Since he got punched in the face by then-Golden State Warriors teammate Draymond Green ahead of their title defense in 2022-23, Jordan Poole’s life has never been the same. Poole quickly descended in the Golden State hierarchy, and teammates surprisingly supported Green’s image rehabilitation at the time (the future Hall of Famer has since done plenty to suggest he hasn’t learned much). This was quite the precipitous decline for a guy who had just enjoyed a snazzy 2021-22 run that saw him emerge as one of the elite reserves in the league and a top-four candidate for that year’s Most Improved Player award, in addition to winning his first championship.
Poole’s play that title-winning year had earned him a bonkers four-year, $128 million contract extension (more than Green!), as Golden State was looking to the 6’5″ former Michigan Wolverines combo guard as a critical component of its intended promising young core. Along with Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and (at the time) James Wiseman, Poole was part of the club’s supposed “two timelines” approach to team-building. The young group, the thinking went, could develop as the Warriors’ Hall of Fame trio of Green, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson all aged into their 30s.
Instead, he ticked off Draymond Green. But it was Poole, not Green, who seemed far worse for wear after their encounter. On the court, his scoring did improve, to a career-best 20.4 points on .430/.336/.870 shooting splits (all less efficient shooting metrics than he achieved with his more modest-but-still-good scoring during the title run). His defense and decision-making with the ball (he averaged a brutal 3.1 turnovers per 4.5 assists, and was a career-worst -7.1 in plus-minus net rating), however, were worse. The team’s overall chemistry was also irreparably harmed. Neither Poole nor Andrew Wiggins have ever again been as good as they were for the Warriors during that title year.
Something had to give. So this past summer, the Warriors flipped Poole to the Washington Wizards — before his lucrative new contract extension had even kicked in! Many folks expected Poole to reach new levels of conscience-free volume chucking on a cheerfully tanking Wizards club. Instead, even with a perpetual green light, Poole’s output cratered. Across 65 contests (53 starts), he’s averaging 16.5 points on .407/.321/.863 shooting splits, 3.9 assists (against 2.3 turnovers), 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals.
