Warriors GM: Chris Paul, Draymond Green Initially 'Had Some Pause' About Trade

It will certainly take some time to get accustomed to watching Chris Paul in a Golden State Warriors jersey after he battled the franchise in so many playoff series, and there was apparently some hesitation from the players as well.

Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN noted Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. explained that he needed to talk to Paul and Draymond Green in particular to see if the trade would work.

"I wanted to hear from both of them," Dunleavy said. "Really anytime we make a big move, whether it's going to Steph, Klay, Draymond, you want to kind of feel it out and see what they think.

"All of them initially, including Chris, sort of had some pause. But then they thought about it and real quick became like, 'Let's do this. This is going to be great.'"

There is plenty to work through, not the least of which may be some lingering frustration from years of battling against each other. But there are also questions about who from the group of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Paul, Green, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney will be on the bench in crunch time.

Pacing could also be an issue, as the Warriors are known for their up-tempo attack.

Youngmisuk cited Second Spectrum numbers that said Paul kept the ball in his hands for an average of 5.6 seconds in 2022-23, which was the seventh-longest time in the league. By comparison, the Warriors averaged the shortest amount of time as a team with 2.7 seconds.

Yet Dunleavy expressed optimism that the Warriors will make it work.

If they do, they could be on the short list of NBA title contenders once again.