Wizards' Jordan Poole: 'I Got to Learn From the Best of the Best' With Warriors

New Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole is thankful for his time with the Golden State Warriors.

Poole was traded to the Washington Wizards in the offseason as a headliner in a package that brought 12-time All-Star Chris Paul to Golden State. Poole said that his tenure in the Bay Area allowed him to "learn from the best of the best" and that he is looking forward to building something in Washington D.C.

Poole said, per Josh Robbins of The Athletic:

"Golden State, their picture is already painted. Some other organizations, they're already established or they have their foundation. But it was cool 'cause I got to learn from the best of the best.

"That's the challenge, The challenge is learning and applying what you took and trying to build everything up from the common denominators of what you do know, what you took from different teams, different age groups, different areas, different coaches, and then you apply what you think is needed or what you've asked or what you think will help and see what masterpiece comes out of that."

Poole said that he enjoyed playing a role in Golden State but is now looking forward to taking on a leadership role. He said the young and energetic Wizards are gelling and enjoying playing together.

"We all love to play the game and we're young and we have a lot of energy and we're excited," Poole said, per Robbins. "I think that's just something to get behind. You can get behind a youthful and joyful spirit—you know, just like the enjoyment of playing basketball. We would love to go out and win 82 games. It probably won't happen. But that doesn't mean that you can't have joy just playing the game. So, we want everybody else to see that."

Poole was a first-round pick in 2019 and has shown statistical improvement in each season. He averaged 20.4 points, 4.5 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 82 games for the Warriors in 2022-23, making 43 starts. He now joins a Wizards team that has missed the playoffs in two consecutive seasons and in four of the last five seasons.

He will have an extended stay with the franchise as he is under contract through 2026-27 and will look to help the Wizards move forward in the post-Bradley Beal era.

Washington has one preseason game remaining before Poole will make his regular season debut. That will come Oct. 25 when the team faces off against the Indiana Pacers.