Washington Wizards has a trading plan Chris Paul to Golden State to defend Jordan Poole after reaching an agreement to buy Paul from the Phoenix Suns earlier this week, according to a person familiar with the deals not authorized to discuss publicly.
The plan, that is first reported by ESPN on Thursday just a few hours before the NBA draftcontinues a tumultuous season for Paul, who has defended the All-Star 12 times, who has gone through the past three seasons in phoenix. Paul, 38 years old, said he is caught off guard on sunday when he learns that the Sun intends to trade with him. According to the person, the Wizards’ deal with the Suns is expected to send Bradley Beal, a three-time All-Star guard, to Phoenix.
“Seriously, it’s part of the business and what you realize is nobody owes you anything,” Paul said of the Suns trade with him, in an interview with The New York Times on Monday. “No matter how you treat them or what you do, you realize that in this business, nobody owes you anything, and it should be.”
At Golden State, Paul will team up with marksmanship defenders Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, whom he has faced three times in the knockout stages, most memorably in the 2018 Western Conference finals against Houston. Rockets. golden state beat Houston in seven games that year, with Paul missing the last two through injury, then overtaking Cleveland in the NBA finals. Paul didn’t win a title, but he helped get the Suns to Finals 2021.
In recent years, Paul has scored less and missed out due to injury. In the 2022-23 season, he averaged a career-low 13.9 points per game and missed the Suns’ last four playoffs. But teaming up with Curry, one of the best point guard in NBA history, could offer his best chance at winning the elusive championship.
This move is risky for Golden State. Curry, 35, will have in Paul another talented defender in history to help him get easy shots, if Paul can approximate his All-Star form. But if Paul continues to fall, Curry will have to shoulder more of the offensive burden. Paul may also have to get used to not being his team’s main ball handler.
For Golden State, the trade was a quick turnaround for 24-year-old Poole, who the team once saw as a promising bridge out of the Curry era. So much so that in October, Golden State rewarded Poole with a four-year contract extension up to 140 million USD.
Poole, who just finished his fourth season, helped Golden State win the championship in 2022. Although he has shown potential as an elite goalscorer, he has a tendency to erratic play and sloppy turns. His season got off to a rough start: During a pre-season practice session, Golden State forward Draymond Green punched Poole in the face, video of the incident was leaked to TMZ, prompting a rebranding famous for stability is a headache. The conflict between Green and Poole lasted throughout the season.
Poole is the second key young player Golden State has transferred in the past few months. In February, Warriors trading center James Wiseman, 22, went to the Detroit Pistons. They chose him in 2nd place overall in 2020 amid much hype. The young talents they have left behind, like 20-year-old Jonathan Kuminga and 21-year-old Moses Moody, both first-round picks in 202, have yet to perform consistently well, despite though they did show signs of promise.
Poole, whom Golden State drafted at the end of the first round in 2019, is the best of the team’s recent picks. Now he’s ready to join a team of Wizards that seem to be starting to rebuild at full scale.
