Charles Barkley had an interesting take on why the Warriors traded Jordan Poole.

After Golden State’s season started with forward Draymond Green punching guard Poole during training camp and ended with a disappointing loss in the second round to the Los Angeles Lakers, there was no doubt changes would be coming to the roster.

That change came in the form of Poole being shipped off to the Washington Wizards for Chris Paul in June.

And while many questioned why the Warriors would send an emerging star out for a declining veteran, Barkley thought that the team was no longer keen on the guard.

“Yeah, they hated Jordan Poole,” Barkley said during an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area. “They really hated Jordan Poole. That’s the number one thing I said to myself.

“They really hated Jordan Poole.” 

This seems to confirm what The Ringer’s Logan Murdock reported on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” earlier in July when he said: “All the established guys had some version of a problem with Jordan Poole, whether it was Klay ironically saying that Jordan doesn’t pass the ball enough and shoots too much.”

After playing a pivotal role in Golden State’s NBA Finals win in 2022, the Michigan product inked a four-year, $128 million contract extension before the start of last season.

And production-wise, Poole had a slightly better season statistically in 2022-23 than he did during the championship run. 

The guard posted 20.4 points and 4.5 assists per game last year versus 18.5 points and 4.0 assists during the title season.

However, those numbers were up and down throughout the year — especially during the playoffs against the Lakers, where Poole had some questionable shot selections late in Game 1, which appeared to affect his confidence for the rest of the second round.

But Barkley believes that the move to Washington will be a good one for the young star.

“This is going to be a chance for him to reset. He had a tough year, he [had] peaks and valleys, so he needed a fresh start.”