Chris Paul certainly has his sceptics when it comes to his ability to fit into a Warriors team that already features Steph Curry.

One of those sceptics is former Suns executive and ESPN personality Amin Elhassan, who recently posed the following question on Showtime Basketball:

“Is Chris Paul ready to accept the role that you’re not Chris Paul anymore?” Elhassan said. “You come in there, the ball’s not in your hands 80% of the time.”

Former NBA All-Star Paul Pierce then added to Elhassan’s point.

“This is going to be one of the toughest years of Chris’s career just mentally,” Pierce said.

“… Your whole career you’re a starter, you got the ball in your hands. Now, you gotta make the adjustment mentally — and you’re older — to coming off the bench. That’s a different type of preparation. … As an older player, that’s difficult.”

Another complicating factor will be Chris Paul’s apparent reluctance to come off the bench.

He certainly wouldn’t be the first ageing star to struggle with accepting his new role.

Only time will tell how all this plays out.

 

Dillon Brooks Takes Jab at Ja Morant

Dillon Brooks has taken what can only be perceived as a jab at Ja Morant with his most recent public comments.

Here’s what he had to say to The Athletic’s Kelly Iko:

“When I spoke to Brooks in Las Vegas last week, one thing he noted was the impact the former Raptors point guard [Fred VanVleet] would have on his offensive efficiency, an area he’s fully aware he struggled with last season in Memphis.”

It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, NBA players praising their new teammates or organisations in an attempt to fire shots at their old ones.

Brooks’ quote becomes all the more questionable when you consider his track record, and that VanVleet’s passing has always lagged behind his ability to find his own shot.

Then again, since when has Dillon Brooks valued speaking facts over ruffling feathers? Getting under people’s skin has been his favourite pastime for quite a while now.

He’s also bound to feel even more entitled to stir the pot after being ridiculed by endless memes suggesting he’d end up in China, only to sign a four-year, $80 million deal with the Houston Rockets earlier this month.