A disastrous postseason for Jordan Poole is fueling trade rumors that the Warriors may have to explore trading him this offseason.
It’s been an ugly postseason for Jordan Poole. The Warriors find themselves in a 3-1 hole against the Lakers while he has shot 34.2 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from beyond the arc across the first two rounds. His wild attempt at a game-winning 3-pointer in Game 1 was ridiculed. When Steve Kerr was ready to downsize in Game 4, in an effort to nullify the interior dominance of Anthony Davis, it was Gary Payton II, not Poole, who joined the starting lineup. Poole played just over 10 minutes and missed all six of his shots in that game.
Poole has had his struggles before, both in the postseason and regular season, but this stretch and with these stakes is something new. Next season, Poole will begin the first year of a four-year, $128 million contract extension. When that deal was initially signed last summer, before the Warriors had hammered out an extension for Draymond Green, it seemed to indicate that Poole was essential to Golden State’s future and Green was not. Now the roles have been reversed.
NBA rumors: Warriors might have to trade Jordan Poole
In a detailed breakdown of the Lakers-Warriors series, ESPN Insider Zach Lowe took the time to riff a little on Poole’s struggles and posited that the Warriors almost have to explore trading him this summer.
“If Golden State bows out and wants to preserve its foundational Curry-Green-Thompson trio while minimizing its tax bill, exploring Poole trades is the common sense way to do it.”
Clearing space to sign Green to the kind of extension he wants, and to smooth over any hurt feelings from last season, is almost certainly going to require clearing Poole’s salary off the books. But if the Warriors decide to go that route, it may be easier said than done. Poole’s trade value is likely to be close to rock bottom heading and every other team will know the leverage they hold over Golden State with clearing cap space essentially to keeping Green. In addition, they’d have to find a trade partner willing to absorb Poole’s hefty salary into existing cap space, or send nonguaranteed deals back, which severely limits their options.
Who knows how things will evolve over the next few days and into the beginning of the offseason. But right now, the Warriors and Jordan Poole are both between a rock and a hard place.
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