West Notes: Warriors, Chris Paul, Lakers, Grizzlies, Marcus Smart

Warriors

Veteran point guard Chris Paul said he isn’t sure what his role with the Warriors will be, though he sounds game to take on any that’s needed.

“At the end of the day, it’s basketball,” Paul said, via Kendra Andrews of ESPN. “I’m going into a situation with a bunch of guys who’ve been playing together for a long time. I’m not as worried about it as everybody else is. … We’ll figure all of that stuff out at camp. You don’t have the answers right now. We’ll practice, and I’m sure there will be things I’ve got to learn about them, they’ve got to learn about me, but that’s the case with any team.”

Paul, 38, very well could be coming off the bench for the first time in his career, backing up Stephen Curry and even playing alongside him. He and Curry worked out together over the weekend.

“There are times when you get a chance to reflect,” Paul said. “Even working out today, we were laughing. … It’s a great opportunity and a blessing to be doing this at our age, because he ain’t young either.”

Lakers

• GM Rob Pelinka said he can’t get into the specifics of an extension for star big man Anthony Davis, but did speak highly of Davis overall contributions, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Davis becomes extension-eligible on August 14.
• Pelinka added that he has high hopes for free agent signee Cam Reddish. “I think all the tools are there for Cam,” Pelinka said, via Buha. “… “This was someone who was a (top-10) pick in the draft just a few years ago. So it’s there, and I’m excited for him to show it.”
• The Lakers are active in the free agent market in their search for another big man, Pelinka said. We have that full post here.

Grizzlies

GM Zach Kleiman said the Grizzlies set out to find a top-notch defender this offseason, so new guard Marcus Smart was an important addition.

“When you come out of the season, you take a step back and you start to put things up on the board,” Kleiman said, via Khari Thompson of the Boston.com. “What are the aspirational best-case scenarios for who we could potentially add to this group? How do we elevate the approach that we’re taking? Who are the individuals who can really drive winning and fit in a meaningful way with our group?”

Smart gives the Grizzlies two former Defensive Player of the Year award winners, joining power forward Jaren Jackson Jr.

“When we started to put names up on the board, there was no one higher than Marcus,” Kleiman said. “And this is, early on, this is the pie in the sky if there happens to be a way that Boston would engage on this. And obviously, there was a transaction that didn’t happen earlier in the day before the trade was agreed to with Boston.

“And you never know what could have happened if that possibility didn’t come together, but we had expressed a very high level of interest and Boston knew that Marcus is someone that we have felt passionately about being able to bring into our group.”