During a Thursday interview, Golden State Warriors majority owner Joe Lacob gave some interesting thoughts about the franchise’s surprise Summer trade that landed them future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul and sent out bench star Jordan Poole.
The Golden State Warriors entered the offseason with a clear need to shake up a roster that underperformed while trying to defend their championship during the 2022-2023 NBA season. However, the organization did not have the funds to make a splash in major splash in free agency and many players with sizable contracts attached to them.
That is why the front office led by new general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. had to think outside the box to fix the chemistry issues on the roster. so when they traded gifted guard Jordan Poole it wasn’t a complete shock, since he was on the wrong end of a practice punch from teammate Draymond last Fall, and he regressed last season.
Plus, of the players they could trade, he had the most value to rival teams.
Golden State Warriors owner was originally confused by interest in Chris Paul trade
It is something Lacob spoke on during a Thursday appearance on “The TK Show: A Show about sports in the Bay Area” and revealed legitimate issues between Green and Poole after their fight last Fall led to the guard being “the odd man out.”
“I think it’s fair to say that there was some level of concern going forward, whether that was going to be something that would work out,” Lacob said about the dynamic between the two in the locker room. “To be honest with you, I think it would have worked out and could have worked out. But I think it is fair to say that in order to make the team work next year, to make the numbers work and so on, someone probably was gonna be the odd man out. It just turned out — and it wasn’t planned — that it was Jordan.”
Yet, when it came to getting the 38-year-old Paul in return when the team has multiple ball handlers, that was something the Golden State Warriors boss was confused about during early trade talks.
“It seemed highly unlikely we would do that [trade]. But the more we thought about it and considered our options, we thought, ‘Hey, he’s a great player. He’s always made other people better,'” Lacob recalls. “He hasn’t won a championship yet, but maybe he can do that with our group. It would be a hell of a storybook ending to his career or year-ending if he was able to do it with us. We kinda warmed to the idea.”
The deal for Paul did lower the team’s salary cap penalty long-term and also aided in freeing up funds to re-sign Green this Summer.