Jordan Poole struggled to make an impact for the Golden State Warriors during the 2023 NBA playoffs. In 13 postseason appearances, Poole averaged 10.3 points and 3.5 assists while shooting 25.4% from 3-Point range on 4.8 attempts per game. For a Warriors team hoping to defend their 2022 championship, Poole’s struggles off the bench seriously hamstrung Golden State’s second unit’s ability to make an offensive impact.
According to an anonymous Western Conference executive, who recently spoke with Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, it was Poole’s postseason struggles that led the Warriors to trade him this summer. The executive also noted how the decision to move on from Poole was centered around being able to retain Klay Thompson beyond his current contract.
“Poole was awful in the playoffs,” The executive told Deveney “I don’t think all this stuff about everyone hating him, that kind of garbage is not fair. It was performance with him. He did not perform when it mattered, again, and that made it pretty easy to make the case to trade him and create a little more flexibility to keep Klay [Klay Thomspon] and Draymond [Green]. The Chris Paul thing is a nice experiment they can try for a year, basically. But it’s going to be about keeping Klay.”
The Warriors are expected to allow Thomspon to play out the final year of his current deal before entering into contract negotiations with him. However, by removing Poole’s contract, Golden State has given themselves some additional flexibility to retain one of their core players.
Furthermore, Chris Paul’s deal will be non-guaranteed in 2024, which could afford the Warriors’ front office some additional wiggle room.
For now, though, Golden State will focus on the task at hand, which is integrating their recently acquired talents and challenging for another championship.
