Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson was sad to see Jordan Poole depart the organization.

Poole was part of a blockbuster trade earlier this summer that saw him leave for the Washington Wizards with the Warriors getting veteran guard Chris Paul in return.

It came as a surprise to many in the NBA world as Poole — who was among the key factors in the Warriors' 2022 championship run — was seen as the future of the franchise. However, a less-than-stellar 2022-23 season along with the after effects of his punching incident with Draymond Green seemingly left the writing on the wall for Poole, who is now a Wizard.

For Thompson, it hurt to see a homegrown player in Poole depart the Dubs. But at the same time, he believes everyone associated with the Warriors will cherish Poole for his role in the 2022 championship run.

“It hurts to see Jordan go,” Thompson said in a recent appearance on Podcast P with Paul George Presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment (via ClutchPoints). “That's the nature of the beast. … And we wouldn't have won the championship without him. He was so important to us when Steph went down. Jordan is forever gonna be cherished in the Warriors lore just for what he did and helping bring us back to where we needed to go.

“… It was weird to see him in some Wizards gear but that's like Steph [Curry] and I's little bro.”

The upside is Poole could reach his potential sooner rather than later now that he'll have the keys in Washington. Thompson is particularly excited to see how he fares as he believes his former teammate is a future All-Star.

“He's definitely got All-Star potential,” Thompson added. ” … I'm excited to watch him and Kuz. That's going to be the swaggiest buckets ever. But I'm excited for him. Washington got a good one. Future All-Star for sure.”