Had we drafted Melo do you think Poole would have developed into the player he is now?
Yes.
I mentioned the other the day that Poole's improvement is based on him maxing out the strengths he had coming into the league. All his weaknesses are still his weaknesses: he's not a good defender and his decision making still isn't there. He's still the same player he is now, regardless of who the Warriors drafted back in '20. And the thing you must remember here too is, Wiseman has no value and has been a dead spot on this roster, so he's essentially been the worst of both worlds.
Drafting Melo would've forced the Warriors to invest in a big man (instead of relying on Wiseman), and if he came to be that they had to decide between him or Poole, either one of them would have enough value to trade for a legit big. Wiseman is neither a legit big nor does he have the value to trade for a legit big.
the key word was stubbornly. like i said, nothing wrong with berating. there were times after the all star break and during curry's slump and the team's losing streak that i was mad as hell at steph/wiggins ,...and the team at large for instance
but its important to be able to acknowledge the good with the bad in my opinion.
its very possible Wiseman ends up a bust since he is behind a good 2 years now in terms of development between the Memphis fiasco and this injury. However I believe in the staff and think he will be motivated seeing what the team accomplished without him. He's potentially one year from being out the league or forced to be a Sacramento King "lets take a flyer on him" type player at best. If that dont motivate him than so be it.
one thing I will say though, is that I am happy how everything has turned out regardless of whether or not he pans out. Call it the butterfly effect. Who knows what drafting Lamelo instead could have meant as far as Poole's development and us winning another ring. IMO, everything has played out perfectly and I wouldnt change a thing
Drafting Melo doesn't affect Poole's development. He still puts the work in to improve his game (because he has that dog in him), if not even more with Melo as competition to his spot. And besides, let's not act like Poole is some can't-miss-prospect who was essential to the Warriors winning a title this season. He was wildly inconsistent (which is to be expected) and was borderline unplayable at points during the playoffs.
Who knows if Poole even has a future on this team moving forward. Both Moody and Kuminga could put the front office in a position of letting him go.
It's telling when the greatest compliment you can conjure up for drafting Wiseman is how Poole improved his game. It's nothing about Wiseman himself, but another player who's a guard and his development.
And regardless of all that
@Ohene and
@BigMoneyGrip, why center this around drafting Melo instead? There's an infinite amount of other routes they could've taken instead of drafting Wiseman. You don't think actually trading that pick for some vet help would've been better too? Vet help in the context of a big man, where Poole still develops as it now stands and the Warriors have proper frontcourt depth?
u was right there with me wanting Wiggins traded when he was showing zero effort at the start of the season. Don’t heel turn now
