Jordan Poole returns to Chase Center December 22

When you’re planning your holiday gathering this fall, the Golden State Warriors urge you to consider a Poole party.

Jordan Poole and the Washington Wizards will make their only trip to San Francisco on December 22. It will be the first time Poole is back since the June trade that sent him to Washington D.C. in exchange for Chris Paul, after a very tumultuous year. Poole signed a lucrative four-year extension, got punched in the face by Draymond Green during training camp, and virtually disappeared from the offense and Coach Steve Kerr’s rotation by the team’s second-round playoff loss.

Now he’s a Wizard, along with last year’s Warriors draft picks Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins. Call it the “one timeline trade,” where the Warriors reversed course, exchanging their youth movement for the NBA’s second-oldest active player. (We’re not counting Andre Iguodala. He’s a full-time podcaster now.)

While the Warriors are certain to have a video tribute to Poole prepared, it was a different video that signaled the beginning of the end to his Warriors career - the punch clip leaked to TMZ. Perhaps things would have been different had the Warriors suspended Green, or kept the incident private, or if they’d added veterans instead of players who couldn’t legally drink yet. But now Poole is in the Eastern Conference, on the rebuilding Wizards - and he really only has to share the ball with Kyle Kuzma now.

The Warriors certainly had their frustrations with Poole last year, the biggest being the game where Steph Curry got ejected for throwing his mouthpiece in anger after another ill-advised Poole three-pointer.

But what everyone will be watching is Poole facing Green for the first time on opposing teams. It’s even part of the trailer for NBA 2K24, where Poole calls for an isolation on Green, then works him.

Other Warriors have been complimentary since Poole was traded. Klay Thompson said he “knew he was going to be special” and added, “We wouldn’t have won a championship without him.” Curry was also heartfelt, telling Poole in a video message, “You’re a champion, you grew up right in front of everybody’s face... can’t wait to see you blossom big fella, can’t wait to see you shine in your own situation.”

Green has not buried the hatchet, and in fact has started a feud with Poole’s father. No word on whether Anthony Poole is making the trip.

One a side note, we are looking forward to seeing if there’s a tribute video for Baldwin or Rollins. We expect Baldwin to get one - it’s easy to string together clips of his 32 threes last season. But for Rollins, would the footage just be him watching game tape, or doing rehab exercises?

The Poole is open December 22. Let’s hope Draymond can stay off Santa’s naughty list until Christmas.