Wizards: This shocking stat shows how bad Jordan Poole has been
By Cem Yolbulan
Jordan Poole and the Washington Wizards have been extremely disappointing to start the 2023-24 NBA season. That shouldn’t be news to anybody at this point. The Wizards have the second-worst record in the NBA with a 2-12 record and a seven-game losing streak. Jordan Poole has been the most disappointing Wizard through 14 games, struggling with his shot, efficiency, and defensive effort. Yet, that doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story of the Jordan Poole experience. He has, in fact, been one of the most damaging players in the entire NBA this season. And the stats back this up.
This may be hard to believe, but the Washington Wizards are actually a very good basketball team when Jordan Poole is not playing. According to Cleaning the Glass data, the Wizards outscore their opponents by 11.8 points per 100 possessions when Poole isn’t on the court. This score differential is better than the league-best Boston Celtics’ +11.3. They score 126 points per 100 possessions, equivalent to the best offense in the league. This isn’t to say that the Wizards without Poole is actually the best team in the NBA, but it does say plenty about the negative impact of the 24-year-old guard.
So, what is the impact of Poole being on the court?
In the 411 minutes that Poole has played so far (excluding garbage time), their opponents outscore the Wizards by 22.7 per 100 possessions. The offense scores 104.9 points per 100 possessions, while the defense allows 127.6. This is equivalent to the worst offense in the NBA and the worst defense of all time.
Basically, the best team in the league becomes the worst team in the NBA by a wide margin when Jordan Poole is on the court. That is a swing of -34.5 points per 100 possessions. This on/off swing is easily the biggest in the league.
Out of all the players who played at least 200 minutes this season, no one comes close to Jordan Poole’s -34.5 plus-minus. The second-worst plus-minus in the entire league is Dorian Finney-Smith of the Brooklyn Nets with -26.4.
To put this in a historical perspective, Poole’s negative impact is also unprecedented in recent years. Over the past five full seasons, players with the worst plus-minus impacts were Sandro Mamukelashvili and Semi Ojeleye of the 2021-22 Milwaukee Bucks, who were 27 points per 100 possessions worse with them on the floor than off.
It’s still early in the season. 14 games are not nearly enough to make definitive statements on any one player and their impact on the team. Nevertheless, seeing this level of unprecedented negative impact by a player who is supposed to be one of the team’s best players, is shocking. This will be worth monitoring all season.
