3 Warriors who will benefit, 2 who will be disadvantaged by Chris Paul's return

3 players who will benefit from Chris Paul's return

1. Stephen Curry

Curry may have pushed back on the idea that he's tired, but head coach Steve Kerr admitted he thought the 35-year-old looked fatigued following the Warriors' loss to the Nuggets. Curry had 20 points on just 6-of-19 shooting, his third under par performance in the last four games.

Kerr also spoke about the idea of getting Curry some rest in the coming weeks, something that Paul is undoubtedly going to play and integral part in. Not only should Paul's return lessen the load on Curry offensively, but he should be able to play less minutes with his teammate back in the fold.

Once Paul is back up to speed and off any sort of minutes restriction, the possibility of a Curry rest also becomes much more viable. The Warriors will go into a game without Curry much more comfortable and confident knowing Paul is their to handle the duties.

2. Klay Thompson

Klay Thompson had a scorching hot 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first-half against Denver on Sunday, proving the driving force behind an early 16-point Golden State advantage. Yet the Warrior offense ground to a halt in the second-half, limited to just 42 points as the Nuggets ran away with victory.

The veteran sharpshooter went scoreless after half-time and took just three shots, with the Warriors' inability to feed the hot hand glaringly obvious. That's something they shouldn't have an issue with upon Paul's return, hopefully giving Thompson far greater access to better looks in the second unit.

Thompson averages over 1.5 made field-goals per game from Paul assists -- no one finds the 34-year-old more and Draymond Green is the only other Warrior to dime up the five-time All-Star more than once per game.

3. Dario Saric

Saric and Paul built extensive chemistry from their time together at the Phoenix Suns, something that proved evident for Golden State early in the season. Nothing more needs to be said outside the below statistics -

Saric with Paul in the lineup - 10.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2 assists, 48% FG, 40.2% 3P, +57 plus-minus

Saric without Paul - 7 points, 4.1 rebounds 3.2 assists, 44.9%, 36.5% 3P, -49 plus-minus