Getty Steve Kerr
Draymond Green’s injury allowed coach Steve Kerr to size up Chris Paul in the starting lineup for the Golden State Warriors.
After their first practice in the training camp, Kerr told reporters that the 38-year-old point guard will start in their first preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, October 7, at Chase Center.
Paul will join Warriors mainstays Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney in the starting lineup sans Green, who suffered an ankle injury in a pickup game ahead of the training camp.
“Those five guys will start the first game,” Kerr said. “So you can just tweet that out. That’ll be a great talking point around the water coolers, I guess, but as I said in [training] camp, we’re going to try a lot of different lineups and throughout the exhibition season. So, you know they’ll start the first game and we’ll see after that.”
The four-time champion coach also revealed that the red team, composed of reserves Jerome Robinson, Rodney McGruder, Brandin Podziemski, Rudy Gay and Usman Garuba swept their first three scrimmages.
Paul was spotted practicing with Curry after the scrimmages, working on their two-man game, which Kerr is expected to roll early in the season while Green is on the mend.
Very interesting Day 1 post-practice scene: Steph Curry, Chris Paul and Bruce Fraser discussing and then working on the Warriors’ hit-and-hand-back game. Steve Kerr said Paul is quickly trying to integrate into GSW style.
Here are the visuals.
“We’re going to run plenty of pick-and-roll because Chris is one of the best pick-and-roll players in the world,” Kerr added. “But he’s also showing he’s very interested in incorporating some of the stuff we already do.
He referred to the Warriors’ intricate offensive schemes, predicated on “split cut game and our movement.”
Saturday couldn’t come soon enough.
Chris Paul Open to Come off the Bench
Paul is open to playing off the bench for the top-heavy Warriors if that is what it takes for them to win.
“Actually, I had the opportunity to come off the bench in ’08 for the Olympic team,” Paul told reporters during Monday’s Warriors Media Day. “That went pretty well, and I think anybody who knows me knows that I’m all about winning. I mean whatever I can do to help our team win.”
Paul, 38, is at the tail-end of a great NBA career with only a championship missing in his resume.
The veteran guard said he’s proven in his entire career that he’s all about winning. His track record backs him up, with every team he’s joined showing marked improvement in their win totals.
Klay Thompson on Extension Talks
Thompson shared an emotional perspective on the ongoing contract extension talks, which expectedly is taking time to be sealed.
“I think it’s possible [that a contract extension will be signed next month],” Thompson told reporters during Monday’s Media Day before turning emotional, “and if not, life is still great like I’m playing basketball in my 13th year in the NBA. So, I have no complaints about whatever the future has in store. Like I’ve done so many great things in this uniform, and I know there are many more memories to create.”
Thompson and the Warriors are on the same page that they want to continue their partnership. The only hiccup is the financial terms.
Thompson wants max. The Warriors want a discount.
Someone’s gotta give.