Klay Thompson’s buyout with the Dallas Mavericks sent him toward the Miami Heat on Friday, and it also put a different former Warriors champion back into the conversation: Jordan Poole.
No buyout talks have been reported for Poole and the New Orleans Pelicans, but the parallels are hard to miss. Like Thompson, Poole is on an expiring contract.
Like Thompson, he may be tough to move in a trade. And like Thompson, he appears to be a player whose current team may eventually decide the cleanest path is to let him go.
The biggest difference is age. Thompson is the veteran, and he was willing to give back roughly $9.8 million on a $17.5 million expiring deal to help get his buyout done. Poole is 27 and sitting on a $34 million expiring contract, which makes that kind of financial concession far less likely.
That matters because the Pelicans probably would have moved Poole already if a deal had been there. Instead, things have gone quiet since rumors around his availability before the February mid-season deadline.
His first year in New Orleans didn’t do much to change the picture. Poole played in only 39 games and spent significant stretches out of the rotation, leaving him in a spot where he doesn’t look like part of the team’s next contending core. It would take a major turnaround for that to change.
For now, New Orleans seems more likely to bring him into the season and see whether a reset helps. The Pelicans are counting on a different voice with Jahmahl Mosley replacing interim head coach James Borrego, and Poole’s age gives them more reason than Dallas had with Thompson to hope for a bounce-back.
Even then, the fit is complicated. Poole is expected to remain in a bench role while the Pelicans develop recent seventh overall pick Jeremiah Fears alongside Dejounte Murray. If nothing changes before opening night, the team could still revisit a trade or even a buyout before the mid-season deadline.
And while the Warriors weren’t part of Thompson’s next step, Poole’s name could draw them back into the picture if he ever becomes available, even with his infamous history with Draymond Green.
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