The Warriors have two extra days to figure out what to do with Chris Paul.
Golden State and the 39-year-old guard agreed to push back the deadline for when his $30 million salary for next season — the final year of a four-year, $120 million deal inked with the Suns in August 2021 — becomes guaranteed from Friday to Sunday, according to multiple reports.
The purpose of that change, according to ESPN, revolved around helping find a potential trade partner that fits Paul, though the outlet added that there’s still a possibility the Warriors will waive him to save salary cap space.
Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. had hinted at the possibility of extending the deadline during a press conference Thursday, though he didn’t consider the team’s decision on Paul — the guard who spent last season with Golden State after getting traded from the Suns to the Wizards and then the Wizards to the Warriors across four days — to reflect the “pivot point” of their offseason.
“We still have some time on that, which will take,” Dunleavy told reporters Thursday, “and we’ll come to a conclusion. But in terms of pivot point, no, it doesn’t. We’ll figure it out and go from there, but I don’t think it’s gonna make a huge difference in terms of like how things shake out overall.”
In his first year with the Warriors, Paul averaged 9.2 points and 6.8 assists per game, starting the fewest games — just 18 — of his career and settling into a complementary role alongside a struggling group that still possessed a star-filled lineup.
The Warriors, who finished No. 10 in the Western Conference, were eliminated by the Kings during their opening game of the play-in tournament, and that started an offseason filled with speculation about the futures of Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Paul.
Wiggins, according to The Ringer, will likely be “aggressively dangled,” in addition to the reality that Paul could get traded.
Those are the decisions that will shape the Warriors’ offseason, and last year, right around this time, they were the final stop for Paul after a whirlwind one-week stretch.
He was dealt by the Suns — where he had played since 2020-21 — to the Wizards in a three-team trade on June 23, and days later, Washington sent him to the Warriors in the deal that brought Jordan Poole to the Warriors.
But depending on what Dunleavy decides by Sunday, it might be a one-season stint in Golden State.