Jordan Poole has been a revelation for the Golden State Warriors this season. After a rough start to his NBA career, Poole has blossomed into a potential star in this league for the years to come. The Warriors selected him with the 28th pick in 2019, and even though Poole struggled immensely with his shot in his rookie year (33.3% from the field), the team persisted with him and they are now reaping the benefits.
General Manager Bob Myers was speaking to Mark Medina from NBA.com on a variety of topics and he expressed first how much more he appreciated getting to this stage after missing out on the playoffs over the last couple of years. The conversation then went on and unsurprisingly, the topic of Poole came up. Myers added that they knew he was talented, but as is the case with late-round picks, they can never be completely sure.
“We saw the potential. But when we Draft players [late in the first round], realistically it’s really hard to know where it’s going to go.”
“He’s been great, and I don’t know if we’d be where we are without him. It’ll be interesting to see where it all keeps going. It’s a great experience, but he’s never been in the playoffs before this year. That’s what you want from any young player — to taste the playoffs and get a sense of it. A lot of players play a long career and don’t get this far. For him to be this young and get an opportunity, it’s really very valuable.”
We cannot understate how important Poole has been for the Warriors in these playoffs as he is averaging almost 20 points per game. He has played well above expectations so far, and Damian Lillard even claimed that he is a max-level player at this point.
While that talk might be a bit premature, Poole’s rise has been one of the best success stories in the NBA this season. He will now look to build on an already impressive start to his playoff career by helping the Warriors get past the Dallas Mavericks and make it back to the NBA finals.
