Training camp for the 2023-24 NBA season will start in just a matter of days, and as usual, the Golden State Warriors have championship aspirations, at least in their minds.
They’re coming off a disappointing title defense last season that saw them play like two different teams at home and on the road, and it ended with their hopes of a repeat NBA championship ending with a second-round playoff defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Over the last couple of years, Golden State had been getting younger. But this summer, they did an about-face and traded rising stud Jordan Poole for 38-year-old future Hall of Famer Chris Paul.
Paul has never come off the bench in 18 seasons (he literally has started every one of his 1,214 regular season and 149 playoff games), which led to the immediate assumption that he would become the Warriors’ sixth man. However, head coach Steve Kerr left the door open to Paul starting while talking to the media recently.
“We basically have six starters, in the way I look at it,” Kerr said. “I haven’t decided yet what we’re going to do. I want to see [in] training camp…we’re going to try different combinations and take a look. Obviously, all six guys are going to play a lot of minutes for us. But, if this is going to work, then everybody has to embrace it, regardless of who’s starting and who’s not. It only works if the whole team buys in.”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Chris Paul, Steve Kerr & Golden State Warriors Updates
For the last umpteen years, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have started in the backcourt for the Warriors. They have established themselves as one of the greatest starting backcourts in league history, as they have led the team to four world titles in the last nine seasons.
But Thompson is now 33 years of age and Curry is 35. Their workload needs to be trimmed, especially in the regular season, and the thinking seems to be that Paul starting alongside Curry could accomplish that.
However, that would mean Thompson would start at the 3 spot. At 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, it could be a problem against some opposing 3s, and many feel Thompson isn’t quite the defensive standout he used to be prior to his ACL and Achilles injuries a few years ago.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Chris Paul, Steve Kerr & Golden State Warriors Updates
Paul playing alongside Curry and Thompson could also be an awkward fit offensively. While Golden State has always been an up-tempo team that prizes ball and play movement, Paul loves to play slowdown basketball and control the ball for most of the shot clock.
Kerr will have an interesting dilemma to sort out once camp starts next week.
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