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The Golden State Warriors gave Jordan Poole a fresh start when they traded him to the Washington Wizards. However, following a down season in Washington, Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley proposed a trade that would give Poole another fresh start.
Buckley proposed the following trade between the Wizards and Utah Jazz in an April 17 story.
Wizards receive: John Collins
Jazz receive: Poole, 2025 second-round pick, 2026 Bulls second-round pick, 2028 first-round pick swap (top-4 protected)
Bucklet explained why the Jazz could have some interest in Poole.
“Utah, which has been in asset-accumulation mode for nearly two full years now, could see this as another opportunity to fill up the coffers. It wouldn’t have to play Poole unless it wanted to, as he could easily be buried on the bench behind George, Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson. Or, if the Jazz were bullish on their chances of reviving Poole, they might see him as their new spark plug and use his arrival as a motivation to flip Clarkson for additional assets.”
He also added that Poole could get his groove back in Utah if given the chance knowing how young he is.
“As brutal as this season was for Poole, he doesn’t have to be a lost cause. He has filled an important role on an NBA champion before and hasn’t even celebrated his 25th birthday yet. He has a knack for scoring and flashes shifty shot-creation, so if he could ever harness his shot selection and decision-making, he could be helpful yet.”
Poole helped the Warriors win an NBA title in 2022 and will enter the second year of a $128 million contract.
Jordan Poole Trade Called Wizards ‘Biggest Regret’
Even if the Warriors’ season didn’t go as planned, Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes explained why the Wizards were wrong to acquire Poole from them.
“Now, it’s clear the Wizards would have been better off keeping Chris Paul, the man they dealt to get Poole. Even if all Washington did was flip Paul for an expiring deal at the deadline or decline to guarantee his $30 million salary for 2024-25, it would have been better than onboarding Poole and what now looks like one of the worst contracts in the league,” Hughes wrote in an April 16 story.
He explained why Poole was worse with Washington than he was with Golden State.
“If anything, Poole was even worse in Washington than he was during his last checked-out year in Golden State. He didn’t compete defensively, shot the ball worse from everywhere on the floor and even got booted from the starting lineup for a dozen games. He made $27.4 million this season and fell out of the first unit on a team that finished with a win total in the teens.
“That’s about as regrettable as it gets.”
Golden State may not have made the playoffs, but keeping Poole may have made a bad situation worse.
Bob Myers Doesn’t Know How Jordan Poole Tape Leaked
Poole’s tumultuous exit from the Warriors started when Draymond Green punched him in the face before the 2022-23 season began. Someone filmed the fight and sent the tape to TMZ.
Former Warriors exec Bob Myers admitted that he doesn’t know who leaked the tape.
“No [we didn’t find out who leaked],” Myers said on JJ Redick’s “The Old Man & The Three” podcast. “I think the best I can answer that is, we couldn’t pinpoint anybody. It wasn’t like we found someone. We looked, we looked. We tried, a third party, but we couldn’t.”
The Warriors made the playoffs anyway, but the Los Angeles Lakers beat them in six games in the Western Conference Semifinals.
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Proposed Trade Gives $128 Million Ex-Warriors Champion Fresh Start