NBA Scout: ‘No Way’ Wizards’ Jordan Poole Is Type of Player Who Can ‘Carry Your Team’

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Jordan Poole will have more opportunity to be a go-to option on the Washington Wizards than he did with the Golden State Warriors, but at least one NBA scout doesn’t think that will translate to significantly more wins for the franchise.

“He’s a scorer,” the scout said, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “But I don’t know if he can do anything else. Can he be the main guy? I don’t think so. Will he put up numbers like the main guy on a bad team? Of course. But can he carry your team? No way. And then defensively, he’s a liability. He has picked up a rep for having an arrogance about him. It will be really interesting to see if he buys in and how it goes in Washington. I don’t see anything special happening there.”

Golden State sent Poole to Washington as part of the deal that landed Chris Paul, which means the former will have less of an opportunity to compete for a championship but more of a chance to put up impressive individual numbers.

The Michigan product averaged 20.4 points, 4.5 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game while shooting 43 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from deep last season for the Warriors.

His 15.6 shot attempts per game marked a career-high and might have been something of a concern for a Golden State team that had better options elsewhere.

The Wizards don’t have proven options like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, so Poole could prove the scout wrong and lead the way alongside Kyle Kuzma and others.

But it is difficult to imagine the team as a whole contending in the Eastern Conference.