Jordan Poole's Pelicans Tenure Hits a New Low Entering Final Week of the Season

There are plenty of things that went wrong for the New Orleans Pelicans this season. When a team that traded away its unprotected first-round pick is headed to win less than 30 games, blaming any one player or decision becomes impossible. Yet, it's safe to say that the disappointing performance of Jordan Poole is near the top of the list of main reasons for the Pelicans' struggles.

Poole's tenure in New Orleans has been a disaster from the start, but things hit a new low on Sunday. Against the Orlando Magic, the Pelicans were without Dejounte Murray and Trey Murphy. Herb Jones didn't play at all after the first quarter. Despite being down three starters and desperately needing offense, the Pelicans didn't give Poole a single minute.

This was the third straight DNP-Coach's Decision for Poole. The former Warriors guard has only played in four games since March 1st despite being healthy. The veteran guard saw a total of 64 minutes in those games, averaging 5.3 points per game in 24.1% from the field.

Pelicans Have Clearly Given Up on Jordan Poole

Looking at his statistical profile, it's not hard to understand why Poole has been a healthy scratch for most of the season. The 26-year-old made 36.5% of his field goals and 32.6% of his threes this season. Considering that Poole is also one of the worst defenders in the league and the entirety of his value is supposed to come on the offensive end, these are unacceptable numbers.

It's not like Poole adds much else offensively other than scoring. He has questionable shot selection, is not a great playmaker, and can be turnover-prone. He is not a good enough shooter to thrive in an off-ball role. If he is out there, he needs to have the ball in his hands, but if he isn't making shots at a high clip, either, he becomes very difficult to rely on.

Poole will finish the season having played fewer than half the games for the Pelicans. While some of this is injury-related, the bigger factor has been the fact that the team is better when he is off the court, highlighted by the -7 net rating the Pelicans have when he is playing versus a more respectable -3.7 when he is on the bench, per Cleaning the Glass.

Some fans were wondering whether James Borrego would deploy Poole more in the final stretch of the season. This would have helped Poole build some momentum before next season and boost his trade value.

It turns out that the Pelicans have no interest in giving Poole another chance this season. Borrego decided to play Jordan Hawkins, Trey Alexander, Micah Peavy, and Hunter Dickinson all ahead of Poole last night, and it's hard to see that changing, especially once Murray and Murphy are back. It looks like we may have seen the last of Poole in a Pelicans uniform.