Jordan Poole's 2023-24 Wizards season on pace to be 2nd worst NBA season of all time according to obscure stat
Jordan Poole and the Washington Wizards have continued to struggle this season, with little end in sight. At the time of publication, the team sits in the middle of a seven-game skid that has seen them go just 2-8 in their last 10. Throughout this season, the team has been unable to improve its standing in the Western Conference.
As we prepare to head into the All-Star break, the Wizards (9-44) are in 14th place in the West, just half a game ahead of the 8-44 Detroit Pistons. The record sees them ranked as the second-worst team in the entire NBA.
Notably, Jordan Poole has seen his stats take a sharp drop off when compared to last season. Currently, he's averaging fewer points, rebounds and assists per game when compared to last season, while also posting lower efficiency ratings for field goal percentage and three-point percentage.
According to the numbers, Jordan Poole is on track for the second-worst season of all time using the VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) statistic. Poole currently has a VORP of -1.5 and a projected value of -2.32 over the entire season.
Poole's VORP is on par with his rookie season, in which he finished with a -1.5 VORP, with six fewer games played. If the trend continues, the number would put him behind Michael Olowokandi, who has the record with a -2.6 VORP.
Looking further at the meaning of the VORP stat and Jordan Poole's season statistics
As previously mentioned, Jordan Poole's averages are down across the board, with the former NBA champ's efficiency also seeing a sharp decline. This season, for example, while averaging just 0.9 less minutes than the 2022-23 and 2021-22 seasons, his averages have dipped.
This season, he is averaging 15.6 points per game, compared to 20.4 ppg last season. Similarly, he's averaging 2.4 rebounds per game, compared to 2.7 rpg last season and 3.4 rpg the season before. His assist numbers have also dropped, sitting at 3.6 apg after a 4.5 apg average last season.
When looking at his efficiency numbers, he has dropped to 39.9% from the field, a sharp drop from 43.0% last season and 44.8% the year before. From beyond the arc it's more of the same with a 29.7% three-point percentage this season compared to 33.6% the year before and 36.4% during the 2021-22 season.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the VORP stat, which Reddit user Antimetalad eloquently summarized as:
"VORP, or Value Over Replacement Player is an advanced counting statistic that measures how much total value a player adds over a hypothetical replacement player who is readily available from sources such as the G-League, free agency, or the very end of a bench."
"Positive implies they are better than such a hypothetical player, while negative implies that their replacement would be beneficial for a team."
Given the Wizards' struggles this season, it's unclear whether Poole will push for a trade this offseason or look to ride things out until his contract expires.