No player in the NBA has burnished his reputation over the last 18 months better than Jordan Poole. And after cementing himself as a crucial cog during the Golden State Warriors' title run, the electric guard is up for a contract extension this summer—one poised to make him the among highest-paid reserves in basketball.
According to Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle, Golden State's contract negotiations with Poole are expected to start with a whopping $25 million annual salary:
But to sign Poole to an extension this summer, Golden State might have to come close to the max. A league source said the Warriors’ offer likely needs to start at around four years, $100 million.
Poole continued building this season on an eye-opening finish to 2020-21, averaging 18.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. He shot 36.4% from deep on a prolific diet of difficult 3-point attempts, also leading the NBA by making 92.5% of his free throws.
Poole's breakout campaign earned him fourth in the race for Most Improved Player, in addition to 15 first-place votes—more than anyone but award-winner Ja Morant and runner-up Dejounte Murray.
Though his defensive deficiencies were regularly exploited throughout the playoffs, cutting into his playing time, Poole was quietly even better offensively than he was during the regular season. His 17.0 points per game came courtesy of 62.7% shooting on 2-pointers and 39.1% on triples, good for a scorching 65.4 true shooting percentage, comfortably better than Steph Curry's.
Golden State had a record $350 million payroll in 2021-22, including luxury-tax penalties, and owner Joe Lacob is bound to pay an even bigger one next season. A potential extension for Poole wouldn't factor into that exorbitant total. He'll play on a $3.9 million salary in 2022-23 regardless of how extension talks play out with management this summer.
Still, it's in the Warriors' best long-term financial interests to lock Poole up now, keeping him from about to be hitting the market as a restricted free agent this time next year.
A max-level deal for Poole comes in at $185.7 million over five years, with a starting salary of roughly $32 million. That number will spike even higher next summer as the salary cap rises again, providing Golden State justification to try and get ahead of Poole signing a maximum offer sheet from a competing team in July 2023.
Jalen Brunson and Anfernee Simons are due major paydays in free agency this summer whether they re-up with their incumbent teams. If they indeed command an anticipated starting salary of around $25 million, the Warriors would have a helpful blueprint for extension negotiations with another score-first guard cut from the same general cloth as Brunson and Simons.
Poole, remember, believes a “bag” is soon coming his way. Getting the deepest one surely means electing against an extension and hitting restricted free agency next year, but there's ample reason to believe a fair deal will get done before then. Poole, still improving, has already played a pivotal role in Golden State's title run, and deserves to be compensated accordingly.
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