Chris Paul appears stuck in his starting ways.
The veteran point guard and new Golden State Warrior was asked about coming off the bench this season during his introductory press conference on Sunday and did not seem pleased with the idea of being left out of the starting lineup.
“You coaching?” Paul said to the reporter. “Well, I don’t know what the situation is going to be yet. I think that’ll be for us to figure out once we get going…It’ll be a conversation for us when camp starts.”
Paul, 38, is joining a squad that had one of the strongest starting-fives in the league last season with its core, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green alongside Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney.
After initially declining his player’s option, Green agreed to a four-year, $100 million contract on June 30 with the team that drafted him in 2012.
Paul was acquired by Golden State on Thursday after briefly landing in Washington as part of the Bradley Beal-to-the-Suns trade on June 26.
Through 18 seasons in the NBA, the 12-time All-Star has started all 1,214 regular season games, but his role is potentially changing — whether he likes it or not.
Curry is pretty much locked into the starting point guard position for the Warriors, causing the assumption that Paul would be tasked with steering the second unit off the bench as the sixth man.
Head coach Steve Kerr will have to balance the confidence and egos of a slew of big-name players this season, and could possibly throw Paul into the starting lineup with the hindering effect of shrinking his backcourt.
Another option could be to start Paul in place of Looney, but sub shortly after.
The Warriors, as a whole, will look to make a deep playoff push in the 2023-24 campaign after getting knocked out of the second round by the Lakers last season.
While Paul has come close to championship glory, appearing in his first NBA Finals with Phoenix in 2020-21, the veteran has yet to secure a title.
In the 2022 season with the Suns, Paul averaged 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists.
