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

2 players who will be disadvantaged by Chris Paul's return

1. Lester Quinones

Quinones is the obvious one to be disadvantaged by Paul's return, with the young guard expected to make way out of the rotation despite having played well to the point of earning a standard contract and place on the main roster.

The 23-year-old has played at least eight minutes in each of the last 13 games, and at least 14 minutes in nine of those. Quinones has averaged 6.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists during this period while shooting 40% from three-point range.

Given the Warriors have won Quinones' minutes by 23 and are 10-3 over the last 13, there's a case to be made that he should remain in the rotation. Yet you can almost guarantee that he'll start earning DNP's, with Kerr already unsurprisingly confirming that Paul will play all the non-Curry minutes.

2. Brandin Podziemski

While Podziemski has earned a place in the Golden State starting lineup, it's likely the rookie is also disadvantaged by Paul's return to the rotation. In 24 games without his veteran teammate this season, the 19th overall pick has averaged 30.8 minutes. With Paul? Podziemski's averaged 22.8.

How much Paul impacts Podziemski's minutes may be the most fascinating aspect to the future Hall-of-Famer's return. Sure, Paul will eat up some of the minutes, but it shouldn't be significant given Podziemski and the Warriors have played so well. Podziemski continues to lead the team in plus-minus, with his ability to impact the game in a plethora of ways proving so valuable to Golden State's recent success.

Ultimately, Podziemski's minutes should find a middle ground between the numbers with and without Paul so far. That will equate to around 26-27 minutes, with the guard rotation set to be interesting given the presence of Thompson, along with Gary Payton II who has proved impactful since return.