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By Aman Sharma
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Jordan Poole didn’t even let the reporter finish asking about a return to Golden State.
The New Orleans Pelicans guard, 27, said he would come back after his team’s 138-87 loss to the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center, according to Luca Evans. He answered from the visiting locker room before the question was done.
“Yes,” Poole said. “Yes. I mean, it just feels like home, though, you know? Driving into the [expletive] arena, crossing the Bay Bridge … it definitely feels natural.”
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Timing gives those words weight. Poole’s four-year, $128 million extension expires after this season, and he raised that point himself.
“This is my last year on the deal. And I’m a free agent at the end of the season. So you never really know what’s going to happen,” he said.
He added that if there’s any place he feels at ease, “it’s probably where I started.”
Stephen Curry heard the comments postgame and didn’t hedge.
“Jordan is at the top of the list,” Curry said. “There aren’t many guys that I’ve played with that I wouldn’t welcome back. Full stop.”
Golden State drafted Poole with the No. 28 overall pick in 2019, and he averaged 17.0 points over 22 playoff games during the 2021-22 championship run.
Draymond Green punched Poole in October 2022, and the fallout lingered. In July 2023, Golden State dealt him to the Washington Wizards in the trade that landed Chris Paul.
Washington got 20.5 points per game from him in 2024-25, his second season there, before moving him to New Orleans.
His Pelicans stint has gone sideways. Through five games, Poole is averaging 6.2 points on 19.6% shooting, and he had seven points on 1 of 5 from the field in 34 minutes against Golden State.
Poole described the year as “pretty [expletive] difficult,” citing a carousel of five coaches over four years.
Evans wrote that the Warriors have plenty of cap room and could likely land Poole on an inexpensive prove-it contract, though their hunt for two-way fits makes a reunion tough to picture.
Next summer brings that chance, when Poole’s $128 million deal comes off the books.
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