NBA insider says Jordan Poole is ‘not a good basketball player’

Jordan Poole has gotten off to a rough start in the playoffs and one NBA insider is ready to sell all his stock in the young wing’s future.

If you tracked the perception of Jordan Poole like a stock, you’d see some pretty steep peaks and some incredibly deep valleys. He was taken with the No. 28 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft but wasn’t even projected as a first-rounder on many boards. His future as even a fringe rotation player looked incredibly bleak after shooting 33.3 percent from the field and 27.9 percent from beyond the arc as a rookie.

Poole improved somewhat steadily over the next two seasons, increasing his scoring average and shooting percentages on 2-pointers, 3-pointers and from the free-throw line in each campaign. Last year, he started 51 games, led the league in free throw percentage and played an important role in the Warriors championship run, even finishing fourth in voting for the Most Improved Player Award.

But since then, things have taken a turn.

With sky-high expectations this season, Poole has regressed across the board with significant declines in his 2-point percentage, 3-point percentage, and free-throw percentage, with a steep uptick in his turnovers. He’s scoring more because he’s taking a lot more shots but in a season where the Warriors desperately need a consistent lift he’s been mostly underwhelming.

NBA insider Kevin O’Connor says he’s done with Jordan Poole

On a recent podcast at The Ringer, Kevin O’Connor did not mince words about where Jordan Poole is right now, saying: “Jordan Poole, I have no hope for him. He’s not a good basketball player and at this point, he’s getting benched in the second half for good reason.”

The benching O’Connor is referring to came in the second half of the Warriors’ Monday loss to the Kings. Poole played just five minutes in the second half and finished the game 1-of-7 from the field. The Warriors now find themselves in a 2-0 hole and Poole has managed just 21 points across the two losses, shooting 5-of-17 from the field and 2-of-8 from beyond the arc.

This is absolutely a rough stretch but Poole actually ended the regular season on an upswing, averaging 20.5 points over the Warriors’ final 10 games, with shooting percentages roughly in line with his career peaks last season. Whether or not O’Connor’s comments about his future turn out to be overblown, Poole has to be much better if the Warriors are going to have any shot against the Kings.

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