Former NBA center DeMarcus Cousins isn’t a fan of the Warriors’ biggest move this offseason.
“I’m going to be honest. I didn’t understand the Chris Paul trade,” Cousins said Tuesday on Sirius XM NBA Radio. “As far as it being about basketball -- the Xs and Os on the court -- I don’t see him elevating the Golden State Warriors, to be honest.”
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The Warriors shocked the basketball world in late June when it was reported they traded youngsters Patrick Baldwin Jr., Jordan Poole, Ryan Rollins and draft compensation to the Washington Wizards for Paul, the longtime arch rival of the dynasty in the Bay.
Paul and the Warriors matched up three times in the postseason. In 2014, the Los Angeles Clippers star tallied 22 points and 14 assists in Game 7 of a first-round playoff series to send a young Golden State team packing. But the Warriors ended Paul's season twice when he was with the Houston Rockets -- in the 2018 Western Conference finals and the 2019 Western Conference semifinals.
Paul, 38, is forgiving his former basketball rivals and will have a chance to make his mark on the Warriors' dynasty. The trade signaled the franchise's commitment to forget its two-timeline plan and instead capitalize on the final years of Steph Curry's Hall of Fame career. But Cousins is skeptical that it will work.
“He is up in age," Cousins said of Paul. "You got rid of a young, youthful guy for an aging veteran. And I'm not taking away anything Chris Paul has done throughout his career. I'm just speaking on this stage of his career.
Golden State Warriors
"I don’t see him elevating the Golden State Warriors."
Fair enough, Boogie. We'll see how it plays out.