Why Cowherd urges Poole to test market over Warriors extension

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With the championship shine still glowing in San Francisco, the Warriors were recently slapped with the reality of difficult financial decisions to come.

Those issues took center stage Wednesday when The Athletic reported, citing sources, that Draymond Green wants a max contract extension and that it’s “not viable” for Golden State to offer new, expensive deals to all of Green, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, and Jordan Poole over the next 12 months.

Now, Golden State doesn’t need to immediately address any of those situations. The Warriors can play this upcoming season out and worry about contracts later. But of the four extension-eligible players, Poole has the first upcoming deadline. If the Warriors don’t offer a rookie-scale extension by Oct. 17, he will become a restricted free agent next summer.

When dissecting the Warriors’ financial pickle on “The Herd,” Colin Cowherd stated that Poole should lean towards seeing what else is out there.

“I’d explore the market if I was Jordan Poole,” Cowherd said on “The Herd.” “Steph [Curry] is not going anywhere. He’s taking minutes from you. ... You go to an Orlando Magic, you got to a Houston Rockets, you can make real money. I don’t think you’ll be as good, but you’ll get more shots. You’ll get more looks.”

If Poole continues to build upon his breakout 2021-22 campaign and becomes a restricted free agent, his phone lines will be busy next summer. In 76 games this past season, Poole averaged 18.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while leading the NBA in free-throw percentage (92.5 percent).

He carried the Warriors’ offense at times during the regular season, especially when Curry went through one of the worst slumps of his career in January. Poole also thrived as a starter for the final 15 games of the regular season, logging 25.9 points, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds per contest in that span.

Of course, as a restricted free agent, the Warriors would be able to match any offer Poole receives and could bring him back to the Bay. It just will be difficult if Golden State decides to prioritize contracts for Wiggins, Green and Thompson.

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“I do think he’s modeled his game after Steph. Is he Steph-like? I don’t know,” Cowherd said. “But I can see Jordan Poole explore the market. You’ll never make the biggest money with Golden State because Steph and Klay are going nowhere, and they’ve got eventually pay [Jonathan] Kuminga and Moses Moody and [James] Wiseman.

“I think that’s obvious. Check the market out.”

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