Golden State Warriors: Is Jordan Poole set to make another big jump?

Jordan Poole was undoubtedly one of the big surprises of last season going from barely in the NBA to being a centerpiece on the Golden State Warriors championship team in just one season.

Only two seasons ago, Poole was back and forth between the NBA and the G-League, even receiving the honor of All G-League third team in 2021.

In that season the rising star would average 12 points per game in the NBA and not really do anything worth noting in other stat categories, including his shooting splits.

However, in the G-League Poole would average 22.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game in only 11 games as he worked on developing into the player we know today.

Jordan Poole took a leap last year with the Golden State Warriors. Does he have another one in store for the 2022-23 NBA season?

His increase to an 18.5 point per game scorer who also averaged 4 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game this year as well made him one of the many players contending for the Most Improved Player award that would eventually go to Ja Morant.

Although, many Warriors fans disagree with that decision.

Analysts and fans alike across the NBA noticed as Poole shaped his playstyle into one that is incredibly similar to teammate Stephen Curry, including the off-ball movement that separates the former MVP from the rest of the pack.

Both players get their best production from playing inside-out in order to create pressure on the defense. Poole in particular made some incredibly impressive finishes at the rim having entire highlight reels to his ability to twist and turn around defenders at the rim.

Every time he got to the rim; it looked like he could make it. His confidence this year was certainly unmatched.

Many have speculated that his huge leap in performance was due to the fact that he started working with Carl Bergstrom, the performance director of the Golden State Warriors.

Bergstrom has worked with Curry for a few years now and has worked for the Warriors as a performance coach for two years now, lining up perfectly with Jordan Poole’s leap in production.

This would be a possible explanation for how Jordan Poole not only took the leap from G-League to NBA rising star as quickly as he did.

Not only that, but it would also explain how he has become sort of a Curry-lite in the way they play and win games.

Poole was recently featured in a handful of Instagram posts and an Instagram Story on @carl_performance where he can be seen getting in the work this off-season.

Most NBA players put in the work and post it all over social media, but the biggest increases in performance come from when a player is mostly absent from the public but is still getting in their workouts. Jordan Poole has been a part of the latter.

The next step for Poole if he wants to be like Curry is definitely his shooting splits as his percentages are still well below those of the all-time great.

Working on building muscle and improving his ability on defense would also be much appreciated, although he did have some moments where he showed potential to be similar to his teammate at times throughout the season.

If Jordan Poole can continue his path to greatness and grow into a version of Steph Curry, he and the Golden State Warriors may be able to continue their dynasty past the golden trio and into the future behind the young rising star.