The Golden State Warriors are a long way removed from their 2022 NBA Championship. Klay Thompson is gone, Chris Paul came and went, and they are now stuck firmly in the middle of a packed Western Conference. Among them in the West, are the Denver Nuggets, who won a title the year after Golden State is.
Both sides are planted right in the middle of trade rumors. December 15 just passed, marking the unofficial start to trade season, and the Warriors have already been active. They added Dennis Schroder in a deal with the Brooklyn Nets. The Nuggets could be next up, but based on a recent report, they may be in danger of making a terrible mistake.
A mistake the Warriors would be all too familiar with.
Nuggets are reportedly interested in a Jordan Poole trade, which is a mess the Warriors know all too well
According to Sam Amick and Tony Jones of The Athletic, the Nuggets could be interested in a trade for Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole.
“With the NBA’s trade window opening this past weekend, and with the trade deadline less than two months away, the Nuggets are canvassing the league in pursuit of a player who can offer significant help offensively, league sources tell The Athletic.
“As a result, the Nuggets have either expressed interest in, or have had preliminary trade discussions on the following players: Chicago’s Zach Lavine, Washington’s Jordan Poole, Utah’s Jordan Clarkson, Atlanta’s De’Andre Hunter, Brooklyn’s Cam Johnson and Washington’s Jonas Valančiūnas.”
Obviously, the Warriors have a history with Poole.
He was an essential part of their championship run in 2022. But things quickly disintegrated from there.
From the Draymond Green incident to all the issues throughout the 2022-23 season, the guy who was once heralded as the future of the franchise was eventually offloaded to the Washington Wizards.
Golden State knows how quickly things with Poole can turn sour, and the Nuggets are dangerously close to learning that lesson the hard way.
Sure, Poole is putting up solid numbers in Washington this season, but he was doing the same in Golden State the year they won it all. Based on his track record, things can deteriorate very fast, and Denver should not want to have to deal with that.
Perhaps the Nuggets could trade for Poole and get the title-contributing version of him. The Warriors know that player well, and he was awesome.
But if Denver’s season continues to spiral downward with Poole in tow, they could get the version that had to be sent to Washington as a negative asset.
The Warriors know that player well, too.