Jordan Poole was widely dubbed the next Stephen Curry during his flurry with the Warriors that got him a championship ring in 2022. If not for the incident with Draymond Green, he would remain one of the biggest what-ifs in Warriors history.
Now playing on the Pelicans after his time with the Wizards, Jordan Poole is once again on a potential Playoff-caliber team with strong pieces like Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy, and Herb Jones.
During the NBA media day in the offseason, the Pelicans’ media members asked their head coach, Willie Green, about what Jordan Poole brings to the table for the Pelicans and how he plans to use it.
“Well, he’s learned from one of the best, and that’s Steph Curry. He’s learned from Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala. So he brings that level of competition, but also the speed at which he plays, so he can get going pretty quickly.”
“So, his ability to shoot the ball, drive, finish at the basket, and compete on the defensive end, he understands what championship-level basketball looks like. Uh, so he’s going to bring that to our team right away. And having him on the floor with Trey and Jordan Hawkins at times with Zion, I think, can be some matchup problems for teams.”
Therefore, the Pelicans are expecting to revive the same Jordan Poole that stunned the league in the 2022 NBA Finals. During his championship season, Jordan Poole averaged 18.5 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.4 rebounds while coming off the bench for the Warriors, shooting 36.4% from three-point range on a high volume (more than seven attempts per game).
He cemented himself as the sixth man on the roster for that season and came off the bench often to replace Curry or play in a three-guard lineup with Klay Thompson present as well. But as a starter, the expectations are different from Poole in terms of production.
As a starter for the Wizards in the past two seasons, he averaged 20.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game while shooting 37.8% from three-point range. But the key thing to note here is that his minutes utilization has been essentially the same, as he averaged nearly 30 minutes per game for each team.
Therefore, the only thing that has changed from his time with the Warriors is the volume at which he is shooting (averaged over nine three-point shot attempts per game). However, a lack of growth despite a change in role could be a concerning factor for the Pelicans as well. If the Pelicans decide to increase his utilization in the game, then maybe we could see a leap in his production.
But considering they also have other promising young guards like Jeremiah Fears and Jordan Hawkins, as well as a talented defender like Jose Alvarado, it is unlikely we will see Poole get more than 33 or 34 minutes per game. Therefore, I expect more of the same from Poole despite all the influence from Curry and the Warriors.
