Dubs in-depth: Chris Paul confirms he shot down 2011 trade to Warriors

The Athletic’s Ethan Strauss’ recently released book, “Victory Machine,” spilled several details about the events that led up to and through the Golden State Warriors dominant five-year run through the NBA.

One of the stories Strauss shared is about 10-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul shooting down a trade to the Dubs in 2011 for Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Paul joined UNINTERRUPTED for an interview and was asked if he told the Warriors that he wouldn’t sign an extension with the team:

“Yeah. It’s a true story. That happened with a few teams. I actually never wanted to come out west. I’m born and raised on the East Coast. I never was crazy about LA and all that until I got out here and lived out here. At that time all I knew really about the Bay was cause I had been out there to play the games. Everything was just so hilly and I just thought about [TV sitcom] Full House.”

Thanks for doing that, Chris.

While I can’t deny Paul is one of the best point guards of this era, hindsight shows just how lucky the Dubs are that he didn’t want to commit to the franchise long-term.

Larry Riley was Golden State’s general manager at the time and was looking to make a splash after Joe Lacob agreed to buy the team in July of 2010. Curry was just 23 at the time and was dealing with nagging ankle issues, while Thompson hadn’t played an NBA game after being drafted in 2011 due to the lockout.

It is interesting to hear Paul’s reasoning. He agreed to a trade to the L.A. Clippers in December of 2011 and signed a massive extension with the club, so it wasn’t like he was totally against coming to the West Coast.

Paul, who is now on the Oklahoma City Thunder, was traded from L.A. to the Houston Rockets in 2017, a team that was bounced by Golden State in the playoffs in back-to-back years.

Either way, this non-trade is a huge win for the Warriors. Curry and Thompson went on to be the best backcourt in the NBA, helping to lead the Dubs to three NBA championships.

How do you rank the top point guards over the last seasons?

Onto some more links:

Former Warrior Kevin Durant has been in the news a lot lately. From Draymond Green talking about KD’s departure, to Kendrick Perkins beefing with the two-time Finals MVP. Now, Perk is regretting some of the comments he made to Durant on Twitter about him joining the 73-9 Dubs. (NBC Bay Area)

D’Angelo Russell’s time with the Warriors was shorter than the time it takes to finish a hot cup of coffee. The guard was part of the package the Dubs sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins and a protected 2021 draft pick. SNY’s Ian Begley reporrs that the New York Knicks made an offer to Golden State that would have sent Bobby Portis, Allonzo Trier and Frank Ntilikina to the Dubs.

ESPN’s documentary, “The Last Dance,” has kept the sports world buzzing over the last two weeks. With Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman being prominently featured during Episodes 3 and 4. Golden State great Chris Mullin talked with NBC Sports about his relationship with the eccentric Rodman.

From around the NBA:

Detroit Pistons greats Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer were part of the team that walked off the floor without congratulating Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls for their sweep of Detroit in 1991. Thomas and Laimbeer joined ESPN’s First Take to talk about why they did what they did.

Usually, when an NBA team has three All-Stars on its roster, they should contend for an NBA title. Bleacher Report looks back at seven “Big 3s” that fell short of hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy.