The Golden State Warriors made NBA headlines when they traded away Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards for 38-year-old Chris Paul in favor of bringing in veteran experience to keep their core’s championship-winning window alive, but they may have lost a future All-Star in doing so, believes NBA writer Mark Medina.
NBA news – Jordan Poole
Only one year after signing a huge extension with the Golden State Warriors after winning the 2022 NBA championship, Jordan Poole found himself traded to a struggling Washington Wizards who are very much early on in a rebuild after losing their own franchise star, Bradley Beal, this summer.
The 2022-23 season was one which featured a lot of off-the-court issues surrounding the Warriors, particularly concerning the 24-year-old and former-teammate, Draymond Green – the young guard was punched by the four-time NBA champion and 2017 Defensive Player of the Year.
However, Poole has now got the opportunity for a fresh start after being the main trade asset included in a deal that brought 12x All-Star Chris Paul to the Bay Area.
According to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, the Warriors decided to trade away Poole as Steve Kerr insisted that the team “sensed we needed a shift” after a difficult season which saw them struggle heavily on the road, winning only 11 games, and a disappointing playoff run.
Gibson Lowenberg of Wiz of Awes believes that on his new team, the Wizards, Poole’s numbers could increase enough to be selected as an All-Star: “Taking the middle and most realistic numbers from all these ranges [his career numbers] gives him a predicted stat line of 28 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and about a steal per game.”
Whether Poole can live up to the expectations from fans around the league, as well as his four-year $128 million contract, though, will remain unclear until the 2023-24 season gets well underway.
Does Mark Medina think that Warriors will come to regret trading away Jordan Poole?
Medina doesn’t necessarily believe that the Warriors will regret trading away a young talent in Poole, but does think that he could develop into an all-star caliber player for a young Wizards team.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the journalist said: “There certainly is a scenario that Jordan Poole is going to develop into an all-star player, but I don’t think it’s going to get to the point where the Warriors are questioning ‘what did we do here?’”.
“They didn’t trade Jordan Poole just for the sake of trading him. I think they traded more because of circumstances. The circumstances is just the reality that Jordan Poole’s development timeline is not the same right now as the Warriors’ timeline, which is that ‘we have Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green on our team, and as long as they’re healthy, we still have a shot at winning a championship.’”
Can Jordan Poole become an All-Star?
The 28th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft is set to enter his fifth season in the league, and this could well be one of the most important in his career.
During the 2022-23 regular season, as per ESPN, Poole posted averages of 20.4 points, 4.5 assists and 2.7 rebounds, while shooting 43% from the field. His three-point percentage dipped to 33.6% after the previous season where he shot a career-high 36.4% from behind the line.
However, the 6’4” guard was primarily a third scoring option behind the Splash Brothers of Klay Thompson and the NBA’s greatest ever three-point shooter, Stephen Curry. In 82 regular season games, Poole only started 43 of them.
In a new role with the Washington Wizards, the 24-year-old is likely to become a starter and one of the team’s primary offensive options alongside 2020 NBA champion Kyle Kuzma, with the hope that they form one of the league’s newest dynamic duos.
With more playing time, and more responsibility on a relatively young roster, Jordan Poole has the opportunity for a breakout season, which could give him a genuine chance of becoming an NBA all-star for the very first time in his career.
Should he achieve such a feat, perhaps the Warriors could come to regret trading him for an aging superstar after all, but they made their choice in choosing to lean on veteran talent over young, up-and-coming stars.
After giving up so much young talent on their roster, they now face a championship-or-bust season as their championship-winning core’s window is rapidly winding down.