Starter or not, Chris Paul integrating himself with Warriors

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Starter or not, Chris Paul integrating himself with Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Chris Paul surely can afford priority boarding. Still, it had to be an interesting scene for some tired passengers wiping off early-morning cobwebs and seeing the star point guard on their flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

That was the reality in August when the Warriors had a handful of their younger players at Chase Center to get some work in. Steph Curry made sure to be there, so did his newest teammate and former rival.

“Chris Paul took a Southwest flight at 6 a.m. to be up here for a workout one day,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said Monday at Chase Center, one week before media day and the start of training camp. “These guys are all-in on making it work and us having a great season.”

Can it work? Everyone collectively asked the same question the moment Dunleavy sent shockwaves throughout the NBA, acquiring Paul from the Washington Wizards in a draft-day deal that sent Jordan Poole to the nation’s capital.

The buzzword of the day between Dunleavy and Warriors coach Steve Kerr was “connectivity,” and Paul is a major part of the equation. Questions are going to continue, and rightfully so. Will Paul come off the bench for the first time in his NBA career? Or will Kerr opt to take his famed small-ball lineups to new heights and push someone to the bench?

Kerr on Monday again made it clear that will be resolved as training camp carries on, seeing the Warriors as a team that essentially has “six starters.”

As far as the integration of Paul goes, Kerr has plenty to be happy right now.

“I really like Chris because he likes phone calls and not texts,” Kerr shared. “Chris is old-school. He wants to talk and we’ve had four or five great conversations this summer.

“I remember a few years ago pulling him aside after Phoenix beat us in Phoenix and I told him how much I admired him and his competitiveness and just his basketball intelligence. Obviously, we’ve had a lot of battles over the years.”

Paul played against the Warriors 56 times in the regular…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/starter-not-chris-paul-integrating-002135536.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2023-09-26 00:21:35

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