NBA Rumors: Warriors Almost Traded Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson To New Orleans For Chris Paul In 2011

When he expressed his desire to leave the New Orleans Hornets in the summer of 2011, veteran point guard Chris Paul became the most coveted superstar on the trade market. Before the blockbuster deal that sent him to the Los Angeles Clippers became official, several NBA teams aggressively pursued Paul, including the Golden State Warriors.

In his new book titled Victory Machine, Ethan Strauss of The Athletic revealed that in the 2011 NBA offseason, the Warriors and the Hornets were near to completing a deal that would send Paul to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Luckily, during that time, Paul had no interest in playing for the Warriors.

“The Warriors attempted to trade Steph Curry and Klay Thompson for Chris Paul in 2011,” Strauss wrote, as quoted by CBS Sports. “It was far from the only time Curry was shopped, but in this instance, the deal was very close to completion. Myers made the offer and Hornets GM Dell Demps was receptive. The catch was Chris Paul, who wanted out of New Orleans but had no intention of playing for the woebegone Warriors. Paul told the Warriors they could do this trade, but he wouldn’t be staying when his contract was up at season’s end.”

Now, the Warriors must be very thankful that the 2011 blockbuster trade with the Hornets didn’t materialize. Had they traded Curry and Thompson for Paul, the Warriors may have never established a dynasty and won three NBA championship titles. Also, they would have ended up losing the Splash Brothers for likely only one year of Paul’s service.

Meanwhile, the deal would have been a franchise-altering move for the Hornets, who were renamed as the New Orleans Pelicans in 2012. A year after Paul’s controversial departure, the Pelicans were awarded the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, which they used to select Anthony Davis. Had the blockbuster deal with the Warriors become official, the Pelicans would have created their own “Big Three” in New Orleans. That Pelicans’ core of Davis, Curry, and Thompson, which never happened, would have undeniably been capable of bringing multiple Larry O’Brien trophies to New Orleans.

Since he parted ways with the then-Hornets, Paul has played for three different teams and still hasn’t won his first NBA championship title. Paul is currently leading the Oklahoma City Thunder and is expected to be traded once again in the 2020 NBA offseason.

Meanwhile, after five consecutive trips to the NBA Finals, the Warriors are set to finish the 2019-20 season as a lottery team. However, once Thompson and Curry fully recover from their injuries, the Warriors are expected to return to being a legitimate threat in the deep Western Conference.