Warriors' Draymond Green drops 'genius' reaction to Spurs' Chris Paul signing

The Golden State Warriors had a few crucial decisions to make prior to the month of July; for one, they had to come up with the assets to try and entice the Los Angeles Clippers in a potential Paul George trade. When that didn't work, the Warriors decided to waive Chris Paul before his $30 million contract for the 2024-25 season became guaranteed, and this paved the way for the San Antonio Spurs to pick up the 39-year-old point guard on a no-risk, one-year, $11 million deal.

Point guard has been the Spurs' most pressing position of need throughout this past season; they even tried putting Jeremy Sochan in at the one, to mostly negative results. Adding Paul may not be as needle-moving as it was in the past due to the veteran's age-related decline, but this move continues to draw rave reviews, with the latest man to praise the Spurs' acquisition of Paul being Warriors forward Draymond Green.

“CP, Pop, still a genius. Pairing CP with Wemby to teach that young fella, that's going to be great for Wemby,” Green said on the most recent episode of his eponymous podcast. “That is a genius move by the Spurs, man. Wow, that's a genius move.”

But beyond Chris Paul's impact on the Spurs roster and how he will help immensely in the development of Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, to name a few, Draymond Green is also happy for Paul on a personal level. Paul may be nearing retirement, but the Warriors forward is delighted to see Paul have a renewed purpose in his career in Year 20 of his career.

“For CP, you get the opportunity in Year 20 to go lead the next young face, star in the NBA. That's a great opportunity too. He get a chance to, in a sense, kind of go help mold him. What an honor because you only get that if you've been great as CP has, as respected as CP is. That's the only way you get that opportunity,” Green added.

The Spurs may not be a lock to make the playoffs for the upcoming season due to how stacked the Western Conference is. But no one should be too surprised if the Spurs find themselves in the hunt for a play-in spot in only the second year of Victor Wembanyama's career as they look to slow burn their way into title contention.

Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama, a match made in heaven for the Spurs

Chris Paul has seen everything there is to see in the NBA in his 19 years of experience thus far in the league; he knows how to conduct himself professionally to the best of his abilities, and he has digested every kind of coverage and offensive tactic there is in the NBA. Knowledge is power, and experience is life's greatest teacher, and the Spurs will be getting both in the 39-year-old Point God.

There were plenty of moments last season when the Spurs guards would miss Wembanyama open underneath the basket; there will be no such moments with Paul at the helm. Paul can work some two-man-game magic with the French wunderkind; he already averaged 21.4 point per game as a rookie, and with a future Hall of Famer setting him up, it's not too difficult to imagine Wembanyama tallying around 25 points a night or even more in his sophomore season.

Moreover, Chris Paul should keep the point guard seat very warm for rookie Stephon Castle, the man the Spurs believe to be their point guard of the future. The Spurs essentially chose Castle over Rob Dillingham; but at the very least, Castle profiles as a much better defensive prospect than Dillingham, and he's a winner as well. Castle now needs to polish his outside shot, but Paul will be a huge help in that respect. Paul shot 28.3 percent from three as a rookie, but that was the only time he shot under 30 percent from deep in a single season for his career.

Draymond Green admits CP3's impact for the Warriors in his short stint

The 2023-24 season was the worst-performing one of Chris Paul's career. His numbers went down across the board and so did his shooting efficiency, as a move to the bench did not help matters at all for him.

Paul, however, continued to be as good of a presence in the locker room as he can be even amid the Warriors' trying season. Draymond Green, in particular, values all the learnings he received from the Point God amid what was a turbulent season for him, personally-speaking.

“One year with [Paul] and I'm like, ‘Man, I really love this dude. Like, he's incredible. One of the best teammates I've ever had.' And then he gone,” Green added. “CP one of the greatest vets I've ever been around and I just spent a year around him as a vet myself.”