All season long, one of the things that has followed the New Orleans Pelicans around like an inner demon waiting to be unleashed was the Jordan Poole trade. When Pelicans' President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars traded CJ McCollum in a swap for Poole last summer, there were mixed reviews among fans, but the idea was there. Poole had just come off a career year. New Orleans needed to shake things up, they wanted a placeholder while they waited for Dejounte Murray to get healthy, and he was entering the prime of his career.
I don't think anyone thought this experiment would be filled with inefficient shooting nights, Poole being banished to the bench after two starts, and a ton of DNPs. Things have only gotten worse for Poole lately as Jeremiah Fears has hit a new gear as the season wraps up, and it appears the Pelican backcourt is locked up long-term.
The issue is how Poole has played this season—it's unclear whether there will even be a market for him this summer. That is, until Tuesday night, when, after making his last appearance on March 29th in garbage time against Houston, Poole returned with an offensive explosion.
JP went off for 34 points, two rebounds, four assists, and nailed seven threes in New Orleans’ 156-137 beatdown of the Utah Jazz.
Poole may have done enough to have some teams interested
Going back to Poole's time with the Golden State Warriors, he's always been a player who thrives in that spark plug, high-volume scoring role. Although that archetype is starting to go extinct, with players like Cam Thomas struggling to find a home in the league, Poole can still bring real value.
In the Pelicans' win over Utah, they outscored the Jazz 50-27 in the third quarter, and the biggest reason was Poole. He played almost the entire quarter and scored 22 points in the quarter after draining five threes. These weren't just routine open threes—they were like pull it from the parking lot, off-the-dribble, NBA Jam "he's on fire" type of shots.
New Orleans entered the third down eight, and if it weren't for Poole shifting the energy with his scoring, the Jazz would've taken this game.
Poole couldn't have had this performance at a better time. Considering the season he's had and the fact that he has another year on his $34 million deal, his value has likely never been lower. However, on Tuesday night, he showed that this may have been a one-off bad season and that if a team needs a second-unit scoring punch, buying low on JP this summer may be a move worth making.