Jordan Poole, a frontrunner for NBA’s Most Improved Player, has ascended into greatness. It is going to make the Warriors a tough out in the postseason.
This isn’t meant as a shot against Ja Morant, Darius Garland, Miles Bridges, Dejounte Murray, Anfernee Simons, Tyrese Maxey, Desmond Bane, or any of the other candidates. However, I’ve come away more and more impressed by Poole in each passing game.
Even though Golden State’s record has faltered a bit of late as the Warriors have dealt with various injuries, Poole has massively stepped up. He has scored at least 20 points in 14 consecutive games, only failing to reach that mark once this month.
That was during the first game he played in March and he has since averaged 25.5 points per game. He has reached 30 points on three separate occasions and there are only two players in the Western Conference who have scored as many total points in March: LeBron James and Nikola Jokic.
In the process, he also put up perhaps the most impressive dribbling highlight of the season. Watch this clip once, I can promise you, you’re going to watch it several more times. Odds are, you’ll end up sending it to a few friends and make them watch it, too.
Jordan Poole, what now ?! pic.twitter.com/fadbRb6ou9
— Guillaume | Le Basket Lab (@GuillaumeBInfos) March 28, 2022
With a handle like that, Poole has well-earned a deep dive into his success. Not only does he have insane crossover moves but he also leads the league in 3-pointers made (60) this month.
During this span, he is shooting 44.1% from beyond the arc. That is an especially massive accomplishment for someone who shot 27.9% on 3-pointers as a rookie, 35.1% last season, and 33.8% before the All-Star break.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Poole “really turned the corner” to turn himself into a positive-impact NBA player.
Again, not bad considering Poole ranked last among players on the Warriors in both FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR (-4.9) and BBall-Index’s LEBRON (-3.95) during his rookie campaign in 2019-20. RAPTOR and LEBRON are two of the most trusted all-in-one metrics that measure a player’s overall impact on winning. You can learn more about them if you click here.
Among the 246 players in the league to log at least 1,000 minutes that season, his score ranked as fifth-worst in RAPTOR and second-worst in LEBRON.
very cool to see jordan poole up his volume, usage and efficiency this year while balancing out his scoring profile. no real holes from any area of the court this year pic.twitter.com/pN4kf8wdEM
— Ben Pfeifer (@bjpf_) March 29, 2022
While he improved those marks last season, he has taken another massive leap forward (0.5 in RAPTOR and 1.46 in LEBRON) this year. In fact, the offensive component of BBall Index’s stat currently ranks Poole fourth-best among players 22 years or younger.
When asked about where to credit Poole’s remarkable recent ascension, Kerr had this to say (via NBC Sports):
“He’s got so much confidence and belief in himself. So even if he starts slow, he has great faith that he’s going to get going in a game, and he knows how quick he is to get good shots up anytime he wants and create offense for us. He’s been great.”
With the increased confidence in himself (you can see it in how far away he is willing to release his shot), Poole has also earned increased trust from his team.
This Jordan Poole sequence is Steph-esque
pic.twitter.com/TtaSvNnS7L— Guru (@DrGuru_) March 24, 2022
Using tracking data courtesy of PBP Stats, I sorted all NBA players by their year-over-year increase or decrease in dribbles per touch. When filtering out the low-minute players in both seasons, Poole’s delta (from 2.48 dribbles per touch to 3.46 dribbles) ranks fourth-most in the league.
He has flashed this not just when attacking the basket but when shooting off the bounce, too. Since the All-Star break, the only players to connect on more pull-up 3-pointers are just Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, and Jayson Tatum. But the highlights are even more impressive than the boring statistics.
Watch the way he is able to break Kyle Lowry’s ankles and tell me you’re not impressed beyond reason with his stepback jumper:
Jordan Poole is nice with it!
Warriors, Heat tied at halftime 50-50
Watch Here: https://t.co/oz9UCQxdQa pic.twitter.com/tKbOy49J8M
— NBA (@NBA) March 24, 2022
Golden State’s Klay Thompson also shared his thoughts on how Poole is making this happen.
“Jordan has such a bright future … The world can see that. And we need him. We need him to win, reach our goals. And I enjoy playing with him. He’s such an incredible ball-handler, shooter, scorer, and I look forward to seeing him grow every year. To be 22 years old and be able to do what he does, it’s a testament to his hard work, and his future is so bright.”
Thompson’s observation is strong, especially as it pertains to Poole’s prowess in pick and roll.
As a rookie, Poole averaged 0.65 points per possession (19th percentile) as the ball handler in these sets. Last season, he increased that rate up to a more respectable rate of 0.78 PPP (32nd percentile). This year, he now is one of the most accomplished scorers as the PnR ball handler.
He is averaging 1.03 PPP (87th percentile) on these opportunities in 2021-22, which is among the most efficient marks in the NBA among all high-volume contributors.
Poole has also made strides as a ball-handler in transition, not just in the half-court. You saw that during his mind-blowing highlight (which was embedded earlier in this article) against the Wizards.
The sort of productivity Poole has shown, especially with his shot creation, is going to make the Warriors a very hard team to eliminate during the playoffs this year.
Maybe he won’t win Most Improved Player, as the candidates are stacked this season. However, with everything he has shown, you’ll see his massive value to Golden State when they begin postseason action.
