Shortly after Bob Myers left, Mike Dunleavy made it clear he didn’t want to waste any second ahead of the 2023-24 NBA season. One of his first decisions as Golden State Warriors general manager was to trade Jordan Poole for Chris Paul.
The young guard didn’t come from a great performance in the playoffs, but his departure still made a lot of noise. Not long ago, Poole was seen as the possible face of the franchise the day Stephen Curry was no longer in the Bay.
Besides, no one expected he would leave for Paul, a veteran guard who had been on the opposite side of the Dubs for years. However, it looks like Dunleavy was pretty sure about this move from the very beginning.
Mike Dunleavy says trading Jordan Poole was an easy move
“Honestly, in a lot of ways, it was an easy move because I felt it would make our team better, and it gave us a decent amount of flexibility going forward, so to me it wasn’t that tough,” Dunleavy told Monte Poole and Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. “…To have an opportunity to address some needs and clear up some financial relief, for me, honestly, didn’t lose much sleep over that one.”
Dunleavy mentioned the financial reason for this trade from the first moment he faced questions about it. But the fact they could get Paul in return also explains this deal, since it could help the Warriors get back to glory days as soon as possible.