Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole is owed $95.54 million over the next three seasons. This is part of the four-year, $128 million rookie-scale contract extension he signed with the Golden State Warriors in October 2022.
In July 2023, the Warriors traded Poole, Ryan Rollins, Patrick Baldwin Jr., a 2030 first-round draft pick, and a 2027 second-round draft pick to Washington for Chris Paul.
This is quite significant considering Poole has one of the worst contracts in the league. Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons is earning $37.89 million this season and is slated to make $40.33 million in 2024-25.
Simmons inked a five-year, $177 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers in July 2019.
Jordan Poole has to be worst contract in NBA history lol pic.twitter.com/OgSTG3VhT4
— Per Sources (@PerSources) February 23, 2024
During the offseason, the Suns traded Paul and Landry Shamet to Washington for multiple second-round draft picks and cash for Beal, Jordan Goodwin, and Isaiah Todd.
This was before Washington traded Paul to Golden State.
Simmons, Beal, and Poole are all overpaid. That should go without saying. However, Poole is on a tanking team and yet, he’s still not best guard. Note that he’s the highest-paid player next to young guys who need touches.
Simply put, the five-year veteran is not living up to his contract. Through 53 games (52 starts) this season, Poole is averaging 15.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, a career-high 1.1 steals, and 29.2 minutes per game.
Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole came off the bench Thursday night against Denver Nuggets
The former Warrior is also shooting 39.6% from the floor, 30.4% beyond the arc, and 85.4% at the foul line — the lowest marks since his rookie 2019-20 season with Golden State.
Last season with the Dubs, he averaged career highs of 20.4 points and 4.5 assists per game. In fact, he shot 43% from the field, 33.6% from 3-point range, and 87% at the line as well.
In a lineup change intended to help evaluate younger players, Wizards interim coach Brian Keefe moved Poole out of the starting lineup and into a sixth-man role.
Keefe made the change in collaboration with the Wizards’ front office. This decision was made in order to give quality minutes to rookie forward Bilal Coulibaly.
Jordan Poole’s career has been wild.
Rookie season: Shot 33 FG% and 28 3P%
2nd season: Improved to 43 FG% and 35 3P%
3rd season: Shot 51/39/92% in the playoffs and won a championship
4th season: Punched by Draymond
5th season: Benched on a 9-46 team pic.twitter.com/CBUb32emwn
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 23, 2024
“We just wanted to look at how do we best utilize the whole group? How do we best maximize lineups, and how do we get even more out of him?” Keefe told reporters in Denver before the Wizards’ 130-111 loss to the Nuggets.
It could be that Poole is not worth $30 million per season. Maybe he’s just in a bad situation in Washington?
Plus, it’s also possible that he’s a better player in a limited role around veterans. It was certainly the case when he was on a team with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson.
Perhaps, it’s a mix of both. After all, the Wizards (9-46) have the second-worst record in the league.
He scored a career-high 43 points with the Warriors last season in a 126-110 loss against the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 18, 2022. The University of Michigan product shot 14-of-23 (60.9%) from the field and drained five 3-pointers in 34 minutes as a starter.
