Warriors Rumors: Klay Thompson, 'Established Guys' Had Issues with Jordan Poole

After the Golden State Warriors traded rising young guard Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards, a rumor has come out that there was a deeper issue behind his departure.

According to Belle Fraser of the New York Post, The Ringer's Logan Murdock recently said on The Bill Simmons Podcast that veteran players such as Klay Thompson were not too fond of Poole.

"All the established guys had some version of a problem with Jordan Poole, whether it was Klay ironically saying that Jordan doesn't pass the ball enough and shoots too much," Murdock said.

Poole being traded to the Wizards late last month in exchange for 38-year-old veteran Chris Paul came as a surprise to many. After all, the 24-year-old is coming off his best year since joining the NBA in 2019 as the No. 28 pick, averaging career highs of 20.4 points and 4.5 assists per game.

However, Poole virtually disappeared in the playoffs with averages of 10.3 points and 3.5 assists in 13 postseason games before the Warriors fell in the conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers. He shot just 34.1 percent from the field and 25.4 percent from three-point range.

Poole's trade also was followed by the Warriors re-signing star forward Draymond Green, who shared a tenuous relationship with the youngster after punching him in the face during training camp last offseason. Murdock noted that it would've been difficult for the two of them to coexist for another season.

"And then you have Draymond [Green], who sees Jordan as this guy is like, 'yeah, I did punch him,'" Murdock said. "I did do all these things, but now I don't have a voice within the locker room because of what happened."

Now, Poole will have the opportunity to be one of the primary offensive options on a rebuilding Wizards team. Perhaps the change in scenery will help him grow and mature as he is now one of the top players on a young squad.