JORDAN Poole

Jordan Poole's 2025-26 season with New Orleans showed a steady role player rather than a star. He appeared in 39 games, averaging 23.9 minutes, 13.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.4 blocks, with 1.8 turnovers a night. His shooting was middling: 37.2 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three and 86.0 percent at the free-throw line, adding up to a true shooting mark of 53.0 percent. He carried a 23.5 usage rate, meaning a good chunk of New Orleans' offense ran through him when he was on the floor, but the team's results with him out there were rough, as his plus-minus sat at minus-3.7 for the season. Those numbers set the baseline he is now trying to build on in 2026-27.

Poole's game swings between explosive scoring and quiet nights, as last season's final weeks showed on both ends. On March 27 against Toronto, he put up 12 points, 2 rebounds and 6 assists in 23.4 minutes in a loss. Two days later, in a March 29 loss to Houston, he was limited to 6.2 minutes and did not score, finishing with 0 points, 0 rebounds and 0 assists. He bounced back in a big way on April 7 against Utah, scoring a season-high 34 points on 31.9 minutes in a win, with 2 rebounds and 4 assists and a plus-18.0 mark. Then on April 10 against Boston, in a loss, he scored 11 points with 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 28.7 minutes but was on the floor for a minus-40.0 swing. That range, from 34 points down to zero, is the swing New Orleans has to manage with him in the lineup.

Heading into this season, Poole is not on the injury report. There is no injury history logged for him, which lines up with his clean run through the first four games of 2026-27 — he has not missed time and has been available every night so far. For a Pelicans team that has dealt with its share of absences over the years, having Poole fully healthy and logging steady minutes, between 13.2 and nearly 18.6 a game so far this season, is valuable. He is not currently dealing with anything that would put his availability in question, and barring a new issue, he should keep getting run in New Orleans' rotation.

Poole is 27 years old and in his seventh NBA season, wearing number 3 for the Pelicans. He is a 6-4, 200-pound guard out of Michigan. That combination of size and ball skills has made him a combo guard who can play on or off the ball, which shows up in his role for New Orleans: enough minutes to matter, usage high enough to be a scoring option, but not yet a true No. 1 option based on last season's efficiency numbers. His background as a Michigan product and his experience level put him firmly in the middle of his career, not a rookie figuring things out and not a fading veteran, which is part of why his bounce-back case in 2026-27 matters for New Orleans.