Pelicans' Offseason Jordan Poole Blunder Continues to Cost Them

The New Orleans Pelicans are not getting what they were looking for from Jordan Poole.

Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

There are plenty of issues ailing the New Orleans Pelicans, who have the worst record in the NBA at 10-35. After a brief period of improvement under interim head coach James Borrego, the Pelicans are back to struggling immensely on both ends of the floor. One of the biggest reasons for the accumulation of losses is the lack of competent guard play, and the main culprit there has been Jordan Poole.

The Pelicans traded CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk, and a future second-round pick to the Wizards for Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey, and the 40th-overall pick in the draft, which became Micah Peavy. While Bey and Peavy have been better than expected, Poole's disastrous season has made that trade a massive loss for New Orleans.

The play that sums up Poole's tenure as a Pelican came with four minutes left in Sunday's game in Houston. With the Pelicans down 12, Poole was headed towards a wide-open layup on a fast break. Instead of laying it in and cutting the lead to ten, Poole threw the ball off the backboard for an alley-oop for the trailing Pelican, only to be intercepted by the Rockets.

Jordan Poole pic.twitter.com/W2H12vGcGv

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 19, 2026

Jordan Poole Continues to Frustrate Pelicans Fans With Recent Play

NBA fans have grown accustomed to these sorts of unserious plays from Poole over the years. The inconsistent effort and lack of intensity, coupled with questionable decision-making, have long made Poole a polarizing player. One could look past these moments earlier in his career because he was a dynamic offensive player who could score in a pinch. Now those days are behind him, and Poole is actively hurting the Pelicans.

Poole is shooting 38% from the field and takes more threes than ever in terms of the portion of his shots. He has the second-highest usage rate (25.2%) on the team, only behind Zion Williamson. Yet, he only has a 55% True Shooting. This combination of high volume and low efficiency is a formula that guarantees bad offense. The Pelicans have a 112.0 offensive rating when he is on the court, per Cleaning the Glass, which would rank as the fifth-worst offense in the league.

It's not like Poole provides much value in other aspects of the game. He remains one of the worst defenders in the league, never grabs a rebound, and is a below-average playmaker for his position.

If Poole were getting paid like a bench player, all of this would be fine. Yet, he is the second-highest-paid player on the team, making $31.8 million this season and due $34 million next season. This makes him one of the most untradeable players in the league. The Pelicans would likely have to attach significant draft capital to move on from Poole and his contract. Considering they are already low on draft picks, that is out of question, which means that they will likely be stuck with Poole until the summer of 2027.

If the Pelicans had not made the Poole trade in the offseason, they would have had CJ McCollum's expiring salary on their books. They could have moved him the way the Wizards did for Trae Young, or let him walk in the 2026 offseason, which could have opened up cap space. Instead, Pelicans fans have to watch Poole take ill-advised off-the-dribble threes that don't go in or throw alley-oop passes off the backboard when the team is behind double digits.