Getty Jordan Poole of the Golden State Warriors.
Jordan Poole played a major role in the Golden State Warriors‘ 2022 NBA Championship run. During the team’s playoff campaign, Poole averaged 17 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 50.8% from the field and 39.1% from beyond the arc.
The 23-year-old filled an important scoring role off of the bench and the organization rewarded him for it. Golden State locked down Poole for an additional four seasons with a $128 million contract extension back in October.
Since getting paid, he hasn’t quite been the same player. Poole is taking a career-high 15.7 shots per game, but has an effective field goal percentage of just 50.7%, which is the lowest since his rookie year.
The drop off in efficiency has rendered the former Michigan standout to be less effective for the Dubs this season. So much so that Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley pitched that Golden State thinks twice about his playing time in the postseason.
Buckley published an article on March 23, highlighting a few keys to a deep playoff-run for the Warriors. Amongst them was favoring Donte DiVincenzo over Poole in terms of minutes off of the bench.
He pointed out that Golden State’s core group of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney, has a better net rating with DiVincenzo as the fifth man, rather than Poole.
“It’s a little curious to see Poole logging nearly four more minutes per night than DiVincenzo (30.5 to 26.6),” Buckley wrote. “It’s especially head-scratching when the Dubs’ stars fare better with DiVincenzo than Poole. When DiVincenzo shares the floor with Curry, Thompson, Green and Kevon Looney, Golden State has a plus-9.4 net rating. Swap in Poole for DiVincenzo, and that number plummets to minus-3.4.”
Buckley then made the point that Poole’s payday isn’t a good enough reason to keep playing him over DiVincenzo if he’s not effective.
“There will be nights when the Warriors need Poole’s shot-creation more than DiVincenzo’s jack-of-all-trades game, but those feel like the exception—not the rule. While Golden State has more invested in Poole, that’s not enough of a reason to keep him in front of DiVincenzo on the pecking order.”
Trade Proposal Ditches Jordan Poole, Lands Warriors Siakam
Should the Warriors take Buckley’s advice and stray away from playing Poole as many minutes this spring, then they may look to move on from the 23-year-old. That could mean including him in a deal this summer.
Heavy Sports’ Jack Simone recently proposed a trade that would send Poole to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Pascal Siakam.
Warriors receive: Pascal Siakam
Raptors receive: Jordan Poole, Moses Moody, 2026 1st-Round Pick (Swap), 2027 1st-Round Pick, 2029 1st-Round Pick (Top-4 Protected)
Simone explained that the deal would make sense for the Raptors if they were to decide to rebuild.
His pitch for the Warriors was centered around going all-in for another title.
“The starting lineup of Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Siakam would be a defensive monster, and they would still have Kevon Looney, Donte DiVincenzo, Jonathan Kuminga, and others coming off the bench,” he wrote. “Giving up their picks is a giant risk, but if they want to help Curry make one more run at a title, this could be their best bet.”
Like Simone mentioned, the Warriors would still have DiVincenzo, who could step into Poole’s bench role without much issue.
Jordan Poole Could Headline Warriors Trade in Offseason
Buckley, like Simone, has mentioned a trade centered around Poole in the past. As part of a March 2 article, he explained that the young guard could be an enticing piece to many teams around the association.
“Golden State won’t have the cap space to sign an impact player, but it could swing a major trade if needed,” Buckley wrote. “Is there a possibly available star who might be worth sacrificing Jonathan Kuminga and his sky-high potential? Do opposing teams think they can build an offense around Jordan Poole? If they do, his trade value would be enough to anchor a blockbuster.”