The Washington Wizards struggles this year has made this one of the toughest seasons for fans of the Wizards to watch.
There's many reasons as to why Washington sits at 10-48 on the season and there's plenty debate as to which reason is on the top of the list. Whether you want to blame the team's young core, the coaching staff, or the injury bug that simply won't leave this team alone, you can make an argument for any of these reasons.
However, arguably the biggest cause for the Wizards struggles up to this point could be the lack of having a top player in the league. At least, not a top 50 player in the league.
Jordan Poole lands at No. 99 on recent FanSided player rankings
Jordan Poole has been disrespected since his time with the Golden State Warriors came to an end. The Michigan product has been labeled as inefficient scorer who only cares about personal stats and accolades.
After being traded to the Wizards, it seemed that a restart on a rebuilding squad could be exactly what the young guard needed to finally emerge into the star that he showed flashes of being in the Western Conference.
However, after his first season with the Wizards ended in him being demoted to the sixth man role following offensive struggles, it seemed the writiing was on the wall for Poole to be labeled as nothing more than one of the worst contracts in the NBA.
Despite the demotion, Poole used the benching as motivation and he went to work in the offseason looking to improve is all-around game as a scorer, facilitator and even a defender. The 25-year-old did exactly that this season putting together a career-year averaging 21 points, 4.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds, while shooting 41.9% from field goal range.
Poole's impressive play opened eyes this season as he no longer looks like one of the worst contracts in the league. In fact, he's opened up enough eyes to the point he's now considered a top 100 player in the recent release of the NBA 99. Per Ian Levy of FanSided.com
"The Wizards are still in the NBA's basement but Poole deserves some flowers. He's trying at least a little bit on defense and has actually been a relatively steadying presence for this young team."
Despite landing on this list, Poole is ranked behind multiple bench players including Guerschon Yabusele, Christian Braun, Aaron Wiggins and even former teammate Deni Avdija. That said, if Poole wants to use anything else for motivation to better his game and silence his critics, a look at this list may be enough to do it.