Draymond praises Poole's growth with Wizards despite taunting exchange

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Even years after their heated altercation as Warriors teammates, Draymond Green and Jordan Poole appear to still not be the best of friends on different teams on separate coasts.

But that didn't stop the Golden State veteran forward from commending the young guard's growth in his second season with the Washington Wizards.

"He's playing better. He's playing a lot better," Green told reporters after the Warriors' 125-112 win over the Wizards on Monday at Capital One Arena. "I think his shot selection, you know, you come to a new situation -- I've never done it -- but I've watched a lot of it, as a competitor, you just want to show everything that you can do. You want to show that you're the guy.

"And I think last year he was pressing a lot, he just wanted it to happen so bad. And this year he's a lot more settled in. He's not taking some of the shots that he was taking last year. They were bad shots. I don't think it was a matter of selfishness, I think it was a matter of wanting it so bad to prove to people that I can have my own team, I can come here and be successful, that it ends up working against you. But this year, he's doing much better."

Poole, who was selected by Golden State in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft, was traded to the Wizards during the 2023 offseason in exchange for veteran point guard Chris Paul in a blockbuster move that stunned the league -- just one season after having his best statistical NBA campaign and two after undeniably helping Golden State win its fourth NBA title in eight years.

The shocking trade also happened less than nine months after Green punched Poole during a closed Warriors practice, and video of the incident was leaked to social media.

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Players and coaches admitted after the fact that the chemistry never was the same during the 2022-23 season, as the then-defending champion Warriors fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

While Poole, Green and the Warriors seemingly moved on from the situation -- Monday's game might have shown otherwise. Poole and Green each taunted each other during the matchup, with Poole first pointing to Green after knocking down a 3-pointer. Green later returned the favor and pointed right back at his former teammate after a Steph Curry halftime buzzer-beater trey.

Apart from all the antics, though, Green acknowledged the growth of the 25-year-old, who finished the game with 24 points on 8-of-20 shooting, with one rebound, three assists, three steals, four blocks and one turnover in 34 minutes.

"He had one turnover tonight. That speaks to the patience that he's now playing with," Green said. "So I think he's doing a really good job of settling in now and letting the game come to him, not necessarily chasing after it like he was doing last year. But you'd much rather have a guy that's going to chase after it and go for broke than a guy that comes in and is like, 'Ah, I ain't got it.'

"So I think he's starting to show now more of who he is and what he's grown into in this league as opposed to last year, he just wanted it so bad. I think he's doing a lot better job this year."

While Green might not embrace Poole the way Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Curry and others do when they run into each other, his respect for Poole as a player certainly is there -- deep, deep down.

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