A whole lot went right for Jordan Poole last season. He had a breakout campaign with the Golden State Warriors as he established himself as one of the best young guards in the NBA. Poole posted career-best marks across the board in the 2021-22 season, which is not something you see very often.
He then proceeded to impress in the postseason as well and helped the Golden State Warriors become NBA champions again. It has been a stunning rise for the youngster, who looks set to be a star in this league in the future.
Steve Kerr Highlighted The Next Step In Jordan Poole’s Development
Head coach Steve Kerr has been very impressed by Poole’s growth, and earlier on in the offseason, he called him one of the foundational pieces of the team. It speaks to just how much he has improved, as he seemed to have an uncertain future after a disastrous rookie season in 2019-20. Despite all this growth, Kerr knows there is one area where Poole has to improve if he is to take that next step.
via NBC Sports:
“I don’t know that he can do anything more to step up offensively,” Kerr said. “So the area where he can still improve is at the defensive end.”
“I thought last year in the playoffs when he was fully engaged and really playing with physicality, he showed he can be a legit two-way player, but he knows he hasn’t become that consistently. And so that’s the next step for Jordan.”
Before we get to the part on the defense, that was a mouthful from Kerr to say that there isn’t anything more Poole can do to step up offensively. That is very high praise, and we did see some offensive explosions from Poole when he had more responsibility on his shoulders.
On the defensive end, Kerr is on point, as that is an area where there is a lot of room for improvement. We doubt if Poole will ever be a great defender, but he just needs to follow teammate Stephen Curry’s example. Curry was a bad defender earlier on in his career, but he has grown leaps and bounds on that end to the point where he is capable of holding his own now.
If Poole does manage to improve on that end next season, then there will be even more teams queuing up for his services next year. He is eligible for an extension this summer, which would ensure he wouldn’t hit the market in 2023, but the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement so far. It is an interesting situation, as the Warriors aren’t in a position to extend everyone, so someone will end up being the odd man out, and that could be Poole.
