Is CP3 Really Capable Of 'Unlocking' Jonathan Kuminga? 🤔

So Draymond was on the podcast with Paul George and he talked about adding Chris Paul to the team. We're still wondering how this is going to work out. You hear Chris Paul talk and he doesn't sound like he's over the moon that he's joining the Golden State Warriors because Chancellor is going to have to come off the bench. But Draymond Green does see the benefit of having Chris Paul on the team. So here was Draymond Green on the podcast P with Paul George. I think he brings a couple of things. After the Lakers series, Steph Satterthwaite's press conference, we ran out of variety. If they're taking this away, you can go to this. They're taking that away, then you can move to this. Our team last year didn't have a variety of ways that we could score. And I think CP adds another thing to the menu. But I'll tell you one more thing that I think it unlocks. And I actually look forward to learning this from him. I think Chris Paul will completely unlock Jonathan Kaminga and his growth. CP is great with young guys. DeAndre Aydin looked like a bust before CP came to Phoenix. No disrespect to Aydin, but more so a nod to CP. What he will do for Jonathan Kaminga and unlocking Kaminga is huge. And when he means growth for Jonathan Kaminga, he's not talking about Kaminga growing to be 7'2". That's not what he's referring to. He's talking about growth just as a player, not an actual size. But I think Draymond Green is being a good teammate here. And I think Draymond Green, this is also basically a way of... He's never going to say, Chris Paul getting him is odd because when he plays, he's going to have the ball a lot. And when I play, I'm the ball mover. How's this all going to work? He's not going to say that. What he's basically saying in parentheses is, I'm so glad that we got rid of Jordan Poole. I don't care who we got back for him. That is Chris Paul. I'll make it work. That's what he's saying. I think there's some truth to everything he just said. Like, I think Jordan Poole was supposed to be the guy to help the second team and he just wasn't. I think Chris Paul could take a bunch of guys and figure out a way to... You know, their challenges for the Warriors last year was when Steph Curry was on the bench. So is Chris Paul good enough when he's out there to find out different ways to score? And remember, Steve Kerr tried Draymond Green out there without Steph Curry and it didn't work. So the second team just really struggled. So Chris Paul could be a guy that can help do that. So I think there's some truth to that. The question is, I just don't know if Chris Paul wants to be there. I think the Warriors look at him like, great, 21 minutes a night, 25 minutes a night, whatever it is that Steph can get some other people going. But does Chris Paul see himself as basically a backup second team guy? I don't think he does. All right, here's more from Draymond Green. He was discussing losing confidence in his shot. And he actually compared it to what Ben Simmons has gone through. So here is Draymond Green. More from him on the podcast P with Paul George. Are you seeing people like lose confidence in their game? And you're like, yo, like what happened to him? Like Ben Simmons. Right. Ben Simmons is a perfect example of like, Ben Simmons is still the same Ben Simmons we watched dominate in Philly. You know, the only difference between Ben Simmons in Philly and Ben Simmons now is confidence. Once you lose your confidence, like, and I feel bad for people who lose confidence in their game. Like I never lost confidence in my game. So I've still been able to have a really good career and be successful and, you know, do the things that I've done. But I feel bad. But I know how it feels to lose confidence because I lost confidence in my shot. Right, right. I feel bad for people that lose their confidence in their game because you're still the same player. Like, you're the same person that was going out there and would get 15 assists before someone blinked. And yet you don't feel that you can do that no more because your confidence is gone. And that's kind of, that's what happened to me in my shot. Yes. Who's that? Who's that third voice? I don't know. Warren is saying it's Jackie Long. Does that mean that Chris Paul is going to get traded for Ben Simmons? Does that mean the Golden State Warriors want Ben Simmons? Like, I don't know. Why not? Well, let me ask you this about Ben Simmons. All right. Do I think that he's lost confidence in his shot? That, yeah. That, I'll go along with that. Don't you think the biggest factor is that he looks like he's lost motivation? Isn't that a bigger thing? When Draymond Green made loose confidence in his shot, you see him out there playing. He's trying to do everything else. He's playing at least. Ben Simmons doesn't play. For example, I'm not going to play in the FIBA World Cup next month. Why you wouldn't want to play in that after not, after, you know, when's the last time you played a game in March for the Brooklyn Nets? That makes no sense. So yeah, sure. Confidence is part of it. I also think motivation is a big part of it as well, which is a problem. Maybe he doesn't want to play because he's lost confidence in his game. That's why he's trying to avoid being out there, avoid getting exposed. Remember like, even when he was good, he disappears in the fourth quarter. How does it, okay. Explain that in the first quarter, you're fine. Even when he was dominating for Philly, as Draymond just said, go look at his fourth quarter usage rate way, way down. So there is a mental block there, a definitely mental block. Listen, Rashid Ben Simmons at one point was probably a top five favorite player of mine. But like, I don't know, man. Just because I like him and I like his game, I like the way he plays. Like, you got to look at the facts at times. He's got like an issue. I don't know what that issue is. I don't know if he can get over it, but it's not just injuries. There's more to it than that. First year in the league, he doesn't play. Next year, he goes 81 games. The following year, 79. And then here's, here's his last four years. 57, 58, missed the whole season, 42 games. So he went from being incredibly durable, missing his first two years of actually playing, he only missed four games over two years. And then he's missed a ton of games since then.