The Washington Wizards agreed to transfer the future Hall of Fame point guard to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday in return for Jordan Poole, sources informed ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. This comes after the teams had already agreed to send Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a package that also included Chris Paul.
According to insiders, Golden State will also give the Wizards a protected 2030 first-round selection and a 2027 second-round pick as part of the transaction.
On Sunday, Beal decided to waive his no-trade clause in order to be traded to the Suns, which marked the beginning of Washington’s comprehensive roster rebuild under new President of Basketball Operations Michael Winger. Paul and Landry Shamet, first-round pick swaps in 2024, 2026, 2028, and 2030, second-round selections from 2024 through 2028, plus 2030, cash, and other terms of the transaction were given to the Wizards on Thursday. Jordan Goodwin and Isaiah Todd were both transferred from the Wizards to Phoenix. Following that, Paul was sent to Golden State in a different transaction in return for Poole and Warriors draught compensation in addition to Paul.
In order to give the Wizards time to transfer Paul to a third club in a transaction to recuperate extra assets as part of the agreement, the two parties decided to postpone the formal completion of the Beal trade.
As Golden State’s new general manager, Mike Dunleavy Jr., makes the first significant move of his tenure after officially taking over for Bob Myers last week, Paul ends up there after spending the previous ten years going up against the Warriors in the playoffs.
Although Paul, 38, started every game of his career to date (1,214 regular-season games and 149 postseason games), Paul is likely to be relegated to a reserve role in what will be his 19th NBA season. Paul averaged 13.9 points and 8.9 assists for the Suns last season across 59 games, and he gives the Warriors a different way to attack defences when Stephen Curry is off the court.
Paul was questioned about the trade Thursday night, despite neither club having made an announcement.
He expressed his excitement to The Charlotte Observer. “I’m very happy.”
Curry and Paul previously had a chat, which Paul described as “good.”
As the Warriors navigate the harsher penalties on high-spending teams imposed by the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, Paul also has a $30 million expiring contract, compared to the four years and $140 million left on the extension Poole signed before the start of last season. Following Draymond Green’s decision to opt out of his contract earlier this month and become a free agent, the Warriors must decide whether to offer him a new deal.
Poole will join the Wizards’ starting backcourt that has just been put together and will take Beal’s place as the starting shooting guard, which Washington will get in exchange for him. In a three-team deal with the Memphis Grizzlies that saw the Wizards acquire point guard Tyus Jones, Washington had already agreed to transfer Kristaps Porzingis to the Boston Celtics late Wednesday night, just before his deadline of midnight to exercise his $36 million player option for the next season.
The 28th overall choice in the 2019 NBA draught, Poole, transformed into a prolific scoring guard while playing for the Warriors. As a starter in 43 games this season, Poole averaged 24.6 points and 4.6 assists.
Poole played well during Golden State’s run to the 2022 NBA championship, averaging 17.0 points on 50.8% shooting from the field and 39% from three, but his performance was overshadowed by Green punching him during a preseason practise, and his percentages dropped to 10.3 points on 34% shooting from the field and 25.4% from three.
The Washington forward Kyle Kuzma, one of the most interesting free agents available this summer, has rejected his player option and will become an unrestricted free agency, sources informed Wojnarowski on Tuesday.
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