If the 2022 playoffs were Jordan Poole’s coming out party, the 2023 playoffs have been his disasterclass.
Poole signed a four-year, $128 million extension this offseason and has been an enormous disappointment. He’s been erratic in every aspect and was 0-for-4 with zero points in Game 4.
He reportedly declined to face reporters in the locker room after the game and was insistent on playing music off his phone.
It reeked of immaturity.
Marc J. Spears of Andscape joined Papa and Lund on Tuesday to discuss the series. He singled out Poole’s on- and off-court performance as a major disappointment, rendering him expendable.
“I think Jordan Poole, to be quite honest, has just showed us selfishness,” Spears said. “To me, if you look at Moody and you look at Gary Payton II, they oftentimes haven’t been given an opportunity. But they were ready when called upon. Moses Moody basically has kind of showed me that if you want to move Poole, you can. He’s ready to step up and take that role.”
The attitude from Poole stands out.
He’s often bristled at questions from reporters, keeping a timer during his press conferences and looked visibly frustrated when not on the court.
Here’s him checking out on Monday night:
Spears took issue with that and said the Warriors should consider trading him this offseason.
“Just the body language on the bench and during timeouts and some of the comments in the locker room and turning his music on on a cell phone in the locker room so he could hear music, which is typically supposed to be a dour environment after you lose such a tough game,” Spears said. “Maybe it might be time this offseason for both teams to part ways, especially with Moody’s ascension. Really just been kind of disappointed about Poole’s everything from the way, not only that he’s played, but the lack of accountability as well.”
After a 21-point, 6-assist performance in Game 1, Poole has been rendered a non-factor.
In the past three games in total, Poole has scored 11 points (5-of-19, 0-of-8 from 3-pt) with 10 assists, 10 rebounds, 7 turnovers and 7 fouls in roughly 48 minutes.
Trading Poole would be complicated by the fact he’ll be due $27.5 million next season, increasing for the following three years until it hits $34.4 million in 2026-27.
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