After signing a 4-year, $128 million contract extension in October 2022, one young player may be on his way out of the San Francisco-based team
Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole is believed to be a trade candidate in the upcoming off-season, with the NBA team choosing to maximize their star players’ championship window instead, believes NBA writer Mark Medina.
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Anthony Slater of The Athletic believes that only Stephen Curry is ‘untradeable’ amid reports of the Warriors looking to entirely restructure the roster.
Off-the-court there were problems for the 5x NBA Champions, with key veteran Draymond Green punching teammate Jordan Poole during the pre-season.
Head coach Steve Kerr told ESPN that he believes trust was never rebuilt after this, which seemed to heavily impact the team’s chemistry on-the-court, something that has been integral to their championship success in the past.
The Warriors are reportedly thought to want to re-sign Green to an extension to extend their championship window, which would see the team spend over $500 million on luxury taxes for the 2023-24 season.
With these heavy financial woes, the Warriors are likely to be looking to offload some of the roster elsewhere, and this may signal that Jordan Poole’s time in San Francisco is coming to an end.
What has Mark Medina said about Jordan Poole and the Warriors?
When asked if Poole was a genuine trade candidate for the upcoming off-season, Medina believes that he is, although he doesn’t think the Warriors will trade him just for the sake of it.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the journalist said: “He is a trade candidate, but I don’t think the Warriors are looking to trade him just to get rid of him, or looking to trade him because it’s addition by subtraction.”
“I think that they’re looking to trade him because they want to just continue to maximize the [championship] window with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.”
“In Jordan Poole’s case, it’s just a lot of weird gray areas because this past season, it did crystallize in the Warriors’ mind that this whole idea of trying to win on the fly, but develop young players is much easier said than done.”
How has Jordan Poole performed this season?
Poole was one of ten players in the NBA to play all 82 regular season games, along with Warriors teammate, Kevon Looney.
As per ESPN, the former Michigan player averaged 20.4 PPG and 4.5 APG, shooting 43.0% from the field. He also shot 33.6% from three-point range during the regular season. However, his sharp decline in the playoffs is what drew criticism from around the league.
In 13 playoff games, Poole only averaged 10.3 PPG and 3.5 APG shooting a dismal 34.1% from the field. His three-point % also took a huge hit by dropping to 25.4%, leading to his minutes being reduced as he was benched by Steve Kerr.
Most people remember the questionable shot he took in Game 1 of the Western Conference semi-finals against the Lakers, where he opted to shoot a 28-foot three-pointer with 10 seconds on the clock in an attempt to tie the game, despite both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson being on the floor.
The playoff series only got worse for the 23-year-old, scoring a total of 11 total points across games 2-4, including an outing in which he recorded 0 points in only 10 minutes on the court in game 4 – the fewest he has played in nearly two seasons.
In all honesty, you would expect better production from a player who, as per Spotrac, is estimated to earn in the region of $28 million next season with his four-year deal worth $128 million in its entirety.
If he were to be traded elsewhere, it could very well be in the interest of both parties, as it may be as simple as him needing a change of scenery to find his form again after a difficult season both on and off-the-court.