Warriors recall Jordan Poole and Nico Mannion

The Golden State Warriors are getting some backcourt reinforcements before facing Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night. Per the Warriors PR department, the Dubs are recalling guards Jordan Poole and Nico Mannion from the G League bubble, where the two have been playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors, alongside teammate Alen Smailagić and former Warriors Jeremy Lin and Jacob Evans III.

Steve Kerr had initially said that both players would stay in the bubble for the duration of the G League season, which runs through the NBA All-Star break. It’s unclear whether it’s their performance, or the performance of the Warriors bench players that led to Kerr changing his mind.

Poole has been sensational in his 11 G League games, averaging 22.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists, while shooting 45.1% from the field and 32.5% from deep, and sporting a 63.6% true-shooting percentage.

Mannion, who is on a two-way contract after being a second-round pick in 2020, is also playing extremely well. In 9 games, he’s averaged 19.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game, and shooting 40.5% from the field and 36.0% from three-point range, with a 53.5% true-shooting percentage.

It seems likely that Poole will get a good chunk of minutes off the bench, perhaps at the expense of Brad Wanamaker, and perhaps at the expense of Damion Lee. It will be interesting to see if Mannion gets any meaningful playing time.