Jordan Poole has emerged as a star in the NBA this season, producing consistent numbers for the Golden State Warriors in an incredibly impressive fashion. The guard has carried his regular-season performances into the playoffs, and he had some excellent nights against the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.
Poole’s explosion on the biggest stage has given the Warriors a bit of a decision to make, with the 22-year-old having just one year left on his contract after this season. His ability to score in bunches makes him extremely valuable and Golden State will have to give him a significant contract if they want to retain his services.
The issue will be that the Warriors, who are already in the luxury tax, will have to go deeper into it to keep Poole around and pay him what he deserves. Asked about the situation regarding this decision, Warriors GM Bob Myers, who has previously spoken about the player’s importance to the team was confident that there will be no issues and that the organization will be looking to keep Poole around (via Yahoo Sports):
“No, no,” Myers told Yahoo Sports. “I mean, thankfully [I] work for an ownership group in Joe [Lacob] that has committed all kinds of resources to winning. And I know that because every time I asked him about roster and strategy, it’s always winning.”
“You don’t need me to tell you what our payroll is. It’s pretty high,” Myers told Yahoo Sports. “So he just wants to win. And we’ve spent a lot and we’ve kept all the players we want to keep, so I don’t see that changing.”
Poole’s fourth-year option has already been exercised by the Warriors, he will be paid $3.9 million next season, but the franchise will need to cough up a significant amount to lock him up if he continues on his current trajectory. Considering that their core is now quite old and that they will need successors to the Splash Brothers, keeping Poole in San Francisco makes the most sense in basketball terms.
