With the Jordan Poole trade rumors in full swing, one NBA executive has weighed in on what they really think is going to happen.
Longtime NBA insider Marc Stein fired up the rumor mill big time when he reported that “various league observers” think that the Wizards only traded for Poole to “rebuild his trade value to move him on in a future trade”.
However, one anonymous NBA executive believes that trading the young guard won’t be that easy for Washington.
“The Warriors did not really want to give him that money, but they knew they had to and that they could move him on later—they were hoping he would play better and they could get something more for him than Chris Paul, but that didn’t happen,” one league executive told Heavy Sports. “But now Jordan Poole is the Wizards’ problem. They’re stuck with him. You’re not going to get a first-round pick. The Warriors were lucky to just get out from the contract. The Warriors had to give away a first-rounder to dump him.”
Poole’s trade value will certainly need time to improve, since he’s only averaging 16.6 points, with 38.9 percent shooting from the field and 28.4 percent from three in a Washington team that’s 2-11.
If the Wizards were planning on trading him quickly, that may be a problem.
“He needs a full year of playing better,” the executive said. “He needs to shoot it better. Leadership, he needs to be a leader. He needs to win a few games with that team. You also have to have that contract about halfway over because no one is committing a-hundred-and-twenty-something million to Jordan Poole. We used to call guys like that, ‘albatross’ because of how they weighed on you.”
On a positive note, the 24-year-old did manage to record his first 30-point game since being traded on Monday night.
But he’s going to have to find his own groove at the Wizards, without the help of veterans like he had at Golden State.