Under Brian Keefe, Jordan Poole begins Year 2 in D.C. in a much better place

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jordan Poole first became a Washington Wizards player in July 2023 as part of a deal that sent Chris Paul to the Golden State Warriors.

To hear teammates and coach tell it, his real arrival came much later.

Poole may have worn the Wizards uniform for all of last season. But the talent that earned him top 10 votes in the NBA’s Most Improved Player polling for two straight years at Golden State only fully resurfaced deep into a difficult 15-win campaign, and after the Wizards parted with former coach Wes Unseld Jr. in favor of Brian Keefe.

“From last year to over the summer to now, I think Jordan is a much different person,” Kyle Kuzma, last year’s Wizards leading scorer, said at Monday’s team media day. “I think that he’s Jordan Poole. I don’t think last year, he necessarily was. He was a little bit quiet, a little bit standoffish.”

One of Keefe’s first focuses after taking over in January was getting Poole into more ball-handling situations, something Poole believes is much more suited to his strengths.

“Being able to get into transition, building confidence into my teammates. It’s something I’ve always been able to do, especially with the ball,” Poole said. “Guys are open, just get them the ball and try to put them in situations to be successful.”

And results suggest both Poole and the Wizards benefitted.

Poole improved his scoring average by about two points and his assists average by about two — without a major increase in turnovers — in the final 40 games coached by Keefe. His five highest scoring games all came in that stretch. Three of his four double-digit assist games came in the final 10 the Wizards played.

Washington’s winning percentage was only fractionally better under Keefe, but in general the performances were more competitive.

While the Wizards have added more players they view as on-ball decision makers this offseason, Keefe confirmed giving Poole that responsibility will again be a focus.

But that alone can’t explain the evolution his teammates have seen, he said.

“Jordan unlocked himself,” Keefe said. “We stylistically gave him the ball. But I just wanted Jordan to be himself. This is a guy who’s already had a great career. I just wanted to remind him that that’s who he is.”

Teammate Corey Kispert suggested it’s as simple as getting used to new surroundings, as well as a new role where he’s expected to take on a larger profile on and off the court. It’s something Kispert hasn’t experienced yet through three NBA seasons playing on his rookie contract.

“You can just tell his blood pressure is a lot lower,” Kispert said. “I couldn’t imagine the kind of stuff he was dealing with his first year here, coming to a brand new team, to a place he’d never been before, and you’re asked to do a host of different things where maybe he didn’t have that role or responsibility with the Warriors. It felt like he was juggling a lot of different stuff.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Ian Nicholas Quillen, The Associated Press