THE Wizards of Washington are a real waste. They are one of the three worst teams in the NBA and would already regret the trade that brought Jordan Poole to the nation’s capital. Chris Paul may be a dirty old man on the field, but at least he pays attention and takes the game seriously.
In less than 15 games in Washington, Poole has already compiled a reel for the ages. One silly game after another, as if he was living in his own world. Even the bad guys on the field can’t get Poole’s party started in DC. However, he showed up a bit with a game-high 30 points Monday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Wizards still lost by 13, even with Poole’s contribution.
Poole has played 13 games in a Wizards uniform and rumors that the team is willing to use him as a trade piece have started to circulate. They have barely completed 15 per cent of the season and are fed up with Poole’s nonsense. Ultimately, Washington’s front office has only themselves to blame. In fact, they thought it would be a good idea to pair Poole with Kyle Kuzma and let them run wild.
It’s like a Hollywood scenario where the team starts out awkwardly, but there’s no triumphant return or happy ending for this cast. The Wizards need to move forward and start fielding calls now for Poole after this 30-point performance, because his stock may not be this high for a while. Certainly, if Washington could trade him now, they would, but they’ll probably have to wait until the trade deadline approaches in February.
Meanwhile, even in their own early struggles, the Golden State Warriors have to watch and laugh a little. They’re missing Poole’s score right now, but the immaturity had become too much in a locker room led by veterans with championship pedigree.
It’s not that Poole is a bad player. He is too careless and cares more about showing off in front of the ladies sitting on the field than helping his team. Poole doesn’t put in much effort defensively, so he’s a liability if he doesn’t score more than 20 points. There’s no reason he can’t average 22-28 per game in Washington, and yet here we are. Poole has only scored 20 or more three times in 13 games and has one 30-point outing. This is definitely not what the Wizards signed up for.