This offseason the Washington Wizards managed to free themselves of the Jordan Poole problem that plagued them for each of the last two years.
After a career-year in Washington, general manager Will Dawkins managed to find a trade partner for a contract that was at one time deemed to be one of the worst deals in the NBA.
That trade partner came at the expense of the New Orleans Pelicans, who's roster construction has slowly but surely plagued them into what will be a busy next few months.
As the NBA trade deadline looms, New Orleans is rumored to be a team who's preparing to become sellers with several intriguing prospects who could be on the move.
Obviously, names like Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones are players that several contenders will have their sights set on in hopes of making a blockbuster move.
However, of those players mentioned above, none of them should take top priority when it comes to offloading a contract, especially not over the likes of Poole.
Pelicans are learning why the Wizards were eager to move Poole
When the Pelicans opted to trade for Poole this offseason, part of it was in efforts to fill the void that would be left with the achilles injury to Dejounte Murray, while also taking it as a golden opportunity to move on from CJ McCollum's lucrative contract.
At the time, the acquisition of the former Wizards seemed like a good move, allowing for the team's backcourt to get younger while also landing offensive firepower.
However, since the start of the season, when Poole has been on the court, he's proven exactly why the Wizards jumped at the possibility to move on from the inconsistent guard.
Averaging 17.3 points, 3.4 assists and 1.7 rebounds, while shooting an abysmal 35.4% from field goal range and 33.9% from beyond the arc, the Michigan product took only seven games and four starts to force the Pelicans to learn the same lesson Washington was forced to learn.
Mix Poole's inefficiency, with the emergence of rookie guard Jeremiah Fears and the eventual return of Murray, New Orleans has reportedly began to explore ways to move on from Poole at the deadline.
Despite that, New Orleans will soon find out just how difficult it is to move on from Poole's contract, which is partially why the Wizards were forced to keep the former Warrior in the DMV longer than they may have liked to.