What did Warriors owner Joe Lacob say abou the decision to trade for Chris Paul?

After the Suns offloaded the veteran point guard to the Washington Wizards, he was then involved in a blockbuster move that saw him head to the bay in exchange for Jordan Poole. With the latter considerably younger and having just signed a huge deal with the Warriors, many were left scratching their heads.

Joe Lacob explains the logic behind the Chris Paul trade

At 38-years-old former Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul is not ‘past it’, but he’s certainly not in the springtime of his career. This is important to note because the player for whom he was exchanged is more than a decade younger, and had signed a $128 million contract with the Warriors. Needless to say, many had questions as to what exactly the franchise was thinking when the decision was made, however, Warriors owner Joe Lacob has now explained what was behind the move, calling it a “multi-faceted decision” before disclosing that the team needed a change.

“We had to change something,” Lacob said. “While it’s a short-term move, Chris Paul is a fabulous Hall of Famer who will I think certainly help our second unit, help our first unit if he plays there, wherever he plays, he’s a tremendous guy.”

Warriors took a calculated risk

Now while it remains clear that this is a ‘wait and see’ situation where Paul’s ability to mesh with the Warriors is concerned, what is clear is that the Warriors benefitted on a financial level from this deal. Consider for a moment that Paul will earn $30.8 million this season, and the $30 million he’s supposed to pocket next year is not guaranteed, meaning he will become an unrestricted free agent. When you compare that to the idea that Poole was about to enter the first year of the four-year, $128 million rookie extension that he signed last summer, it starts to make sense. Even more so for a team that’s been one of the highest spenders in recent years. The league’s new collective bargaining agreement is set to place heavier sanctions on high-spending teams, which is to say this is a very good move for the Warriors in terms of maintaining the books.

Of course, there is also the other aspect of all of this financial wrangling and that’s the idea of keeping the band together. Indeed, Lacob made no secret of his desire to see the likes of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson end their careers in the Bay Area. Do remember that Thompson himself will be a free agent next summer, such that the extra spending power they now have will go a long way toward strengthening the franchise’s position in any negotiations to come. “Certainly, we’d like Steph, Draymond, and Klay to retire as Warriors,” Lacob said. “That is my goal, our goal, and I think it’s a good likelihood that’ll happen.”

The Warriors’ core is key

In the end, as much as one may question the sporting aspect of the decision to bring Paul to the team, the financial reasoning is absolutely sound. With Green having recently committed to a four-year, $100 million deal to stay in the Bay, and Curry’s contract taking him to the 2025-26 season, it’s just Thompson with whom they’ve got to sort things out. Should he put pen to paper on a new long-term deal, then the Warriors will have successfully maintained their core, while adding an experienced playmaker to the mix. Not bad business. While it remains to be seen if this trade makes a lot of basketball sense, from a business standpoint the reasoning checks out.