National media continues to sleep on Washington Wizards and Jordan Poole
Another week, another slew of major platforms forgetting that Jordan Poole averaged 20 points per game on a winning team last season while still being a young player. Even worse, the Washington Wizards continue to be ranked below the Charlotte Hornets who have a long list of issues behind the scenes heading into the new NBA season.
The Wizards have been left behind on lists all offseason, being ranked last place in many lists where they are far from the worst in the league. While there is no expectation for them to be great, there is certainly room below them where other teams are more likely to reside.
Recently, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer listed the Wiz as the worst team in the league. While many would say this should be the goal, the personnel currently on this roster is far more suited to be the 11 or 12 seed rather than the 15.
There is little difference between the 11 seed and the 15 seed in the Eastern Conference, but there are a few strong candidates for who could be worse than the Wizards right now.
The Charlotte Hornets are a dumpster fire at the moment with new issues popping up in the locker room, on social media, or even in police reports surrounding this team. They aren’t a huge leg up in terms of roster strength when compared to the Wizards either.
The Chicago Bulls struggled to make the Play-In Tournament last season behind one of the best seasons of DeMar DeRozan’s career. He is now 34 and they are still without the center point of their offense Lonzo Ball for at least all of this season. The Wizards could easily land above the Bulls this season.
Even the Toronto Raptors have a shot of falling further behind this season. They lost their star point guard and did virtually nothing to replace him. Trading Pascal Siakam and/or O.G. Anunoby could push them to the bottom of the conference.
Even newly acquired Jordan Poole has been passed up on by major outlets
For most of the last two seasons if anybody were asked about Jordan Poole, they would likely compare him to Stephen Curry. He was a rising star with all of the same strengths as arguably the greatest point guard of all time and had the privilege to learn from the master himself.
However, after a rough season from beyond the arc and a horrendous playoff run that fizzled out in the second round, Jordan Poole is no longer garnering the attention he did just a year ago. Now with the Washington Wizards, he is no longer seen as one of the stars of tomorrow, only a huge contract on a bad team.
Zach Lowe of ESPN recently made a list of the five most intriguing players in the NBA heading into next season. He listed LaMelo Ball, Josh Giddey, Devin Vassell, Deandre Ayton, and Immanuel Quickley without mentioning Jordan Poole even as an honorable mention.
While each of these young players are going to be major stories, I would argue that Poole has a few strong questions to answer that make the argument that he should be above some of the players Lowe listed.
How will he adjust to being the number one option on a team after being on the bench behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for years?
How will Poole progress in his ability to play the point guard position?
Can he become the leader in the locker room that the Wizards need him to be?
Can he shake off many of the doubts and criticisms that latched onto him all of last season?
Is he the player we all thought he was following the 2021-’22 championship campaign?
All of these questions make Jordan Poole an incredibly intriguing player for next season, and it seems as if they were all forgotten about.
While the expectations for the Washington Wizards should not be the same as the Milwaukee Bucks, they certainly have the talent to outplay other teams in their conference, especially with a strong season from Jordan Poole brewing.
