The Golden State Warriors were ready to move on from Jordan Poole, with one insider reporting the organization felt the guard was “extraneous” and “inefficient” before agreeing to use him in a trade to acquire Chris Paul.
“What’s clear to me after a few days of checking around is that this all began when the Warriors decided that Poole was an extraneous and inefficient member of their roster,” wrote Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. “That was the precipitating issue. The Warriors wanted out of the $123 million deal they gave Poole only eight months earlier because his play last season didn’t meet that value, especially given their extreme luxury-tax pressures. They knew he wanted a bigger role and they knew that almost certainly wouldn’t happen as long as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were on the team.
“The Warriors weren’t going to give Poole away, but they were ready to move on if the right deal came along.”
The right deal for the Warriors apparently was landing the 38-year-old Paul from the Washington Wizards for Poole, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins. Golden State also reportedly tried using Poole to acquire O.G. Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors.
Poole was one of only two Warriors to play in all 82 regular season games this season and averaged career-highs with 20.4 points and 4.5 assists per game. Despite that, new Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. traded Poole just days after saying he expected the player to remain with the team for the four years on the contract extension that begins next season.
In addition to acquiring a veteran presence in Paul, the trade likely had much to do with the relationship between Poole and Draymond Green, who punched the 24-year-old during practice in October.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has said the team never really recovered from that altercation, and Golden State struggled through the regular season before being eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the playoffs.
Green opted out of the final year of his contract and is about to hit free agency. It is expected that the 33-year-old will re-sign with the Warriors, but they might be “sweating” about the idea of the Sacramento Kings signing him.
Paul arrives in Golden State after finishing the season with the Phoenix Suns, who traded him to the Wizards in a deal to acquire Bradley Beal. The former heated rival of the Warriors will now try to win his first NBA championship as a member of their team.
Golden State failed to find a winning formula surrounding Green, Curry and Thompson this season after winning the NBA title in 2022, their fourth championship in eight seasons.
It will be interesting to see if there is any addition by subtraction with the absence of Poole, combined with whatever Paul might have left in the tank entering his 19th NBA season.
