Is this Warriors guard the real ‘dream trade target’ for the Wizards?

In a recent article, Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report listed out the dream trade target for every team in the NBA. His selection for the Washington Wizards, however, is less than ideal for the team.

He chose Jordan Poole of the Golden State Warriors as the best choice for the Wizards. He justified this saying that they need to find more firepower but can’t have Monte Morris as a primary playmaker. He also stated that the Wizards can’t really go all in on this group as it could cause issues down the road.

While all of this is true, they aren’t mutually exclusive either. They could easily put together a team with more firepower and get a better point guard that fits much better without making a single trade this offseason. It just comes down to player usage and the upcoming draft.

There are also far more reasons to not trade for the young combo guard.

Jordan Poole’s talents just don’t fit with the Wizards roster

Jordan Poole is an undersized guard on a contract that does not support his production. He is a quality scorer but can only score so much before seeing a drastic drop in efficiency. His playmaking is nothing spectacular and his defense is practically non-existent. Sound familiar?

That describes Bradley Beal almost to a T. While the Wizards star is much better than Poole, being able to score in the low to mid twenties before seeing an efficiency drop off, they play almost the exact same brand of basketball. The biggest difference though? Beal doesn’t make plays that make you question how he has a spot on an NBA roster like Poole does.

Adding Jordan Poole to the mix does nothing to actually address the problems with the roster. They would still have a problem with moving the ball, the perimeter defense would still be horrendous, and the frustrating shot selection would still haunt them. Not only would these problems not be fixed, but they would also be accentuated by the presence of Poole.

Jordan Poole is also just one of the most overrated players in the league

To say Poole is incredibly inconsistent would be an understatement. While he’ll have outings where he looks like a young Stephen Curry, he will have just as many looking more similar to Evan Turner with Trae Young’s shot selection. Is it really worth the gamble for a team looking for consistency?

At best, Jordan Poole is a sparkplug scoring option off the bench on a championship team, at worst, he fills up the Shaq’tin a Fool highlight reels with awful shot attempts and even worse turnovers.

He is guaranteed at least one play that feels like it deserves to be on the all-time NBA highlight reel, but also an awful turnover that leaves you questioning reality. Both tend to happen late in close games.

This is not to say that he cannot develop into a star with the right discipline and development staff. However, what players have the Wizards developed with their current coaching staff? Deni Avdija, Corey Kispert, Johnny Davis, and Rui Hachimura. The best player of those four is currently Hachimura who really exploded once he was given a consistent role with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Jordan Poole has plenty of potential as a player, but that ceiling will not be reached on the Washington Wizards. Right now, he is a player with negative value that will require a big contract be moved for him. It’s not worth it for the Wiz.