washington can’t send any other players out with Paul. That would lead to a construction that looks something like this:
The Wizards change nothing from their part of the deal with the Warriors, simply adding Jason Preston to satisfy the “touching” requirements by interacting with the Clippers. It could also be a second-round pick going from the Clippers to the Wizards, or the Warriors could have the Wizards send the 2023 second (they used it to take Trayce Jackson-Davis) to LA instead.
For the Clippers, they don’t get one premium asset for George, but they get a collection of interesting ones. Paul is a reliable point-guard, Gary Payton II is a better version of Terence Mann, and Jonathan Kuminga still has All-Star potential and gives them athleticism at forward that they don’t currently have.
They could try to make a run with this group, or use these pieces to make a different win-now trade in a few months. This may not be enough for the Clippers to break up their pairing of George and Kawhi Leonard, but it’s fair value and not without hope of finding an agreement from the LA side.
What about the Warriors – would they make this trade?
Would the Warriors accept this trade?
In 2019, Kevin Durant was set to depart the Warriors in free agency and sign with the Brooklyn Nets. General manager Bob Myers and the Warriors front office, including now-GM Mike Dunleavy Jr., worked out a sign-and-trade deal to bring back D’Angelo Russell to Golden State. That maintained Durant’s salary slot, and a few months later the Warriors were able to move Russell to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins and the pick that would become Jonathan Kuminga.
Dunleavy has his chance to do the same thing again here, using Chris Paul’s salary to turn Jordan Poole, a player the team wanted to move, for a star. The Clippers likely wouldn’t have wanted Poole, but they may indeed want Chris Paul, Gary Payton II and Jonathan Kuminga.
This trade has incredible upside. At his best Paul George is a fringe top-10 player in the league, a talented scorer, shooter and playmaker who also locks down opposing wings on the other end. That’s the kind of player who helps propel an aging-but-talented core in Golden State toward another title.
The issue with George is that he has battled injuries over the past few seasons, including missing the Clippers’ entire playoff series this past season. At 33-years-old, this may just be the reality for George moving forward. Do the Warriors have enough confidence in their medical staff to take a swing at him?
The answer here is yes. It’s hard parting with Kuminga right after giving up on Poole (or technically at the same time in this version of the deal) but the Warriors are clearly all-in on competing for a title while Curry is still a top five player in the league. George and Klay Thompson would be an incredible shooting duo on the wing, which along with Curry would stretch defenses to their limit. That upside is worth the downside risk of George’s injury history.
Stephen Curry. Klay Thompson. Paul George. Andrew Wiggins. Draymond Green. Kevon Looney. That’s an incredible top six and with Moses Moody the next man up. The Warriors would need to have success finding role players on the minimum behind that, but this would be an all-in move to try and win another title. That’s the kind of swing you make with a player like Curry.
Grade: A-