Golden State Warriors: Will Jordan Poole seek a max contract?

The Golden State Warriors could not be more pleased with the development of Jordan Poole.

A late first round pick who could have spent his days bouncing back and forth between the NBA and G-League, Poole is now a sixth-man champion.

But is he a max contract caliber player?

Recent reports from Connor Letourneau state the Warriors plan on discussing this soon.

Poole and the front office will be meeting to talk about his future with the team. The issue at hand? His upcoming contract extension.

Just about anyone will tell you Poole deserves a pay raise. That is a no-brainer. Exactly how big, is the question.

Letourneau suggests that if Poole is aiming for a max deal, the negotiations could continue until next summer.

This is for a few reasons. Firstly, another max contract would leave the Warriors in an even more ridiculous situation as far as their finances go. More specifically, it limits their ability to keep Andrew Wiggins on the roster past next season unless he agrees to a pay cut.

I wrote more about this dilemma here.

Jordan Poole is ready to discuss his future contract extension. Will the Golden State Warriors decide to give him max money?

Today, I want to focus more on Poole’s worth. Is he really the type of player who can command max money?

As much as I love JP, I don’t think so.

Poole developed into an expansive scorer who can fill it up in a hurry. His microwave scoring was a core reason the Dubs defeated the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals.

Perhaps his greatest development is his playmaking, though. A dazzling ball handler and crafty passer, Poole has become the Warriors’ second unit floor general.

All of this makes him a player worth keeping around.

However, he has much to learn on the defensive end.

At various points in the playoffs, Poole was picked on defensively. So much so, that he was often yanked out of the rotation if his offensive output wasn’t counteracting his weaknesses on the other end.

Because of this, I can’t imagine Poole is able to earn max money. Of course, another team could make an insane offer, but his limitations on defense make this a concerning deal to make.

For the Warriors, and Poole, who is only 23 years of age, we are probably one more contract away from negotiating the ultimate payday.