Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga gave us his honest thoughts on Chris Paul's arrival and Jordan Poole's departure.
Jonathan Kuminga discussed his reaction to the Chris Paul trade in an exclusive interview with Inside The Warriors.
"I was surprised," Kuminga said. "Watching CP growing up, the way he plays a different type of basketball than the Warriors. Me being on the Warriors for the for the past two years now, we play a different type of basketball playing at a fast pace. We move off the ball a lot. I'm just looking forward to seeing how it's gonna work, and I feel like CP is a smart player. He has a lot of experience, and I feel like he's gonna bring so much that we didn't have on the team, and I'm looking forward to it."
Is Kuminga excited about the prospect of playing with the savvy pass-first point guard like CP3? Of course. However, he makes a valid point. There's a big difference between Chris Paul and the Warriors' basketball style.
Chris Paul and Warriors play at a different pace, Kuminga points out.
As Kuminga pointed out, the Warriors play fast. This could explain how Golden State averaged 118.9 points per game, and finished second in the NBA last season. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns finished 17th in that category, averaging 113.6.
Last season, even though they were one of the better teams offensively, the Dubs were not great at taking care of the basketball. Golden State finished 30th in the NBA, averaging 16.3 turnovers a game last season. In fact, Jordan Poole alone lost the ball 252 times in the 2022-2023 season. Considering Paul only turned it over 114 times last season, the trade is starting to make a little more sense.
Despite being 38 years old, CP3 can still produce. Paul averaged 13.9 points, 8.9 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game with the Suns last season. He now joins a Warriors team that's led the league in APG over the past two seasons.
As a point guard, Paul should flourish in Golden State. With that said, if you're a shooter on Golden State, you better keep that wrist loaded and get your feet set, because that ball is coming.