When the Golden State Warriors traded Jordan Poole for Chris Paul during the 2023 offseason, there would have been some concern that the dynamic young guard would blossom into a legitimate star and make the franchise regret their move.
But instead of Poole doing so, an initially irrelevant part of that deal is the piece that's coming back to bite the Warriors. Ryan Rollins is developing into a rising young star right now in front of our very eyes, and Golden State felt the full force of that during Thursday's 120-110 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Ryan Rollins is the true source of regret from the Jordan Poole trade
With star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo out due to knee soreness, Rollins took over and completely torched his former team with a career-high 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the floor and 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
The 23-year-old also had three rebounds and dished out eight assists, repeatedly getting downhill and penetrating a Warrior defense that had no answers for a player they themselves drafted 44th overall just over three years ago.
After just 12 games during his rookie year -- almost all of which came in garbage time minutes -- Rollins was a thrown in to sweeten the blockbuster Poole-Paul trade that Golden State executed with the Washington Wizards on draft day of 2023.
Poole was obviously the key piece (at the time) that the Warriors were sending out, having been a key part of a championship team just over 12 months earlier. Golden State also handed over a top 20 protected first-round pick in 2030, while Patrick Baldwin Jr. also became a Wizard on the same day.
As a first-round pick the year before and having played some meaningful minutes during his rookie season, it was Baldwin, not Rollins, that many Warrior fans were frustrated in giving up as part of the day's transactions.
Fast-forward to now and Poole has just been removed from the starting lineup of the New Orleans Pelicans just four games into the season, with Golden State proven right for moving on from the 26-year-old before his contract got underway. Baldwin finds himself out of the league and with his NBA career in jeopardy, having been waived by the L.A. Clippers before the start of the season.
That leaves Rollins -- the last and most unlikely piece -- as the major source of regret the Warriors will now have over the entire Poole-Paul trade. They might have believed that Rollins had some sort of NBA future, but certainly not to the degree where he downright smoked them in a game without Antetokounmpo.
Where he ends up in a decade remains to be seen, but the level of regret is already palpable as Rollins emerges as one of the Most Improved player favorites just over a week into the season.