Golden State Warriors: 3 players who must step up in Stephen Curry’s absence

2. Jordan Poole

Simply put, the Warriors are going to need to score somehow without Curry. They are going to need their young players to step up and match — or at least come close to matching — the scoring output that Curry regularly puts out.

There are few players who are capable of scoring at such a high rate, but one of those individuals might just be on the Warriors roster. Rookie shooting guard Jordan Poole was drafted in no small part due to his incredible scoring proficiency while at Michigan.

The one main issue with him has always been consistency.

Some nights Poole looks like one of the best offensive players in the game shooting efficiently from three and making the lives of opposing defenders very difficult. And other nights, he can’t buy a bucket and repeatedly turns the ball over.

If the Warriors are going to find success without Curry, they’re going to need more of the former than the latter from Poole.

We’ve seen both the good and bad already from Poole this season. The rookie shot a very efficient 3-for-5 from long-range back in the team’s victory over the New Orleans Pelicans but followed that up with consecutive duds in which he shot a combined 3-of-22 from the floor and 2-for-12 from three.

There are expectedly going to be plenty of growing pains with Poole, but he may just have to grow up and develop quicker than expected after being thrust into the limelight early in his career.

He has the potential to come close to matching Curry’s scoring — perhaps more than anyone on the offense — but he’ll need to be more consistent and reliable if he’s going to reach his true potential.

And Poole will now be given that opportunity earlier than anyone would have thought.