One thing worth watching this season is how Jordan Poole, the 24-year-old former Warriors sixth man and high-scoring spark plug, will adjust to being a franchise player in Washington.
The betting markets seem to have him pegged as the front-runner for next year’s Most Improved Player award, even though he’ll have the added weight of running an offense without the assistance of future Hall of Famers Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, who quietly serves as one of the best screeners and setup men in basketball.
Instead, Poole, once dubbed a third Splash Brother, will now play alongside Tyus Jones and Kyle Kuzma, solid veteran players who will make life easier for him in a handful of ways, but still ones who are a far cry from demanding the sort of defensive attention paid to someone like Curry. (Damian Lillard might be the superstar closest to demanding the sort of full-court pickup Curry prompts.) Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porziņģis are gone now—to Phoenix and Boston, respectively—so it raises the question of how successful Poole will be as a lead option.
