Grade the Trade: Golden State Warriors send Chris Paul home in cost-saving proposal

The Golden State Warriors are below .500 a quarter of the way into the season; that's hardly the stuff of title contenders. Are injuries and cold shooting to blame for the wobbly beginning, or is this aging core starting to lose its luster?

If the season continues to go sideways, if injuries mount and the losses column builds to an insurmountable point, would the Warriors consider making trades motivated not by pursuing a championship but instead on saving money? If this team looks destined for a double-digit finish in the standings, do they cut costs and try again next year?

That's a possibility that Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype laid out in a recent piece, stating that the Warriors can't justify a $400 million total payroll (roster and luxury tax penalty) for a Play-In team. He acknowledges that trading Klay Thompson feels like a non-starter for the franchise, so instead he looks at a different future Hall of Famer: Chris Paul.

Golden State Warriors could trade Chris Paul to save money

Chris Paul has a non-guaranteed contract for next season, so he is effectively an expiring deal in the eyes of potential trade partners. Could the Warriors attach an asset to Paul to move him to another team, saving themselves tens of millions of dollars in the process? Let's lay out what a potential trade could look like and then count the cost.

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