When the Chris Paul for Jordan Poole swap was executed, it seemed to make sense that Paul was being brought in to fill the role that Poole failed at. Specifically, to stabilize a bench unit that was outscored repeatedly with Poole running it last season.
But maybe that’s not the case. According to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, the expectation is that Paul will actually start, and that Kevon Looney will come off the bench.
“I wonder if ultimately they want to bring Chris off the bench, which might be awkward because he’s never done that in his entire Hall of Fame career, but from what I’m being told is, the expectation is that he’s going to start,” Spears said.
In this scenario, Draymond Green would be the team’s small-ball center, with Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson as the 3 and 4.
“Really, really small lineup to start with, but if you’ve got Draymond and CP on the floor together, I can only imagine how beautiful these passes are,” Spears continued. “Chris will get the easiest wide-open 3s of his career, maybe easier than the ones he got in Phoenix. Life will be easy for Wiggins.
“Defensively, CP and Draymond see things that are just unfair, cheat code defensively.”
Paul might be a skilled defender, but a backcourt of Paul and Curry is far too small to stop most talented NBA backcourts. Paul starting really only makes sense if he will still run the bench unit, and he opens the game as a mostly ceremonial act.