Fantasy basketball managers hardly seemed to be taking a giant leap of faith when they invested their third-round draft picks in Washington Wizards SG/PG Jordan Poole this season. After all, Poole averaged 20.4 points per game and 29.9 fantasy points for the Golden State Warriors last season, numbers surely tempered by his role and myriad talented players around him, including future Hall of Famer PG Stephen Curry.
The trade to Washington figured to unleash the eager Poole to shoot and score seemingly at will, to positively alter his career path. Fantasy managers sure bought in.
Several months into the 2023-24 season it has become clear that Poole has hardly seized his opportunity to become one of the league's breakout stars. ESPN Fantasy initially projected him to average 28.6 PPG, which seemed reasonable considering the lack of talent on the Wizards. Poole and PF/SF Kyle Kuzma would carry the offensive load with few difference makers surrounding them. Kuzma is doing his job for the Wizards and fantasy managers, averaging 23.2 PPG and 37.1 fantasy points.
Meanwhile, Poole is the only player selected in the top 50 of ESPN average live drafts currently rostered in less than 90% of leagues. This is quite telling.
Poole has averaged 17.4 PPG and 25.8 fantasy points and has inspired memes with his questionable decision-making and seemingly indifferent, lackadaisical play. Perhaps it is the realization that, unless traded to a contender, Poole will not be participating in the playoffs this spring, as the tanking Wizards enter Friday night's ESPN's game with the Warriors -- it is Poole's homecoming! -- on pace for arguably the worst season in franchise history. Poole was supposed to pile on the numbers in Washington, but instead everyone seems disappointed.
Instead of capitalizing on his opportunity, Poole averages only 14.9 field goal attempts per game, and he is shooting 30% on 3-pointers. Last season, when he averaged 24.6 PPG over 43 starts and a solid 15.9 PPG as a reserve, he was an aggressive scorer and 3-point shooter. He averaged 4.5 APG. He went to the free throw line 5.1 times per game. This version of Poole bears little recognition, though Monday's line at Sacramento, with eight 3-pointers in 13 attempts (though nary a rebound and only two assists) was more up to expectations.
Fantasy managers may not have much recourse here. Unless Poole starts taking a more aggressive approach on offense, and hits a better percentage of shots, this looks nothing like a top-50 fantasy option, so trading for Poole seems unwise. He entered Thursday's game at Portland outside the top 100 fantasy scorers this season, behind such luminaries as Kyle Lowry, Saddiq Bey and Jaime Jaquez Jr., none of them top 140 draft day picks. Poole went 29th on average. It is safe to say he is the biggest fantasy miss of the season.
Of course, Poole is not the only fantasy miss of the season. Here are some others, with thoughts.
Tyus Jones, PG, Washington Wizards: Perhaps it is a Wizards thing. Similar to Poole, Jones appeared to be stepping into a wonderful opportunity to finally start on a regular basis and, therefore, become a fantasy star. Jones was drafted 51st in ESPN ADP based on this promise. After all, he averaged 16.4 PPG and 8.1 APG over 22 starts for last season's Grizzlies. He entered Thursday 80th in fantasy points per game, so he remains worth rostering, but we expected quite a bit more than 11.8 PPG and 5.5 APG.
Josh Giddey, PG/SG/SF, Oklahoma City Thunder: Giddey went two spots after Jones in ADP, but has been a bigger disappointment, averaging only 26.2 fantasy points per game. Giddey, still only 21 but in his third season, is averaging only 11.8 PPG -- last year it was 16.6 PPG -- and a startling 4.4 APG, down from 6.2 APG. For comparison, Denver Nuggets occasional starting PG Reggie Jackson averages more assists and fantasy points, and he went undrafted in most fantasy leagues.
Russell Westbrook, PG, LA Clippers: A seventh-round pick in ESPN ADP, Westbrook was aiding fantasy managers until PG James Harden entered the equation. Westbrook averaged 14 PPG, 7 RPG and 5.7 APG over 10 starts. As a reserve, playing fewer than 20 MPG while Harden stars, Westbrook is no longer worth a roster spot in ESPN leagues.
Klay Thompson, SG/SF, Golden State Warriors: Thompson looked rejuvenated last season when he averaged 21.9 PPG and 33.5 fantasy points, leading to him being an eighth-round pick on draft day, but his game is suffering these days, scoring 17.1 PPG and 26.6 fantasy points. Thompson was never a balanced fantasy asset to begin with, so he needs to hit more 3-pointers and score more traditional points to aid fantasy managers. Teammate PF/C Draymond Green, by the way, was a 13th-round pick on average, so the fact that he has made all the wrong news this season and played only 15 games is not as big a deal in fantasy.
Jalen Green, SG, Houston Rockets: The Rockets are winning more games than they lose, but Green is not the reason. The No. 2 pick in the 2021 NBA draft has seen his production drop from 30.2 fantasy points per game last season to 25.6 fantasy points this season, as new PG Fred VanVleet and emerging C Alperen Sengun take over. Green is shooting considerably less than he used to, and not better. Teammate PF/C Jabari Smith Jr. was expected to take a big statistical step up in his second year, but Wednesday's 34-point breakout aside, that has not happened, either.
Buddy Hield, SG/SF, Indiana Pacers: Hield was second in the NBA in 3-pointers last season, and he averaged 16.8 PPG and 32.1 fantasy points. He seemed a reasonable ninth-round pick in ESPN leagues. This season, Hield is outside the top 20 in 3-pointers made and averaging 13 PPG and 24.9 fantasy points. He is doing this despite starting games for the highest-scoring team in the league. Some things are tough to explain. Hield is the lone member of the top 90 picks in ESPN ADP to fall below 70% rostered.
Tre Jones, PG, San Antonio Spurs: The younger brother of Washington's Tyus, Tre Jones lost his starting spot when coach Gregg Popovich oddly decided to make PF Jeremy Sochan a starting point guard. It has not gone well. Jones was a top-100 selection in ESPN ADP but now is barely rostered in 50% of leagues, averaging 21.5 fantasy points per game, outside the top 175 fantasy scorers.
Bradley Beal, SG/PG, Phoenix Suns: And we close this uplifting column by going full circle with this former Wizards star, who was barely a top-100 selection on draft day, and still has managed to disappoint because he has appeared in only six of the team's first 28 games. We hope Beal and others on this list turn their seasons around as we reach 2024!