During an interview with NBA reporter Josh Robbins of The Athletic, Washington Wizards small forward Kyle Kuzma said Jordan Poole’s “next progression is just making others better.”
Poole has already established himself as a talented scorer and shooter. Kuzma believes the former Golden State Warriors guard can be a special playmaker with the Wizards.
“His next progression is just making others better, because when he has the ball, people are going to know he wants to shoot and score, and that’s OK,” Kuzma said. “That’s a good thing because that means your teammates are going to be more open from a defensive perspective. So he’s going to be great. This is his first time in this type of role. Playing off the ball for so many years, it’s going to take some time. But he’s young and he loves the game. He loves his craft.”
Poole will have the ball in his hands a lot with the Wizards. The Michigan product, who averaged 20.4 points with the Warriors last season, scored 41 points in 27 minutes against the New York Knicks on October 18.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole, Washington Wizards Updates
“I love the kid already,” Wizards veteran Taj Gibson said about Poole. “He’s such a ball of life. When you’re around young guys who have so much to bring to the table, so much energy and joy, you want to be a part of that. He understands the new situation, but every day he’s one of the first guys speaking up in the huddle, one of the first guys speaking up in film.”
Poole and Kuzma are the best players on the Wizards. Washington may not win many games this season since Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis are gone, but the team will certainly be fun to watch with Kuzma and Poole leading the way.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole, Washington Wizards Updates
“We’ve played high-level basketball enough to the point where we know it’s not always going to be a smooth, easy transition,” Poole said. “There will be down days, dog days, slow days. It’s a long season, seven or eight months. But we know that those are the days where you get better: the hardest days, the days where we’re super-tired. Everybody’s going to come with energy during training camp. Everybody’s going to have a lot of positive energy the first month or month and a half of the season.”
Poole, Kuzma and the Wizards open the 2023-24 regular season on October 25 versus the Indiana Pacers.
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