Steve Kerr insisted last month he wouldn't determine whether Chris Paul will start or come off the bench this season until the Golden State Warriors get a better feel for their revamped roster during training camp. As official preparations for 2023-24 loom on the horizon, though, one plugged-in league insider believes the Warriors have already made that inevitably fraught decision.

Less than a month from the Warriors tipping off training camp on October 2nd, ESPN and Andscape senior writer Marc Spears revealed Friday that Paul is “expected to start” during his debut season in Golden State.

“I do expect him to start. I think it's like five-minute spurts,” Spears said of Paul. “I don't know that they really want his minutes to be high, but I think they're gonna try it. I could be wrong but that's the gist that I'm getting. This isn't an opinion, this is just what I'm hearing, that he's expected to start.”

Paul has never come off the bench for a single game across his 18 seasons in the NBA. The Point God didn't exactly seem keen on the prospect of breaking that streak when asked earlier this summer about shifting to a reserve role with the Warriors, either.

Could that fragile dynamic be the driving force behind Golden State's apparent plans to start Paul in the same backcourt as Stephen Curry? Considering just how dominant the Dubs' traditional starting five remained in 2022-23 amid team-wide struggles, it seems obvious Paul's ego will be a factor here.

The lineup featuring Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney posted a +22.1 net rating last season, per Cleaning the Glass, best in the league among units that notched at least 500 minutes. But Jordan Poole also replaced Looney as a starter for an extended stint midway through the 82-game grind, Kerr searching for an offensive spark early in games—one that didn't prove consistent enough for the Dubs to play small full-time.

Though his minutes will no doubt be managed during the regular season, Paul will get plenty of burn with Golden State in 2023-24. The Warriors will essentially have six starters no matter who ends up opening and closing games. It seems undeniable their optimal lineup constructions come with Looney starting and Paul coming off the bench, though, maintaining the traditional starting five's success while curbing the team's longstanding struggles while Curry sits.

Like Spears suggests, Golden State will no doubt get to those lineups regardless. But as camp fast approaches, it's instructive of the Warriors' potentially delicate locker-room dynamics that they're reportedly leaning toward keeping Paul a starter. Still, we won't know for sure what Kerr's lineup plans are until he makes a final decision on them come early October.