What’s really going on, Bob Myers?
The Warriors general manager is reportedly interested in acquiring Rockets guard Victor Oladipo, per The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor.
Don’t believe me? Here’s part of what O’Connor wrote in his NBA power ranking from Monday, March 8, in which he ranked Golden State as the No. 15 team in the The Association.
League sources say the Warriors have interest in acquiring Rockets guard Victor Oladipo. The former Pacer has been up and down in his second season following a major knee injury, averaging 20 points on only 39.9 percent from the field. Golden State would not have the cap space to pursue him this summer, so the time to pounce would be now.
Kevin O’Connor/The Ringer
First of all, note that Oladipo recently had major knee surgery. You’d ideally like to see that knee tested over a longer period of time.
But O’Connor goes on to explain that the Warriors would have to pounce on a trade now due to salary cap issues. The only problem there is Golden State has few available first-round picks to trade for Oladipo, since they’re tied up in other deals.
So why the interest in Oladipo from Myers? Per O’Connor, “Golden State’s interest in Oladipo signals the front office’s intentions to find another ball handler.”
That’s something that makes sense. Golden State brought young guards Nico Mannion and Jordan Poole up from the G-League bubble earlier than expected, and they each showed extreme promise against the Suns just before the All-Star break, with Poole scoring a career high 26 points.
Take a look at Poole’s highlights from that night, courtesy of the Warriors’ Twitter account. Is this perhaps the ball handling Myers is looking for? Notice the handles at the 38-second mark.
I think Poole can do the job that Myers seeks. The only catch is that Poole has to play within coach Steve Kerr’s motion offense and essentially make sure other players, mostly Stephen Curry, are getting their shots before he does. Poole’s jumper has looked fantastic, and Golden State figures to need scoring from Poole too.
But watching Poole’s career thus far, he puts too much pressure on himself to make shots and it impacts his game negatively. All he’s got to do is play a bit more conservatively, and he’ll help the team tremendously. Conservative for Poole is like normal for other players. They guy just has a habit of getting too hyped up.
But he’ll get his chance to prove Golden State doesn’t have to make a trade to get the perimeter play it needs. Myers would certainly be happy and proud if Poole, his former first-round pick, took the job and ran with it before the March 25 NBA trade deadline.
(Photo credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
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