Video: Chris Paul Responds to Criticism of Warriors Fit After Trade from Wizards

Chris Paul believes his trade to the Golden State Warriors was not just made to move salary.

The former Phoenix Suns All-Star guard said on NBC Sports’ Dubs Talk podcast that his transition to the Warriors has been “seamless.”

“I got 19 years of experience,” Paul said. “The game hadn’t changed unless they started shooting with something different…. I feel like, what I’ve been fortunate is this isn’t my first time changing teams. It’s not the first time I’ve heard outside noise, so every time I change teams, everyone says ‘it’s not gonna work.'”

When asked what was most surprising about the new team, Paul said, “Probably how seamless it’s been.”

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on “NBA Today” in September that the Warriors did not trade for Paul believing he would be an “amazing” fit.

“Remember, part of the reason they did this deal was a salary dump,” Windhorst said then. “It wasn’t like they looked at this and said, ‘Oh my God, this fit is amazing.'”

“This deal, whether it was five percent, 51 percent, whatever, was partially done because they were dumping Jordan Poole’s salary so that they could afford to pay Draymond (Green) and (Andrew) Wiggins and potentially Klay (Thompson) going into the future.”

Poole, whom the Warriors sent to the Washington Wizards in the Paul trade, is promised $123 million over the next four seasons. Paul’s $30 million annual salary, in contrast, is not fully guaranteed for next season.

ESPN’s Marc Spears expects Paul to start for the Warriors this season.