Could The Pelicans' Move For Warriors Champion Backfire?

The New Orleans Pelicans might not be winners after all in their offseason acquisition of a 2022 Golden State Warriors NBA Champion

Dec 16, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole (3) talks with center Kevon Looney (5) during a break in action against the Philadelphia 76ers during the fourth quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Pelicans will still return key members of their team in Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III, and Herb Jones, for the 2025-26 season, but there will be some new faces to the roster as they look to put their 21-61 season in the past and get back to the postseason. With a new front office regime in place, there might not be much patience if things go south.

Among those additions the Pelicans made this offseason are a pair of 2022 NBA Champions from the Golden State Warriors. The first of which was Jordan Poole, who the Pelicans acquired in a trade with the Washington Wizards as they parted ways with CJ McCollum. As for Kevon Looney, he joined the roster a few weeks later after signing a two-year deal in free agency.

Jordan Poole is HYPED him and Kevon Looney are reunited in NOLA 👏⚜️ pic.twitter.com/jmS1PWCLuu

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 1, 2025

Looney will more than likely be in the mix throughout the season in the center rotation, alongside young guys in Yves Missi and Derik Queen. But for Poole, his situation is interesting, and there's no telling just how his season will end up.

Criticism On The Poole Trade

According to The Athletic's John Hollinger, however, he believes that the Poole deal will backfire on the Pelicans, even though Poole's numbers improved in the 2024-25 season with Washington.

🥽🥽 pic.twitter.com/1GJpeIxd0k

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) September 18, 2025

"While McCollum is entering his age-34 season and not the player he once was, he still arguably projects as a more valuable player than Poole," he wrote. "My BORD$ formula rated him as a $14.3 million player for the coming season, compared to an $8.4 million valuation for Poole. New Orleans went from about $20 million underwater on McCollum’s deal to roughly $40 million under with Poole."

Comparing stats between the two players, Poole averaged more assists, had a better true shooting percentage, and averaged slightly fewer points despite fewer minutes and shot attempts. However, it's the money that Hollinger continued to hammer.

"Even with an expiring deal in 2026-27, Poole might prove challenging to trade for a different reason: His contract contains $3.75 million in unlikely incentives, the sort that teams have bent over backwards to avoid in the apron era because the dollars count against the apron even if the incentives never hit. Nobody wants those on their books anymore," he added.

A lot of Poole's success will be determined by how Willie Green and this coaching staff opt to use him. Especially if Dejounte Murray isn't healthy to start the season, Poole could be asked to serve as a primary ball-handler and creator as Jeremiah Fears develops.

However, if Poole can ease back on the turnovers and be used as the scoring threat he can be, the Pelicans can turn this perceived miss into a hit.