While the Golden State Warriors were able to stem recent bleeding with a 10-point win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, the Washington Wizards were busy falling to another defeat in a 112-101 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Wizards are in the business of losing games for another high draft pick, having taken Alex Sarr with the second overall pick in this year's draft and acquiring Bilal Coulibaly at seventh in 2023.
The Wizards have realized former Warriors guard Jordan Poole can't be their main man
Former Warrior Jordan Poole has been a positive for the Wizards this season, having delivered a bounce-back season of sorts after a disastrous first year in Washington. The 25-year-old is putting up career-highs in points (20.8 points), assists (5.0 assists) and steals (1.6), while shooting 41.2% from 3-point range on over eight attempts per game.
There is an element of 'good stats, bad team' about Poole's numbers, with Washington 4-22 and on track to win less than 15 games for the season. Despite his strong season to date, the Wizards may be willing to move off the 2022 NBA champion less than two years after acquiring him from the Warriors via trade.
Sam Amick and Tony Jones of The Athletic recently reported that the Denver Nuggets are showing interest in Poole as they look to surround 3x MVP Nikola Jokic with more offensive talent.
In response to the report, Wiz of Awes' John Canady suggested that Washington may be willing to offload Poole in the realization that he's never going to be the top offensive option on a good NBA team.
"Considering the team sits with a league-worst record, it's clear that scoring guard doesn't offer the team enough to compete at a high-level with his inconsistencies as the top option on offense," Canady wrote.
Golden State are already well aware of Poole's issues leading a team to success, having handed him the keys to a young bench unit prior to the 2022-23 season. The Warriors had the 17th ranked bench that season, with Poole's individual numbers far improved when he was able to start and play off of future hall of famers Stephen Curry and/or Klay Thompson.
Poole had a disastrous 2023 playoff run, averaging 10.3 points on 34.1% shooting from the floor and 25.4% from 3-point range. Golden State evidently regretted giving Poole a four-year, $128 million extension, shipping him off to the Wizards before the deal even started.
It would be fascinating to see Poole back on a playoff contending team, having been such an integral and memorable part of the Warriors 2022 championship team where he really made a name for himself as a dynamic young guard.