Warriors reserve point guard Chris Paul fractured his left hand in a game against the Pistons on Friday, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Charania notes that Paul will require surgery for the injury, while Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets that a recovery timeline for the 38-year-old has yet to be established.
The 12-time All-Star departed during the third quarter of an eventual 113-109 home win, after battling with Detroit shooting guard Jaden Ivey for a rebound. He concluded his night with eight points, six boards, and four dimes.
This is a huge blow for Golden State, and not just on the court.
Paul’s $30.8MM 2023/24 contract could have been a massive trade chip, but with just a month remaining until the this season’s deadline, it appears unlikely he’ll be healthy in time to appeal to rival teams as anything more than an expiring contract.
He is technically owed $30MM next season, though that money is non-guaranteed and almost certainly will not be picked up by any club. The Warriors could still package Paul’s money along with future draft equity and some combination of young players on rookie-scale salaries.
The six-footer is now definitively in a different phase of his Hall of Fame NBA run. Through his 31 healthy contests this season, Paul’s averages of 9.0 PPG, 7.3 APG, 3.7 RPG, 1.2 SPG and 27.7 MPG all represent career lows. He achieved that scoring output fairly efficiently, however, with a shooting line of .421/.357/.854.
Paul’s hand injury is the second long-term ailment to afflict Golden State’s backcourt this week. Defense-first guard Gary Payton II incurred a grade 2 left hamstring strain, and will miss at least the next three weeks as he recovers.
Without Paul or Payton available, the Warriors seem likely to lean even more on standout rookie combo guard Brandin Podziemski, with veteran point guard Cory Joseph another candidate to get some extra rotation run.
It’s a tough pill to swallow but injuries are a part of any sports. The Warriors have a young interesting core. GS will figure it out.
“Young interesting core” is probably generous, Pod and TJD and Moody all seem like rotational players, but Kuminga said Kerr can’t develop him, means he isn’t developable in a winning manner
Pod and TJD are rookies and I would not call them rotational players when they have proven they can hold their own.
Karma from all the dirty plays over the years.
He gets injured every year though…
Kyler Gordon broke his hand and was back a month later.
Kyler Gordon is also 24 years old and Chris Paul is 38 years old. Not going to be the same recovery time for an older body.
Lots of bones in the hand it really depends on which one or ones broke, how badly it broke, and at what stage of recovery you get full use back.
Curry broke his hand in OCT and was just set to return 5 months later when the pandemic hit…
Best thing that could happen to them. Trade him to save your season. Paul and Santos for….. Waive Jerome Robinson and Guruba and look at other two ways. Yuri Collins or Jazian Gortmen and Kai Jones or John Butler would be better options on two ways . Start Wiggins again. Play Kuminga and Moody more. Podz less. Start Dario while Green is out
Broken hand is a freak injury, but it also represents another nail in the coffin that is the Warriors dynasty. They’ve had an amazing run, but should have looked at ‘22 title as the last hurrah instead of trying to win another title with the core they had/have.
I know hindsight is 20/20, but there was a reason most people were somewhat surprised that they were able to win again.
Zach LaVine trade! Paul & Kuminga. Bulls add to their collection of high priced injured PGs with rhyming last names.
Warriors can’t afford Zach’s long term deal past this season. Only reason they got CP is his contract is off the books next year.
Bulls would be stupid to do that…
Works for the Warriors…
Death, taxes, and a Chris Paul injury are the 3 things that happen every year. No one should be surprised at all.
It was just a matter of time. Paul misses time every year. If we are fortunate enough to make the playoffs he’ll get hurt again before the playoffs start.
The good news for Paul is that it is not his nut punching hand
Just retire already ….
Another season and another injury…
Almost as predictable as a Draymond ejection…