The Golden State Warriors had to decide this offseason whether to double down on their longtime core roster or focus more on the future. If there was any doubt that they would pick their championship core, that was settled when they traded Jordan Poole and picked Chris Paul to try and make another run at a title.
The addition of Paul, who has started to show his age but is still an effective playmaker, and then the re-signing of Draymond Green has made it possible for the Warriors to be a contender again this season, but they will still need of some of their young players to appear. in order to fill a roster capable of winning another championship. Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga are the last of the final lottery picks still on the roster, and with Donte DiVincenzo leaving in free agency and just a general need for more production from their bench, these two could prove critical.
Although there have been talks before free agency Kuminga could be traded, as of now, he is still a warrior and there have been no recent rumors about him. On the latest episode of Podcast P, Green joined Paul George to talk about the addition of Chris Paul and what he thinks it brings. Green noted a few things like Paul’s ability to provide variety and ground the second unit to allow Green and Steph Curry to play more minutes together, but he also thought Paul would do wonders for Kuminga, noting that is thrilled to learn from Paul how to bring the most. from young guys.
“I think he brings a few things. Firstly I thought last year – and Steph said this in his press conference – we lacked variety and what I mean about variety is that in a team you have to have variety. Last year our team didn’t have a variety of ways to score and I think CP is adding another thing to the menu to address the topic of variety of ways to score. CP plays totally different to Steph, totally different to Klay, totally different to me and Jordan Poole. I also think that last year Steph and I grew apart a lot and Steph and I are dangerous. Our minutes were wasted because our second unit couldn’t figure it out and I in turn was put in the second unit to help stabilize things. It’s like 15 minutes less per game where we are together. Well now CP can anchor this unit, and I think that’s a great thing to help unlock our team again.
“I’ll tell you one more thing that I think that unlocks and I can’t wait to learn that from him – I think Chris Paul will completely unlock Jonathan Kuminga and his growth. CP are great with young people. Deandre Ayton looked like to a bust before Chris got to Phoenix No disrespect but more of a compliment to CP but people didn’t know what Deandre Ayton was going to become and all of a sudden he became an All-level player Star. So I think what he will do for Jonathan Kuminga and unlock him is huge. Absolutely huge. And I can’t wait to hear that from him.
Green hasn’t been great at bringing in young players – part of the reason Poole left is that he frustrated Green to the point that Draymond hit him in training, creating a cloud that hovered on the team all season. He hasn’t fitted in particularly well with the other youngsters either, and it’s interesting to hear him talk about how he’s delighted to learn from watching how Paul handles young players and balancing tough love with encouragement. Paul also has an incredible touch on the pitch for knowing how to keep everyone involved, which should help Kuminga’s mentality as he has been frustrated with his role with the Warriors. Playing with a point guard like Paul on the second unit who is more likely to go out of his way a bit to get Kuminga the ball for him – in the same way he often fed Ayton at the start of games – could help as much as anything .
[via Podcast P presented by Wave Sports & Entertainment]