Warriors guard Poole hoping to find his shot in Santa Cruz
Rookie guard Jordan Poole is heading to the Warriors’ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, where he’ll get a chance to see some shots go in against lesser competition.
Poole, 20, will join Santa Cruz for its games Saturday against the Stockton Kings and Sunday against the Texas Legends. There is no timetable for his first G League stint.
“It’s just for an indefinite period, so we’ll see how it goes,” Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said. “It could be for a couple of games; it could be for a couple of weeks. It just depends on how everything is going up here with us, and if we need him or not.”
Poole, the No. 28 pick in June’s NBA draft out of Michigan, was thrust into a rotation role early in the season after the Warriors endured a barrage of injuries. When Golden State started to get players back a few weeks ago, his playing time plummeted.
Entering Friday, Poole was averaging two points on 10.5% shooting in 11.9 minutes in December. His 25.4 shooting percentage on the season was easily the worst in the NBA among players who’ve attempted at least 248 shots.
“I think he’s played well the last couple of weeks,” Kerr said. “It’s been good to give him shorter bursts. I think it’s a more natural way to develop, where you play shorter minutes. You can make a mistake; you can make a good play. You’re never getting too high or too low.
“You watch tape afterward with your coach, and you just keep moving forward. I thought early in the season when we were down so many guys, I thought we had to play him too many minutes, frankly. So, I think this is more a natural order of things.”
As a firstround pick, Poole is on a guaranteed NBA contract. This season is about getting acclimated to the sport’s highest level in hopes that he can play meaningful minutes for a 202021 Warriors team poised to return to contention with a healthy Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
Meanwhile, Golden State’s two twowaycontract players — guards Ky Bowman and Damion Lee — hope to land the standard NBA deal Poole already has secured. Both Bowman and Lee have impressed this season, but their contracts afford them up to only 45 days with Golden State before they must spend the rest of the season in the G League.
That is, unless the Warriors free up a 15man roster spot for one or both of them. Bowman has used 34 of his 45 days, and Lee has used 33.
“I speak with (general manager) Bob Myers periodically about these things,” Kerr said of trying to keep Bowman or Lee with the
NBA club the rest of the season. “It’s a complicated process with various things that could happen, and various ways we can try to keep them both.
“It’s sort of complex and not something that we are going to publicly talk about. It’s more behind the scenes figuring out what is next.”