Poole and Mannion Return to Warriors with an Opportunity
After ranking second and 11th in the G League Bubble in scoring, respectively, second-year guard Jordan Poole and rookie guard Nico Mannion were recalled from the Santa Cruz Warriors to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
With Golden State still looking for a solidified, consistent backup point guard to Stephen Curry, Poole and Mannion could take on struggling guard Brad Wanamaker’s minutes upon their returns to the NBA club.
Coach Steve Kerr acknowledged Wanamaker’s struggles as the two young guards will rejoin his team, but said his shortcomings thus far cannot all be pitted on the former Boston Celtic.
“It’s been a rough go, especially lately,” Kerr said. “I think part of what we’re seeing is that the second unit has changed quite a bit over the course of the season…and that hasn’t been easy on Brad. We probably asked for a lot from him when the ideal role for him would be to play like he did the last couple of years, play off guys like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, where he’s not having to make plays. And with this second unit, we just haven’t had enough playmaking.”
While Mannion is fifth in the G League in assists, Wanamaker is third on the Warriors per 36 minutes in assists among regular players, showing some utility as a facilitator.
The team’s performance, however, has been abysmal with Wanamaker on the floor, and the guard hasn’t been able to pick up the slack.
Rookie center James Wiseman is the only regular player to have a lower offensive rating – which assesses the team’s offensive performance with a given player on the court – than Wanamaker has had thus far. And in his third NBA season, Wanamaker is having his worst offensive performance in a given year.
After shooting 41% and 36.3% from distance in his first two respective seasons, he is hitting just 22.2% of threes on the campaign. Inside the arc, his two-point percentage has also dipped five percent from last season, and he is averaging 4.8 points per game in 16.3 minutes a contest, exacerbating the bench unit’s struggles without the playmaker Kerr said the second team was missing. “Asking Brad to provide (playmaking) is difficult because he’s more of a guy to get you organized, which he does a good job of,” Kerr said. “But asking him to make plays and create offense, that’s asking a lot of anybody.”
In Orlando, Poole has averaged 22.4 points and 3.6 assists per game, with Mannion chipping in 19.3 points and 6.9 assists per contest while pacing Santa Cruz in scoring over the past two games.
Kerr left the door open for increased roles for Poole and Mannion and pointed out how their successes in the Bubble may not necessarily translate.
“Both Jordan and Nico in Orlando displayed some really good passing skills, playmaking skills,” Kerr said. “Now obviously those are G League opponents, not NBA opponents, so it’s different. But both players are capable and they both could very well get a shot with that second group at some point, we’ll see.”
It is apparent in the team’s up-and-down campaign that despite all of the scoring success of guard Stephen Curry and passing potency from forward Draymond Green, the Warriors need reliable scoring from their second unit, especially as wings Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andrew Wiggins never seem to thrive at the same time.
Kerr has the opportunity to give Poole and Mannion playing time in the last two games before the All-Star break, as Golden State is on the road against the Trail Blazers today before completing the back-to-back in Pheonix against the Suns on Thursday.
According to NBC Sports Bay Area Warriors Insider Monte Poole, Mannion and Poole (no relation) will be eligible to play in Portland following negative COVID-19 tests after joining the team Monday.
There’s no question who will be the starting one for the Warriors at the Moda Center, as Curry sees the Blazers for the first time after dropping a career-high 62 points against Portland on Jan. 3 at the Chase Center.
As for who will get the bulk of backup minutes for the two-time MVP going forward, the best way to find out is tuning in at 7 p.m. tonight.