How CP3 starting Warriors’ preseason opener impacts initial lineup originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Chris Paul will be the Warriors’ starting point guard, at least for Saturday’s preseason opener against the Los Angeles Lakers as Draymond Green rehabs his sprained left ankle.
Steve Kerr announced Tuesday after the Warriors’ first day of training camp that Paul, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney will be his first five on the court, barring any setbacks. The question if Paul will start or come off the bench when everybody is healthy still hasn’t been written in stone, though the expectation always has been experimentation ahead of the season opener.
“As I said, in camp we’re going to try a lot of different lineups throughout the exhibition season,” Kerr said. “They’ll start the first game and we’ll see after that, but we’ve got to try a lot of different groups and see what we have.”
Adding Paul to a lineup of usual Warriors starters in Curry, Thompson, Wiggins and Looney essentially moves every player up a spot on the court aside from Looney. Theoretically, Curry would be more of a shooting guard, though he always has spent plenty of time off the ball in Kerr’s system, and Thompson and Wiggins would man the forward spots.
But Thompson, not Wiggins, is expected to be the Warriors’ power forward defensively in this group.
Thompson can keep in front of the NBA’s top guards in spurts. He’ll turn 34 years old in February and after recovering from both a torn ACL and torn Achilles, part of Thompson’s evolution will be seen in the post where he can use his strength and length to his advantage while some of his speed and quickness have taken a bit of a step back.
“Klay, if we play that lineup that I talked about Saturday to start, which I anticipate doing as I said, barring injury, Klay would guard the 4-man,” Kerr said. “He’s so physically strong, he’s so used to guarding post-up players after switches.
“So we’re thinking Klay can guard as a 4 this year. We’re going to put him in coverage where he’s having to defend pick-and-roll as a 4. That would be a different job for him, but we’re planning on doing some of that and seeing how he does.”
This starting lineup can be temporary and a handful of combinations will be seen in the coming weeks. Green will be re-evaluated in two weeks, claiming at Monday’s media day that he will be in even better shape than before.
The defensive star didn’t show any noticeable signs of pain Monday at the podium or walking around the court Tuesday.
“He was riding the bike down there like crazy,” Kerr said. “It was good to see he’s able to do that and he’s able to lift. He said it to you guys yesterday – he’s a quick healer and the swelling in his ankle has gone down pretty well. He’s working in the weight room and he’s going to do everything he can to be ready.”
Green will miss at least the Warriors’ first two preseason games and likely more. The Warriors’ regular-season opener is exactly three weeks away.
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