Jordan Poole’s omission from The Ringer’s Top 100 list is shocking
By Cem Yolbulan
Jordan Poole has plenty of shortcomings as a player. He needs to get better defensively, improve his ballhandling, and become more consistent with his jump shot. Having doubts about Poole as a primary option is reasonable. Not having him on a Top 100 Players in the NBA list is absolutely not.
The Ringer released their annual Top 100 Players Rankings list, and the only member of the Washington Wizards on there was Kyle Kuzma at 76. Having Kuzma above Poole is certainly a defensible position, but not even having Poole in the top 100 is a bizarre choice.
Let’s look at a few players who made the cut and play the same position and have the same play style as Poole. Tyrese Maxey (no. 52), Tyler Herro (no. 72), CJ McCollum (no. 80), Anfernee Simons (no. 92), and Norm Powell (no.98) all made the list despite being extremely similar players to Poole. None of these players except for Herro have the playoff resume Poole has. Poole averaged 17 points and 4 assists with shooting splits of 51%fg, 39% from three, and 92% from the line during the Golden State Warriors’ championship run in 2021-22.
Yes, probably all of these players above are better shooters than Poole. However, none of them, except for Maxey, are as dynamic with the ball or get to the rim as easily as Poole. If Poole’s defense is an issue, every single player mentioned above is horrible defensively as well, except for Powell, who is average at best.
Most of the names here, including Poole, are probably better suited for a sixth-man role on a championship contender. None of them had sustained success in their career being the primary or secondary option on their teams. Maxey is possibly in a different class thanks to his combination of speed, dynamism, and long-range shooting.
But for every other player, it’s hard to see the argument for them clearly being above Poole. Tyler Herro’s placement of at least 30 spots above Poole is especially shocking.
Jordan Poole was already determined to prove doubters wrong, including his former team, the Warriors. Poole may not need this extra fuel for motivation, but he is officially underrated.
