5 NBA players who can make a leap by cutting down on turnovers

The point guard who can get to the next level by cutting their turnovers: Jordan Poole 

After a breakout 2021-22 campaign, Jordan Poole came crashing back to Earth. While a drop in shooting efficiency is the most obvious culprit, a significant spike in his turnovers also played a role. Poole and Anthony Edwards were the only players in the league last season to eclipse 100 bas pass turnovers, 70 lost ball turnovers, and 20 offensive fouls, and it led to the fourth most total turnovers in the league. 

Poole is your quintessential combo guard who weaponizes their scoring threat to find and create open shooters. The style of play has become ubiquitous in the modern NBA, and when done right, it’s absolutely lethal. Even if your scoring efficiency is a bit below par, the opportunities you create for your teammates make up for it. Unfortunately, Poole saw his scoring efficiency drop without a significant improvement in his assist-to-turnover ratio to offset his less potent scoring. 

Among point guards, Poole had the fifth-worst assist-to-turnover points added per 36 minutes at plus-4.27. While adding over four points a game would be around average for a shooting guard, the bar at point guard is substantially higher than the bar at other positions. The average point guard’s assist-to-turnover points added per 36 minutes was plus-9.69. Poole is well below that mark, and the combination of being a high-turnover player and a low-assist point guard hurt his value tremendously. 

Part of Poole’s turnover problem was playing in the Warriors’ high turnover offense. That won’t be a problem for him in Washington, but he also won’t be playing next to Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. 2023-24 is a big year for Poole. If he can successfully reign in his turnovers as a high-usage option for the Wizards, he’ll have a chance to resurrect his image around the league. Players who can produce league-average shooting efficiency on a massive shot volume are still valuable, and they become borderline stars if they’re able to pair that with productive passing and/or limited turnovers.