\u201cPoole is coming off an encouraging campaign, but his offensive stock is nothing if not turbulent, he\u2019s not a true floor general, and the defense with any combination of him, Queen, Fears and Zion Williamson will be a big woof.<\/p>\n
\u201cBey is a good shooter, but he\u2019s not much of a defender himself, and he\u2019s coming back from a torn left ACL that cost him all of 2024-25.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn top of all that, the ever cost-conscious (read: notoriously stingy) Pelicans are adding over $40 million to their 2026-27 books for reasons that are, at best, not entirely clear\u2014and at worst, completely nonexistent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poole Had a Bounceback Season<\/p>\n
As the writer alluded to, the former Warriors guard had a breakout season in the 2024-26, averaging a career-high 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds at decent shooting splits of 43\/38\/83. Poole averaged 3.5 made threes per game, which ranked ninth in the league<\/a>, behind only Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, Malik Beasley, Brandon Miller, LaMeLo Ball, Luka Doncic, Derrick White and Jayson Tatum.<\/p>\n However, Poole\u2019s defensive shortcomings were much too hard to ignore. The high-scoring guard ranked 382nd in the league<\/a> in defensive rating, as the Washington Wizards allowed 117.9 points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor.<\/p>\n Still, Poole\u2019s offensive numbers saw a significant tick from the 2023-24 season, when he averaged 17.4 points at mediocre shooting splits of 41\/32\/87.<\/p>\n Pelicans Expected to Stay in Lottery<\/p>\n Despite their aggressive offseason move, the Pelicans are not expected to compete for a playoff berth in the 2025-26 season. Oddsmakers have set the over\/under of wins total at 31.5 games, a year after Zion Williamson and Co. won just 21 games.<\/p>\n