Jordan Poole was one of the top candidates to win the Most Improved Player award in the NBA for the 2023-24 season. He was joining a new situation in which he would be the team’s top offensive option, after being traded from the Golden State Warriors to the Washington Wizards during the off-season. There were hopes that Poole could become one of the league’s next big stars, especially now that he is now out from under the shadows of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
NBA: Jordan Poole Is Struggling Out Of The Gate
Jordan Poole can’t be serious bruh pic.twitter.com/c5wAbzksQK
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) October 28, 2023
Things haven’t exactly gone the way that Poole and the Wizards had hoped, at least through the first four games of the year. His shot attempts per game have increased despite averaging three fewer minutes per game than he did in 2022-23, and the results have been poor. He averages 7.3 three-pointers shot per game, and is making less than two of them, giving him a 24.1% shooting percentage from deep. After shooting 43% from the field last year, he is down to 38.5% overall, and he is getting to the free throw line less often than he has in prior years.
Poole is averaging 2 full fewer assists than he did with the Warriors last year, and he is averaging the most turnovers per game that he has so far in his career.
Still Plenty Of Time To Turn Things Around
Jordan Poole decided to throw an off-glass alley-oop to Kyle Kuzma with the Wizards trailing by 21 points against the Hawks 😅pic.twitter.com/ha98NGFKT1
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 2, 2023
Many thought Jordan Poole’s new situation would propel him into being one of the top players in the NBA. There were plenty of factors working against him in Golden State, including the infamous incident with Draymond Green, as well as competing with Curry and Thompson for both playing time and shot selection. New life and a new team were supposed to be the stepping stone for Poole into greatness, but the small sample size has proved that that is not yet the case.
Jordan Poole made the highlight reels around the NBA on Wednesday night, but for the wrong reasons. With the Wizards down by 21 points to the Atlanta Hawks in the 4th quarter, Poole found himself all alone on a fast break with teammate Kyle Kuzma trailing behind. Poole lobbed the ball off of the backboard and Kuzma slammed it home, cutting the deficit to 19 on a showboat play.
Washington will travel to Miami on Friday to take on the Heat, who also have just one win to their names early in the season.
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