It’s been six days since news broke of the Golden State Warriors trading away Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards in a deal for Chris Paul. The move came after months of Warriors fans pushing for Poole to be traded away, following a rough outing in the playoffs this season.
The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami recently detailed Golden State’s thought process when it came to shipping out the 23-year-old, revealing that the front office had some harsh thoughts on his place on the roster.
“What’s clear to me after a few days of checking around is that this all began when the Warriors decided that Poole was an extraneous and inefficient member of their roster,” Kawakami wrote. “That was the precipitating issue. The Warriors wanted out of the $123 million deal they gave Poole only eight months earlier because his play last season didn’t meet that value, especially given their extreme luxury-tax pressures. They knew he wanted a bigger role and they knew that almost certainly wouldn’t happen as long as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were on the team.”
The front office had good reason to be concerned about Poole’s lucrative contract. He’d struggled to find any sort of consistency throughout the regular season, then melted down in the playoffs. Poole averaged 10.3 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game in the postseason. Plus, his struggles when it came to efficiency were an even bigger concern, as he made just 34.1% of his attempts from the floor and 25.4% from deep.
Steve Kerr Discusses Warriors Decision to Trade Jordan Poole
Kawakami also had the chance to chat with head coach Steve Kerr, following Golden State’s big move. He prompted Kerr on how the trade will effect the Warriors moving forward, at which point the coach called it a “very positive shift.”
“We’re going to be a lot different. The last thing I’m going to do is say anything about a team that just won a championship a year ago and then fought through a difficult season. Made a helluva run at the end of this year. I’ve loved this group that we’ve had the last couple years,” Kerr told Kawakami. “But the biggest point is that we sensed we needed a shift. Didn’t mean we needed an overhaul, but we needed a shift of some sort. I think everybody in the organization sensed that. And it feels like we’ve made a pretty significant shift without giving up our identity and our sense of who we are as a team. I think, all in all, it’s a very positive shift.”
Chris Paul Opens Up on Move to Warriors
Shifting focus to the team’s newest guard, Paul, he seems pretty pleased with his situation. He told Lindsay Czarniak so during an interview, after news of the trade surfaced.
“I’m excited, I’m grateful like I said,” Paul said of his reaction to the trade. “To get an opportunity to play with that core group of players: Steph, Klay, Draymond, Looney, Wiggs, all of them, play for Steve … So, I definitely want to get on the phone and talk to those guys and whatnot and see what’s what.”
NBA star Chris Paul told me it was a “full circle” moment finding out he was traded to the Golden State Warriors. We sat down for a previously scheduled podcast conversation shortly after the news broke. Appreciate his honesty still processing the news @CP3 #chrispaul #nba
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Warriors’ Thoughts on Jordan Poole Revealed After Trade: ‘Wanted Out’