The Golden State Warriors got in on the offseason fun this summer, when they finalized a trade to land Chris Paul from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Jordan Poole. In the weeks following the trade’s finalization, Portland Trail Blazers star — and Bay Area native — Damian Lillard officially requested a trade.
The 33-year-old guard has been nothing if not picky, but according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Lillard would’ve been open to a move to the Dubs.
“[The Warriors] had another choice. They could have waited for Dame,” Shelburne told 95.7 The Game’s Willard & Dibbs on Wednesday. “Dame is from the Bay Area. I know he was interested. If he got to the point where he was going to ask for a trade and the list was given [to the organization], the Warriors initially would have been on that list. But now it’s not possible because of the move they made [trading for Chris Paul].”
“I know Dame was interested.” 👀
Golden State’s eagerness to get off of Poole’s four year, $123 million contract extension may have hurt the Warriors. Instead of landing a seven-time All-NBA guard in Lillard, they swung a deal for a 38-year-old Paul, who is past his prime.
Lillard is coming off of yet another All-Star season. He averaged a career-high 32.2 points per game for the Blazers, while shooting 46.3% from the field and 37.1% from beyond the arc. Plus, he was great at setting up his teammates, dishing out 7.3 assists per game.
Warriors Wanted to Get Rid of ‘Inefficient’ Jordan Poole
Shortly after Poole’s fate was sealed in the trade, The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami broke down the front office’s thought process in regards to the 23-year-old.
“What’s clear to me after a few days of checking around is that this all began when the Warriors decided that Poole was an extraneous and inefficient member of their roster,” Kawakami wrote. “That was the precipitating issue. The Warriors wanted out of the $123 million deal they gave Poole only eight months earlier because his play last season didn’t meet that value, especially given their extreme luxury-tax pressures. They knew he wanted a bigger role and they knew that almost certainly wouldn’t happen as long as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were on the team.”
The front office had good reason to be concerned about the young guard’s new contract extension. He’d struggled to find any sort of consistency ever since signing the dotted line, eventually melting down in the postseason. Poole averaged 10.3 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game in the postseason. Plus, his shooting splits were even more horrifying. He converted just 34.1% of his attempts from the floor and 25.4% from deep.
Steve Kerr Calls Warriors Trade a ‘Very Positive Shift’
Kawakami also had the opportunity to discuss the move with head coach Steve Kerr, who called the deal a “very positive shift.”
“We’re going to be a lot different. The last thing I’m going to do is say anything about a team that just won a championship a year ago and then fought through a difficult season. Made a helluva run at the end of this year. I’ve loved this group that we’ve had the last couple years,” Kerr told Kawakami. “But the biggest point is that we sensed we needed a shift. Didn’t mean we needed an overhaul, but we needed a shift of some sort. I think everybody in the organization sensed that. And it feels like we’ve made a pretty significant shift without giving up our identity and our sense of who we are as a team. I think, all in all, it’s a very positive shift.”
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Chris Paul Trade May Have Blocked Warriors From Landing 7x All-NBA Guard