Having been with the Golden State Warriors for over 10 years now, the NBA franchise may have become as close to Steve Kerr as anything else. For him, the squad he coaches could very well be an extension, a second family to the 59-year-old. Unfortunately, in a world like the NBA, nothing remains constant. Changes occur occasionally. This was the reason why, despite having experienced the Warriors’ most recent championship win back in 2022 against this shooting guard, the head coach revealed not choosing to pay much heed to him now.

The Golden State Warriors recently clashed against the Washington Wizards. It marked another matchup where Stephen Curry and co went up against Jordan Poole. Aka the player who went from playing 4 seasons with the Bay Area franchise to becoming the Wizards’ highest average scorer this season. While the Wizards lost, Poole still delivered a remarkable performance by scoring 38 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Continuing to have an offensive force like that may have not caused the Warriors to hold the same 21-20 record that they currently do. This belief may have caused a reporter to ask Steve Kerr if he ever thinks about a ‘What If’ scenario. However, the head coach made it clear that the past is the past.

“No, I don’t spend a whole lot of time doing that stuff,” said Kerr in response to the reporter’s question. “The NBA is a……. it’s a business where people are coming and going all the time. You can’t spend too much time with that”. Despite this, Kerr still sends out his love for the player who he previously coached by stating “I root for Jordan. Love Jordan, and always love seeing him. I want him…. really, nothing but the best for him, and the rest of his career. He deserves it”.

When the Golden State Warriors drafted Poole back in 2019, he joined a franchise that had won 3 championships in the last 4 years and was attempting to make a 3-peat. While the same did not materialize, Poole nevertheless won a championship with Stephen Curry and co back in 2022. Unfortunately, after 4 years, the team traded him to the Washington Wizards in July 2023, ending his journey with the Bay Area.

As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the primary reason for the trade was to provide the Warriors with some relief against the NBA’s salary cap. However, before the trade, tensions had risen between Poole and veteran Draymond Green. The power forward had infamously even punched Poole during a practice session. Therefore, speculation arose on whether this tension played a contributing factor in the trade.

Steve Kerr was not pleased with how the Green feud and the trade had panned out. In an interview with ‘The Athletic’ reporter Anthony Slater, he stated “I look back at that, and I hate that it happened. I know that in my heart, that when [the Draymond Green punch] happened, we handled it the best way we thought we could handle it. But in hindsight — and hindsight is always 20/20 — we could have done better for sure.”

Kerr also added that “I just hate the way it ended for Jordan here, because he is a huge success story. For us and for him, this was a great marriage.” Kerr may have held different opinions back then. However, he has changed his perception to not feeling remorse over the deal now.

No matter what Kerr would say, losing Poole may sting a bit even now. After all, almost 2 years have elapsed, and the Warriors haven’t been the same since his exit.

Have the Warriors struggled to fill the gap left by Jordan Poole’s exit?

Trading Jordan Poole, who was then playing under a 4-year, $10.09 million contract, allowed the Warriors to bring in Chris Paul. With 12x NBA All-Star titles under his name and several All-Team honors, the player was expected to bolster the Warriors’ position. Unfortunately, during his tenure with the Bay Area franchise, Paul’s average score saw a drop. On top of that, some objections were raised by individuals on public forums regarding the player’s poor off-ball movement.

As reports started to come in that Paul would not be granted an extension, the reason behind it was that the 2023-24 season “was the best Golden State’s non-Curry minutes have been in years, and much of that was thanks to Paul. It’s just a financial situation where the Warriors are trying to cut back on their steep tax bill, and another team will likely offer CP3 more money than the Warriors want to pay their backup point guard.”

After Chris Paul and Klay Thompson’s exit, the Warriors acquired Buddy Hield. They also eventually took in Dennis Schroder to fill the shooting guard position once occupied by Jordan Poole. Unfortunately, the changes have not bettered the situation for the Bay Area franchise.

Even Draymond Green expressed his frustration against Buddy Hield back in late December 2024 by stating “We’re 16 to 15, we don’t love this. So, do we just keep doing the same thing and sit back on our hands like ‘Oh it’s going to change at some point’ or do you make a change?”

Hield averaged 21.2 points and 13.2 points during October and November, respectively, but did not achieve those numbers again in the later months. Furthermore, Dennis Schroder has yet to prove himself, as he only averaged 10.8 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 4.5 assists over the last 16 games.

The ‘$10.09 million mistake’ may very well be a regret on the Warriors front. However, with its star players being only with the franchise for a limited period, pondering on past mistakes will not get the franchise anywhere. Steve Kerr has realized this already, which may indicate that other management members may have too.