Report: Chris Paul is expected to start for the Spurs
While the first 17+ hours of free agency has been unusually quiet (maybe teams are finally taking anti-tampering rules seriously and not making behind-the-scene deals before the negotiating window even opens), one of the bigger initial shocks of day 1 was 39-year-old Chris Paul seemingly giving up his quest for a championship ring and joining the young San Antonio Spurs.
In speaking with NBATV last night, Chris Haynes, who initially broke the news of the signing (which technically won’t happen until July 6), revealed he had spoken with Paul, and he is “very eager and motivated” to start for the Spurs and play alongside Victor Wembanyama. Haynes said Gregg Popovich sold him on the culture and what they’re trying to build, and Paul is eager to show he still has it as a player.
After noting the comparison to his time with the Oklahoma City Thunder, when they were at the same stage of their rebuild as the Spurs are now and how he helped them drastically improve in closing games, Greg Anthony went on to explain what a good mentor Paul will be for the young Spurs and how they should see a natural jump to play-in contenders in year two of Wemby.
That’s all well and good, but probably the biggest takeaway is that Paul is expected to start for the Spurs, at least initially. That may or may not be surprising, depending on who you ask, but it does beg the question: where does that place Tre Jones and Stephon Castle in the rotation? It clearly moves Jones to backup point guard, which if we’re being honest is most likely where his career will lead (not to mention, we’re hoping the Spurs are done with Munchkin lineups), but perhaps the bigger question is for Castle.
A point guard going into college who agreed to play out of position for the sake of UConn winning a national championship, the assumption has been the Spurs will at least try to return him to his natural position. This puts them in the conundrum of will he begin his NBA career as a wing, be it starting next to Paul or coming off the bench next to Jones, or does Jones fall to third string point guard despite knowing the system, Wemby, and having the full trust of the coaching staff? (We are operating under the assumption that Castle will not be spending much, if any, time in Austin.)
Ultimately it’s a bit early to know for sure, but it will be interesting to see how things pan out at point guard. Personally, I would be intrigued by a potential starting lineup featuring Paul, Castle, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan and Wemby. It would certainly be stout defensively, and Castle could act as a secondary playmaker while learning from Paul and not being immediately thrown into the proverbial NBA fire. At the same time, we can hope that Vassell, Sochan and Wemby keep improving as outside shooters to help the offense keep up while, barring any big trades, they’d have a much more reliable bench unit behind them than last season, led by Jones and Keldon Johnson.
More good news is if this pairing doesn’t work, Paul is on a very tradable contract at reportedly just 1 year, $11-plus million. And who knows? Maybe the goal is to get his mentorship for half a season before sending him to a contender that needs “one more piece”. Even if that’s not the case, here’s something to keep in mind.
The Spurs are operating on a one-year timeline right now. The goal is to keep as much cap space and roster spots open for 2025 as possible, when both the draft and free agency class will be much stronger. This moves brings the veteran leadership that fans (and Wemby) wanted without impacting the future. Paul may not have always been a favorite opponent of Spurs fans, but assuming he buys in — which it sounds like he has — it will be very beneficial down the road.
