The Warriors are ready to win now, and they’ll reportedly acquire an 18-year NBA veteran point guard in hopes of doing just that.
Golden State agreed to send Jordan Poole and other assets to the Washington Wizards for 12-time All-Star Chris Paul, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday, citing sources.
The Warriors will also trade 20-year-old point guard Ryan Rollins, whom they took in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft, to the Wizards, a protected first-round pick in 2030 and a second-round pick in 2027. Athletic’s Shams Charania reportedciting league sources.
The deal can’t become official until July 6, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks, because of the poison-pill restriction in Poole’s rookie extension after he signed a four-year, $128 million contract last October.
Paul, 38, was sent to the Wizards on Sunday in the Phoenix Suns’ trade for star guard Bradley Beal. Charania reported Monday that the Wizards would wait and see if they could “flip him to a third team,” and named the Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers as potential landing spots.
Paul has two seasons left on his contract and is owed $30.8 million next season, and that money becomes guaranteed on June 28. Paul’s non-guaranteed $30 million on the books for the 2024-25 season becomes guaranteed next June.
Paul averaged 13.9 points, 8.9 assists and 32 minutes played in 59 games last season, and helped the Suns beat the Clippers in five games in a first-round playoff series. He suffered a groin injury during Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Denver Nuggets, though, and missed the rest of the series, which the Suns lost in six.
Poole, 24, had a breakout 2021-22 season, helping the Warriors win their fourth NBA championship in eight years, and averaged a career-high 20.4 points last season on 43.0 percent shooting from the field and 33.6 percent on 3-pointers. However, a preseason altercation in which veteran teammate Draymond Green punched him seemingly derailed the team’s title repeat hopes, as Golden State exited the playoffs in the second round.
The Warriors made fixing their team chemistry a priority this offseason, with Green admitting he needed to mend fences with Poole, but it appears that might not be necessary now.
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