Wizards Executive Doubles Down on Jordan Poole Trade

The Washington Wizards' decision to part ways with Jordan Poole wasn't telegraphed when their last regular season first ended, but the front office's call to trade their leading scorer left a massive hole on the already-raw roster that's yet to be filled.

As helpful as his 20.5 points per game on 59.1% true shooting and 37.8% hit rate on a healthy dosage of 3-pointers were to a Wizards offense that would've struggled even more without his ability to create for himself and others, team management determined that they'd rather give the young prospects more opportunity on the ball. They dealt him to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for CJ McCollum and Kelly Olynyk, the latter of whom was quickly rerouted to San Antonio by the time the trade processed.

That was right before the NBA Draft, and the organization gave the fans plenty more to think about in bringing in three more rookies to add to the fold. But with training camp sitting just days away, Poole's absence as the go-to offensive initiator and on-ball scorer remains felt in judging the upcoming roster.

Team general manager Will Dawkins stood 10 toes down on the move when he spoke with the media earlier this week, swearing by the Wizards' emphasis on seeing how their own draft picks can pick up the usage time and shot attempts he leaves behind.

"The way we look at every roster move is strategically, what it does for you, how it sets you up for the future, but also style of play," he said. "And that move specifically, we felt really good about how it's gonna position us to have flexibility in the future, but more importantly, what it does to our style of play and the players that we were able to bring in in that trade.

"Cam [Whitmore] is someone we've targeted for the last three years and got an opportunity to bring in in that trade, and then you're adding a career 40% 3-point shooter in CJ McCollum, who's an every day guy, consistent, can score, can defend, can make plays and stylistically fits in with this group really, really well.