The Chris Paul-Warriors experiment will be followed closely this season, as the unlikely marriage has Steph Curry playing alongside one of the greatest rivals of his career.
While Steph has been able to win four rings since being drafted in 2009, the 38-year-old CP3 is still seeking ring No. 1 since entering the league in 2005.
On the latest episode of “Gil’s Arena” podcast with former Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas, host Josiah Johnson and former NBA player Brandon Jennings – Steph Curry acknowledged that CP3’s playing time will be a big focus this season.
“There’s gonna be a lot of narratives and conversation around sacrifice and what that looks like,” Curry said. “There’s only five guys on the court at a time. But I think we can all figure that out and it’s gonna be our challenge at the end of the day.”
It’s a bit easier to ask a player like Jordan Poole to come off the bench than Paul, who holds the NBA all-time record by starting 1,363 games to begin his career. Considering Steph and Klay Thompson are locked in as the backcourt and the starting five is usually rounded out by Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney, it’s conceivable that Paul will be coming off the bench for the first time this season.
Curry is looking at that possibility like a positive, along with the option of running a three-guard lineup with him and Klay.
“That’ll help us in terms of trying to be more cohesive when I’m on the floor and I’m off,” Curry said. “Me and Klay being able to run off the ball if CP is running the point. We obviously have a lot of questions to answer about who’s starting and who’s finishing. That’ll play itself out. At the end of the day, we all are motivated to win – I’m sure nobody more than him.”
Perhaps the biggest benefactors of Paul’s arrival will be third-year players like Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, who are positioned to have solidified rotation roles this season on a veteran-laden roster.
“Just another guy that’s more than comfortable with the ball in his hands,” Curry said. “It gives us a different change of pace. The game slows down a little bit and CP’s one of the greatest ever when it comes to running that pick-and-roll, dicing up defense that way. Then if you put spacing around it too. I’m looking forward to seeing those two guys – Kuminga and Moody – take a step up in the sense of knowing what it takes to play winning basketball. They have so much talent and I’m excited to see it all kinda connect, because it’s time to make that jump.”
In fact, Curry said he’s already seen Paul’s leadership on display during open runs this summer.
“There’s a lot of excitement for us – if you wanna talk about strict X’s and O’s – he connects a lot of lineups for us in terms of being able to help some of the young guys out with what it means to play winning basketball and being in the right spots,” Curry said. “He’s a great leader in terms of his communication. He’s gonna get on you and he’s gonna overcommunicate and we need that. I’ve already seen that in terms of playing pickup with him helping JK, how to help run the pick-and-roll and where to be at. Giving him confidence in those type of scenarios.”
