rk2023 wrote:I think this goes to show how portability being used as a talking point against Chris Paul (especially in a modern era sense), when he's fared well and found way to establish value and build chemistry with all sorts of teammates.
Though the notion of Chris Paul being traded to Golden State was funny in real time (perhaps due to the animosity between the two teams), the fit wasn't really too much of a doubt, the fit wasn't ever too much a concern for me.
There were several concerns with adding Chris Paul.
-- Initial fit. To work, this requires the core to accept CP from a personality and playing style standpoint, plus CP to be willing to defer to the established core personality-wise and fit his game into the GS playing style. This also includes CP accepting a bench role. This looks like it's all sunshine and rainbows at the start.
-- Fit over time. CP tends to be a bossy, in-your-face know-it-all, which grates on others over time. We'll see if he can keep his worse tendencies in check. In his recent stints, the honeymoon has lasted through the first season. We'll see how this plays out. GS has such a strong established culture with a mix of leadership styles that they may have better success keeping this from being a problem. Draymond is the in-your-face emotional leader who won't be shy about telling CP to shut up and get with the program, but he can also be the emotional glue that sucks you into the culture by putting his arm around you and explaining how it works here or engaging teammates in fun stuff. Curry is the foundation of the team, an all-time great playing great, and is really good at addressing issues in a low-key way that is an excellent counter to Draymond's style. Kerr is really good at dealing with this stuff, and he and his staff are a powerful and established force. Vets like Klay and Looney know who they are. This is not like OKC where CP is the leader/coach on the floor, or like Phoenix where he needed to be the lead guy to show everyone how to win. With GS, CP needs to accept his role and not overstep his bounds. I'm expecting this to be an issue at some point, but odds are good that GS has the leadership to keep it from becoming a major problem, as long as CP accepts his role.
-- Can CP hold up through an 82-game season and multiple playoff rounds? The reduced role will help. I expect Kerr to schedule games off. Target maybe 1500 total minutes for the RS. This is the first time in a long time that he won't have to play heavy minutes.
-- Defense. On the negative side, CP's on-ball defense has declined precipitously in recent years, and having another small guard with Curry is not ideal, to say the least. On the plus side, he's really smart and plays team defense well, he'll be playing many (most?) of his minutes in non-Curry bench lineups, and despite his decline, he's still a defensive upgrade from Jordan Poole.
He can add a lot. GS's biggest struggle in recent seasons has been surviving minutes when Curry sits, which has been an unmitigated disaster. The bench lineup with CP, Saric, Moody (I love me some Moody), Kuminga, plus a starter could be really good. Making non-Curry lineups a net positive would be huge for the team's success and can unleash Curry to be his joyful, soul-crushing self.
I'm cautiously hopeful for this season. It's early, but damn they look good. In the Phoenix game, if they'd just made a few of the dozens of bunnies that they missed in the first half, they would have won that one, too.