SAN FRANCISCO — Four days remain until the Warriors’ first preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers and Steve Kerr chose to answer a looming question out the gate.

With Draymond Green sidelined due to injury, Chris Paul will be part of the starting five on Oct. 7 alongside Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney, Kerr said.

“It’ll be a great talking point around the water cooler,” Kerr said after Tuesday’s practice. “As I said, we’ll try a lot of different lineups during the exhibition season. They’ll start the first game and we’ll see after that.”

The preseason starting five won’t be set in stone moving forward, but it’ll give the Warriors a look at how Paul plays alongside the Curry. The lineup is small and similar to the three-guard lineup Golden State used with Jordan Poole and typical two-guard Thompson playing at the three position and guarding the power forward spot — but Paul will take on Green’s role as a passer to find Curry and Thompson off-ball.

“It’s hard to describe the feeling of having Chris Paul on our team,” Kerr said. “He’s one of the great point guards of all time and we’ve been competing against him for so many years, he’s one of the guys I’ve coached against and you shake your head at how good he is and how particular he is about every possession.”

Positionally, it could have been an option to have third-year forward Jonathan Kuminga start in Green’s place, but Paul can take the playmaking reigns as a starter.

It’ll be worth watching in preseason games how that same skill can improve the second unit’s offensive flow. Or as Kerr calls it, the “non-Steph minutes.” The Warriors had a 113.0 offensive rating with Curry off the floor last season, ranking in the NBA’s bottom 35th percentile, compared to a 120.0 offensive rating that ranked in the top 90th percentile with Curry on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass.

“The biggest problem we’ve had since I’ve been here is the non-Steph minutes, even when we had Kevin (Durant),” Kerr said. “And that group won back-to-back championships. (Previously) in our non-Steph minutes, our whole goal is to put a great defensive team on the floor and win those minutes with defense. We’ve never generated great offense with Steph on the bench, and Chris will help us do that.”

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In this ultra-small lineup, Thompson will be guarding the power forward position, Kerr noted. It’s a drastic shift for Thompson, who defended wings and perimeter players during his pre-injury prime. Now at full health more than two years after his injuries, the 6-foot-6 shooting guard has the strength to guard up.

“Barring injury, Klay would guard the four,” Kerr said. “He’s so physically strong and used to guarding post-up players after switches. So we think Klay can guard at the four this year and we can put him in coverage where he’s having to defend pick-and-roll as a four and that will be a different job for him. We’re planning on doing some of that and seeing how he does.”

Green injury update

Green will be out for at least two weeks nursing a left ankle sprain. At Tuesday’s practice, Green was on the sideline riding a stationary bike and got lifting in, Kerr said.

Who surprised at practice?

The Warriors scrimmaged on Tuesday with two teams playing against the starting five. The “red team” featuring rookie Brandin Podziemski, two-way guard Jerome Robinson, veterans Rudy Gay and Rodney McGruder and two-way Usman Garuba “dominated” the scrimmages, Kerr said.